It was a completely spontaneous act, when I’d spoken to the other customer like that. Me, who never did more than take orders and utter the odd hello to the regulars, had actually instigated a situation that could have lost me my job. I couldn’t afford to rent my flat if I became unemployed, and if my boss had seen my customer service that afternoon? Well, I’m just glad he didn’t. It made me realise how protective I felt of Cleo, to go to such lengths just to stop someone touching her. I knew it was a major overreaction, but when I saw the look on her face as he got closer and closer, I just couldn’t stop myself.
That evening, on my way home from work, I was still thinking about the way Cleo had smiled meekly at me after the whole confrontation. I felt like it had sparked something in her, as though I was finally knocking through the wall that she had up around her. I was anxious for the following day, to see if she would say something about what had happened; or if she would just slip back into the nonchalance that I was becoming so used to.
When I entered my flat, I noticed the red light blinking on the answering machine and pressed play as I kicked off my shoes.
“Hey mate, it’s Woodsy here, I’m up near yours for a conference on Thursday, wanna grab a pint? It’ll be during the day ‘cos they’re evening things, but you must be the manager of that coffee place by now, so you can sort it, yeh? Give us a bell anyway.”
It was unexpected, but I didn’t get my hopes up as I knew I probably wouldn’t get the time off. The only problem with going to university with a load of people who now work for themselves is that they all think I can cancel everything at a moment’s notice. I decided to give Nancy a call anyway to check. I dialled her number, and asked her husband to put her on.
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