concrete steps towards his car. He needed to go to the coffee shop to see if she was alright, something he couldn’t explain told him she was still there and that she needed him.
Chapter Seventeen
“Are you finished with that?” the coffee shop attendant asked, indicating the third empty cup of coffee Mia had drunk in the two hours she had waited for Eric. She didn’t even know why she was still sitting there, waiting like an idiot – he obviously wasn’t coming.
“Sure, I’m finished,” Mia said, hitching her handbag over her shoulder as she stood to leave, her body heavy with her disappointment as she pushed up.
“Mia!”
Turning toward the direction of her name, Mia couldn’t help but allow a slight smile to curl her lip as she saw Cayd jogging toward her. He was looking extraordinarily gorgeous, wearing dark grey dress pants and pale blue dress shirt unbuttoned casually at the neck. He was the one happy thing that had come about in all this mess.
“He didn’t show,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders, as he came to a stop in front of her.
“Oh Mia. I’m so sorry,” he said genuinely, pulling her into a hug as he saw her face crumple. “It’ll be ok. We’ll work it out,” he soothed, as he held her against him while she sobbed quietly into his shoulder. As he smoothed the hair on her head as if she was a child, he wished he could take her away from all this, and pretend that the world around them didn’t exist anymore.
***
At around five thirty, Eric was finally getting in the passenger side of the work ute. He was now finished with the emergency job that he and Baz had been called out to. It was a stressful job, one that required a lot of care and patience from both him and Baz, which was why they had left their mobile phones in the car glove box, not wanting to risk a phone call startling either of them at the wrong moment and making everything worse than it already was.
Looking at his phone now, Eric could see he had four missed calls from a private number. Immediately, he called the woman he thought was Mia, considering she had called him from a private number that morning.
“Hey Mi, I’m finished up now, so I can meet you in about five minutes if I don’t go home and shower first.”
“Five minutes it is. I love a bit of manly work smell,” Natalie teased him.
Eric chuckled. “Hey did you try and call me from that private number again?”
“No why?” Natalie replied quickly.
“Oh, I just have like, four missed calls is all.”
“Well, did they leave a voice message?” she asked, knowing full well that she had deactivated his mailbox – now all anybody got was an annoying man telling them that the person they were calling was yet to set up a recording.
“Nope, nothing. Can’t have been too important then right?”
“Right. I’m heading to the car now, so I’ll see you at the pub?”
“Yep, sit in the beer garden. There’s a nice breeze out,” he told her.
“Alright, I’ll order you a drink if I get there first.”
“Thanks babe, you’re awesome,” he said a smile spanning the width of his face.
“I know,” she said simply before disconnecting the call and leaving Mia’s flat where she’d gone to get ready. She always made sure she was wearing Mia’s clothes, feeling that it helped her fit into the role better.
***
It was around the same time that Cayd decided it was time to encourage Mia to finally leave the coffee shop.
“Mia, I think you’ve waited long enough,” he said, his tone soft and reassuring as she handed back his phone. She’d tried to call Eric four times in the last twenty minutes and reached nothing but an inactive mailbox.
She had been waiting for him to show up for two and a half hours, and after witnessing the frustration and disappointment on her face while she tried in vain to contact Eric, Cayd didn’t want her to wait any longer. She was only upsetting herself.
“She must have figured out I was going to meet
Chapter Seventeen
“Are you finished with that?” the coffee shop attendant asked, indicating the third empty cup of coffee Mia had drunk in the two hours she had waited for Eric. She didn’t even know why she was still sitting there, waiting like an idiot – he obviously wasn’t coming.
“Sure, I’m finished,” Mia said, hitching her handbag over her shoulder as she stood to leave, her body heavy with her disappointment as she pushed up.
“Mia!”
Turning toward the direction of her name, Mia couldn’t help but allow a slight smile to curl her lip as she saw Cayd jogging toward her. He was looking extraordinarily gorgeous, wearing dark grey dress pants and pale blue dress shirt unbuttoned casually at the neck. He was the one happy thing that had come about in all this mess.
“He didn’t show,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders, as he came to a stop in front of her.
“Oh Mia. I’m so sorry,” he said genuinely, pulling her into a hug as he saw her face crumple. “It’ll be ok. We’ll work it out,” he soothed, as he held her against him while she sobbed quietly into his shoulder. As he smoothed the hair on her head as if she was a child, he wished he could take her away from all this, and pretend that the world around them didn’t exist anymore.
***
At around five thirty, Eric was finally getting in the passenger side of the work ute. He was now finished with the emergency job that he and Baz had been called out to. It was a stressful job, one that required a lot of care and patience from both him and Baz, which was why they had left their mobile phones in the car glove box, not wanting to risk a phone call startling either of them at the wrong moment and making everything worse than it already was.
Looking at his phone now, Eric could see he had four missed calls from a private number. Immediately, he called the woman he thought was Mia, considering she had called him from a private number that morning.
“Hey Mi, I’m finished up now, so I can meet you in about five minutes if I don’t go home and shower first.”
“Five minutes it is. I love a bit of manly work smell,” Natalie teased him.
Eric chuckled. “Hey did you try and call me from that private number again?”
“No why?” Natalie replied quickly.
“Oh, I just have like, four missed calls is all.”
“Well, did they leave a voice message?” she asked, knowing full well that she had deactivated his mailbox – now all anybody got was an annoying man telling them that the person they were calling was yet to set up a recording.
“Nope, nothing. Can’t have been too important then right?”
“Right. I’m heading to the car now, so I’ll see you at the pub?”
“Yep, sit in the beer garden. There’s a nice breeze out,” he told her.
“Alright, I’ll order you a drink if I get there first.”
“Thanks babe, you’re awesome,” he said a smile spanning the width of his face.
“I know,” she said simply before disconnecting the call and leaving Mia’s flat where she’d gone to get ready. She always made sure she was wearing Mia’s clothes, feeling that it helped her fit into the role better.
***
It was around the same time that Cayd decided it was time to encourage Mia to finally leave the coffee shop.
“Mia, I think you’ve waited long enough,” he said, his tone soft and reassuring as she handed back his phone. She’d tried to call Eric four times in the last twenty minutes and reached nothing but an inactive mailbox.
She had been waiting for him to show up for two and a half hours, and after witnessing the frustration and disappointment on her face while she tried in vain to contact Eric, Cayd didn’t want her to wait any longer. She was only upsetting herself.
“She must have figured out I was going to meet
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