Chapter 7

The night had been tiring, but in a good way. 

I had stayed awake for most part of the night, going over everything that had happened with Kol. The information had been too much to process but I had gotten there. 

The few hours of sleep that I had enjoyed after that was peaceful. I did not remember the last time that I had slept this calmly. The nightmares had not disappeared. No, I still had that nightmare. But this time, I had not woken up in cold sweat. 

Of course, I had narrated the whole story to mom and dad. Naturally, they were amused but glad. 

"Here you go," I said, placing the muffin on the table. 

The customer looked up at me. "You seem a little extra chirpy today, Zuri." 

I shrugged. "I guess." 

"Any special reason?" she asked, her eyes twinkling. 

"Maybe." I grinned. "Now don't you have that deadline today? Focus."

She laughed and I let her get back to her work. 

"Oh, my goodness, she's fuming," said Jace, coming out of the kitchen. 

"Who?" I asked, as I started to clear a table. 

"Ira. Who else?" He sighed. "I just told her that the pie could be a little tangier and she burst into this fit of lectures about how unusual my taste is." 

"Well, it's the weekend. She has a lot of work to do. Stop getting on her nerves," I said, "and try to help her." 

"Excuse me?" He narrowed his eyes at me. "Take my side for once, Zuri." 

"I'll try," I said, grinning at him. "Now go back in and help her. Seriously." 

"Yeah, yeah." He yawned. 

As he closed the kitchen door behind him, Kol walked in through the glass doors. 

"Good morning," I said, flashing him a smile. 

He bit his lip, and I knew that he was trying not to laugh. And there was no doubt in my mind that the reason was my friendly demeanour towards him.

"Do you want the usual?" I asked, ignoring the way he tried to laugh discreetly as if it would somehow escape my eye.

He occupied his usual table and gave me a thumbs up sign.

"I was getting used to the cold Zuri. This one seems so out of character," he said, taking out his laptop and diary. 

"This is the real me," I said, making his cappuccino. "Get used to it." 

He turned his head away and laughed again. 

"Stop doing that. It's creepy." I sighed.

"Can you blame me?" he asked, a childish wonder in his words.

I took his tray over to him. "Maybe not." 

"Thanks," he called out, as I turned and got back to my work. 

A minute later, he cried out, "Oh my goodness, this is actually sweet!" 

I bit my lip and did not turn around to face him. 

"So, you were deliberately not putting any sugar in my drink all this while?" he asked. 

I shrugged. "Maybe." 

"The level of pettiness, Zuri, wow," he said. 

I stifled a laugh and said nothing. 

"Zuri!" 

I jumped, my eyes travelling to the kitchen door. 

Leaving the duster on the table, I rushed inside. 

"What happened?" I asked. 

Ira was standing with one hand on her hip and the other hand pointing a rolling pin at Jace. 

"Get him out of here," she told me, an exasperated look on her face. "Or I'll lose all my hair." 

"You will lose your hair anyway with this temper of yours," said Jace, folding his arms across his chest and facing Ira with a determined look. 

"Temper?" Ira snapped. "I have a temper? And what do you have to say about your characteristic trait?" 

"Which is?" Jace raised an eyebrow. 

"Annoyance," said Ira, without a blink of hesitation. 

"I'm annoying?" said Jace. "Seriously, Ira, how can you say that? I'm not annoying."

"You are." 

"I'm not." 

"You are." 

"I'm not." 

I slowly retraced my steps back out of the kitchen and closed the door behind me, sighing with relief. I had no intention of getting pulled into their bickering. Could anyone even guess that they both were the owners of this cafe? Probably not.

There was not much work left to do and I was not required to help out Ira until late afternoon. So, I decided to quickly wrap up my tasks and finish the book that I was currently reading. I had reached the climax of the story and could not wait to finish it. 

"Hey, can I please get a few cookies?" asked Kol, as I picked up the duster again. 

"Which flavour?" I cleared the table and wiped it again for good measure. 

"Which ones do you have?" He turned sideways and analyzed the menu. 

Putting the duster back in its place and washing my hands, I said, "We have around fifteen flavours available today. All are delicious but Ira is famous for her almond cookies." 

"Can I trust your recommendation, though?" He cocked his head. "You promise you won't poison them?" 

I picked up a cookie plate and loaded it with some cookies, rolling my eyes at him. "I sure didn't poison your drink, did I? You look fine." 

"I guess I can trust you." He grinned. 

With the cookie plate in one hand, I took out my book from my bag with the other and walked over to Kol's table. 

"Here you go," I said, placing the plate beside his laptop. "What do you do on your laptop all day?" 

"Work." He smiled. 

He saw the book in my hand. "You're still reading that book. Liking it?" 

"I do," I said, looking at the book cover, "It's the first one I've read from this author and I'm quite smitten already." 

"Tell me what you think after you're finished with it," he said. 

I cozied up on my favourite couch and gave him a thumbs up sign. Then I busied myself with the book. 

A few minutes passed and I saw him glancing at me occasionally. 

"What?" I asked. 

He shook his head quickly and looked down at his laptop.

Sighing, I got back into the story. 

My stomach tingled and my heartbeat picked up pace as the climax unfolded. 

The pages turned hastily.

My breathing quickened and satisfaction wrapped me in its embrace once the last page was before me.

My eyes travelled across the words, no speed seeming fast enough. And then the last line breezed through. 

I closed the book, my fingers curling around it gingerly. 

A million emotions raced through my heart, and I felt like I was drowning in them. Tears pricked my eyes, as I sat still, completely bowled over by the story. 

"Done?" asked Kol. 

I nodded. 

"And?" he prompted. 

"I'm overwhelmed," I said, "it was brilliant." 

A huge grin spread across his face. 

"Why are you so happy about it?" I frowned. 

"Because I too like that book," he said. 

I gave him an amused look. "We are quite similar, aren't we?" 

"Are we?" he asked, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe." 

We most definitely are.