I think the day that things started to change was probably when she told me her name. She always sat at the table looking out into the side alley, but some guy I hadn’t seen before sat there instead, so she went to sit by the fire exit. I had just let slip that I knew her name already, but she didn’t ask me why I’d been peering into her bag, she just wandered off without saying anything else.
It got to about half past three, and a couple more people came in. The guy sat at Cleo’s usual table stood, rolled up his paper and put his sunglasses on. He had to pass Cleo to get out, and I saw her kick her bag further under the table to avoid his path. As he got closer to her, I could see her edging towards the wall.
“Excuse me.” He was only two metres away from me.
“Yeah?”
“You just bumped into that girl there.” I gestured towards Cleo, her gaze fixed on the floor. She was twisting her hands in her lap.
“I what? Oh, sorry, it’s a pretty narrow gap between the tables in here isn’t it?” He took off his sunglasses.
“It’s no excuse for rudeness.” I didn’t know where my words were coming from, and I could feel my face becoming hot and my hands starting to tingle.
“Rudeness? The girl’s not even bothered, are you darlin’?” Cleo continued to look at the floor. “Sorry, but I haven’t got time for this.” He pushed past me and out of the door.
Once he had left, she moved her head to stare at the wall. She seemed completely shocked, her eyes even bigger than usual, but then she looked at me and gave a shy smile. Her teeth were really straight, like someone had set them out with a ruler. I went back behind the counter, wiped some crumbs onto the floor and then bent down to sweep them. I heard the bell tinkle, and when I stood up, she had already gone. A big group of school girls had just come in, so I moved swiftly to clear Cleo’s table so there was more space. Her cup was completely empty.
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