Page 14 of Trust Fall
Startled, she turned back to him, “Cleo, my name’s Cleo.” What was that?! Could she sound more like a nervous teenager if she actively tried?
“Cleo?! Cool name. I’ll get these made up for you right away.” The man-boy suddenly had a twinkle in his eye that hadn’t been there before.
She moved further up the counter as a trio of older women came into the shop behind her. She noticed that they made their way over to a table in the corner.
“Afternoon ladies, I’ll be with you in a minute,” the man-boy called over to the women.
“No rush Oliver, love, take your time,” one of the women replied, affectionately.
That was when Cleo heard her, “Oliver, do you need a hand?” Ivy called from somewhere Cleo couldn’t see.
“Actually,” Oliver suddenly had a smirk on his lips, “if you wouldn’t mind.”
Cleo turned in the direction where she had heard Ivy’s voice, and just in time to see her stride into the shop with such confidence that it took Cleo’s breath away. What was going on with her?! She’d never acted this way in her life.
Ivy looked at Oliver with confusion while she tied the straps on her apron, noticing only one person in the queue and a seemingly empty shop.
“Could you get this takeaway order while I get The Golden Girls started?” Oliver said, holding up the to-go cups, while grinning at Ivy.
Ivy looked more than a little confused at being called for only one customer, but as she looked at the name written on the cups, Cleo noticed a blush appear on Ivy’s cheeks and her eyes widen. Cleo tried her best to look as normal as possible given that her recent behavior resembled that of a fifteen-year-old rather than an adult of her thirty-four years.
Oliver made his way out from behind the counter and over to the group of women who had come in just after Cleo. She was aware of their hushed tones, but they sounded so distant as she felt herself take a step further down the counter, drawn to be closer to Ivy.
“Hi again,” she heard herself say, relieved that her tone was more confident than it had been moments earlier. She felt a smile spread across her face as Ivy looked up and their eyes met.
“H-hi!” Ivy said, a little less confident than her previous body language would have suggested.
“No mishaps getting in the door today,” Cleo said with a smile, pointing to the door. She saw Ivy visibly cringe after saying it, obviously embarrassed by their literal run-in at the weekend at the shop door.
"Oh, good, great!” Ivy replied, obviously nervous, “Glad you made it in here safe. I mean, not that you were hurt the last time. You were fine, Sophie was fine, I was fine, we were all...” Cleo smiled at how flustered Ivy seemed to be.
“...fine?” Cleo all but whispered, and she was rewarded with the cutest smile she had ever seen light up Ivy’s face. Dimples and all.
“Exactly,” Ivy replied, Cleo noticed Ivy’s cheeks were now redder than the marker her name was written on the cups with. “I’ll get these drinks for you,” Ivy said as she turned her back to Cleo and started turning dials on the coffee machine, bringing it to life.
Cleo took a breath as she riffled through her messenger bag for her wallet and removed a larger note than needed for the cost of two coffees and sat it on the counter.
“You look different without your glasses on,” Cleo said while Ivy stood waiting on the coffee cups to fill.
Ivy turned to face Cleo, “Oh, yeah, I ran out of contacts over the weekend, and my regular glasses had broken, so I had to wear my old pair, which Ihate, but I’m back to feeling like me today, thankfully.” Ivy closed her eyes and spun on her heel to face the coffee machine again, and Cleo just smiled.
“Both suit you, you know, contacts and glasses.” Cleo lowered her head and shook it slightly, not quite sure why she felt the need to bring up the lack of glasses at all. She did appreciate that without the thick rimmed black frames from the weekend she was able to see those green eyes much easier today.
Ivy clicked the lids in place, then pushed them into a holder before sitting it on the counter for Cleo to take.
“Thank you, for these, I’ll see you around?” Cleo said to Ivy as she lifted the coffees in each hand and lifted her eyebrows while nodding her head toward the money on the counter for Ivy to take.
“No problem,” Ivy replied, still keeping eye contact with Cleo and not even reaching for the money yet, “and that’d be great, I mean, to see you again, here, in the shop.”
Cleo smiled. “Bye then.” She turned and walked toward the door, suddenly unsure how best to open the door toward her while holding both cups in the holder. Lana needed to teach her how to deal with this, as she found herself looking for a surface to set the holder down on to let her open the door.
Before she turned to set the cup holder down on the table to her right to get the door, Ivy was by her side. “Here, let me,” Cleo heard Ivy say from over shoulder as she grabbed the door handle and gently opened it for her.
“Thanks, Ivy.” Cleo managed with a soft smile.
“Bye, Cleo,” Ivy called back to her as she made her way down the street toward her office.
Chapter 14
