Chapter 23 The Coffee date
Ariel
The next day, I arrived fifteen minutes early to the cafe Anastasia and I had agreed to meet at, Blackwood Cafe, still pondering what we were going to talk about or, more importantly, how I was going to broach the topic I actually wanted to talk to her about.
Hi, so nice to meet you again. Do you by chance happen to have access to a very exclusive party my very dangerous captor is interested in? I really have to get the invitation to that party if I don't want to end up dead.
Yup, no. She was going to label me as crazy if I ever said that. So what do I say?
Ah...
I picked up a book from the bookshelf close to the booth I was sitting in. The cafe was a book- and coffee-themed shop, so they had bookshelves hanging all around with different genres and tropes. I opened it up and tried to read in an attempt to wait for Anastasia.
Exactly fifteen minutes later, by 1 pm, she waltzed in, looking as exotic as ever.
"Anna..." I called out when she stopped by the entrance, her eyes scanning the booth to look for me and her eyes lit up when she sighted me at the very corner in our booth.
"Hi, Ariel..." she said as she headed straight for me.
"Hey..." I stretched out my hand to greet her with a handshake since I wasn't sure what she might like but she just went past that, pulled me into a small hug and kissed me on both my cheeks.
I was actually quite dumbfounded and turned red in embarrassment when she pulled back. Oh no.
"I hope I didn't keep you waiting."
"N-no. No. I just arrived myself." She beamed at me again and took a seat opposite me in the booth.
"So..."
"Oh wow, you're reading The teacher?" She asked as she picked up the book I had been sifting through before she arrived and I nodded, quite unsure. I wasn't even sure what the book was about; I had only picked it up to while away time.
"It's one of my favourite books."
"Oh really?"
"Yes." She seemed so excited saying that. "Do you love reading too?"
"Oh, I..." I stuttered. "Yeah..." That sounded more like a question than an answer but to be honest, I've never really liked reading books. Any books. I've always preferred music, long car rides and some alone time, thanks to the social anxiety I developed from a very young age. High school mainly but then it got worse when I got signed under Star Entertainment and Richard felt the need to control every aspect of my life, including the people I made friends with.
In other words, he never let me have or make any close friends.
"Oh really, tell me some of your favourite books..." She suddenly paused dramatically. "We should order something first though, right?" She raised her hand up to signal a waitress to our table and, in the process, revealed her hand, which I had seen the bruise on yesterday.
Or maybe it was the other hand because there was nothing on the hand she currently had up. I sat up, confused. It was her right hand, no? The hand she had been using to scrub the stain out of my dress...
I stopped staring when the waitress came to our table. "So what would you like?" Anastasia asked me.
"Uhm... Latte."
"Okay, one latte, any unique preference..."
"Uhm... Just extra cream." I was peering at her left hand, which she had on the table now as she ordered. What? There was nothing there too.
Okay. What the fuck? I'm pretty sure I've seen a bruise on her wrist. It had looked fresh too, like somebody had just laid their hands on her before she collided with me in that hallway.
I stopped peering when she looked at me again. "Cake?"
I nodded without thinking.
Maybe I'd imagined the whole thing.
"So..." She picked up the book again when the waitress left. "Your favourite books..."
I pondered lying to her. Name a few fake titles… a few fake authors but it was obvious she would know since she apparently likes to read, right?
I raised my hand slightly in surrender. "Fine. I'm not really a fan of books. I prefer listening to music or spending time in nature. I also paint..."
Her face remained blank for a second, then she burst out into a wide smile. "Ah... Me too."
I raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"I'm not really a fan of books either. I just said that because I had no idea what else we could talk about."
"Oh.” The relief was palpable. "Wow. That's funny because I was also thinking the same thing too."
We shared a laugh. "So you love music?"
"Yes," I said in response to her question. "I'm literally an artist."
"Right." She smiled.
"And you?" I asked. "What are your favourite things to do?"
If I weren't so sure I was imagining things now, I would have said her smile dropped a bit. But it came right back a moment later.
"Movies and travel also."
"Hmm..." We stopped talking for a moment when the waitress brought our order.
"So what are your favourite movies?"
By the time we finished drinking our coffee and munching on the cake I had barely taken a bite of. Blame my growing eating disorder. We had talked about a whole bunch of nothing.
From movies, to music, to astrology, to public events, I kept tiptoeing around the topic of the party.
"So you attend parties a lot?" She flinched for some reason as she looked up from her phone she had been staring at.
"Parties?"
"Yeah. Are you a party type of person or do you prefer to stay at home?"
She tucked her phone back into her purse and rubbed her palm over the sleeve of her dress unconsciously. "I... I think I prefer staying at home."
"Hmm... You don't go to parties?"
"Well, parties related to work, I have to attend but apart from that, I don't really... like parties."
I let it go for a moment. So how was I meant to bring up the party if she apparently doesn't like parties like she had just claimed?
I picked up my phone when it started ringing. It was Jonas calling and I knew he was about to complain about why my quick dash to the coffee shop had taken a whole hour.
I glanced up apologetically at Anastasia. "Sorry, I have to take this."
She shook her head. "Nah, it's fine. I'm sure it's important."
I nodded and scooted out of the booth to go take the call in a private place. After assuring Jonas that I was already in fact on my way back to the company, I headed back to the booth to see Anastasia staring down at her phone again and biting her fingernails with an expression I can only describe as scared.
She looked scared. Jumpy, fidgety and... She suddenly put on a smile when her eyes landed on mine and she kept it on till I reached the booth.
"So do you want to get out of here? We could get drinks, you know, maybe get a real meal. I'm kinda starving." I raised an eyebrow when she added a laugh. I mean, I would love to; remember the invitation, but right now, I have to go back to the company.
I had a few things on my schedule.
"Sorry, I have to go back," I said as I picked up my bag. "We could totally meet up again though, you know. Maybe drinks like you mentioned."
She maintained her smile as she nodded. "Yeah, of course. I understand. I have to get going too."
Oh okay.
I waved her goodbye as I got into a taxi minutes later and as the driver pulled away from the kerb, I couldn't help but feel a wave of uneasiness, especially when I glanced back and saw her biting her nails again.