New Ellie and Maria content is finally here! I worked really hard on this chapter. It's my favourite one yet. I hope you all enjoy. It was a pleasure to write!
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I hummed nervously. I felt I was doing that a lot, lately.
"Is that to drink in or to take away?"
I looked at the young, tattooed barista (whose name was Jack, apparently, according to his grubby name tag) whose fingers were hovering over his touchscreen. Then I glanced over at the door of the cafe.
I was waiting for a coffee - totally normal. What was not quite as totally normal was that the lecturer I'd been sleeping with for the past two months was also waiting for her coffee. With some of my other lecturers. Maria was stood further up the counter with four other university lecturers, clearly all waiting for their respective orders. I did not want to end up roped into a conversation with that particular group of people today.
I looked back at the barista, who had raised his eyebrows in annoyance at my hesitation, despite the lack of customers queueing behind me. It was now or never, I had to decide: stay and have my coffee indoors and risk having to converse if they sat near me? Or leave with my coffee and risk bumping into them all outside?
I looked back at the group of lecturers. One of them I didn't recognise; a tall, slender, handsome man of around fifty years. He was dressed in smart casual clothes, grey like the colour of his trimmed facial hair. He was attractive and had kind eyes. He was laughing and placing his hand on the arm of the second lecturer, a young, overweight woman with her hair in a pretty brown bob. She was very pretty, but looked like she'd rather be anywhere than in that cafe socialising with her colleagues. I didn't recognise her either. The third, however, I did recognise - he was a business lecturer I'd had back in first year. Short, old and fat, he kept his glasses permanently on a chain around his neck. Grumpy sod of a man. Good lecturer though. He seemed a lot less grumpy surrounded by people he liked, so it seemed. The fourth lecturer I also immediately recognised as one of my favourite lecturers at the university, Professor Lloyd. Professor Lloyd was a bubbly, funny lecturer, middle-aged and wise. She always wore classy, smart clothes and, like Maria, always found it easy to communicate with students.
Maria.
There she was.
I watched the back of her head bob up and down as she spoke enthusiastically to her colleagues. I was so glad she had her back to me, as I'd been caught in the rain earlier in the morning and my hair had gone wild as a result of the humidity.
"It's the same price to sit in as it is to take away, you know," an angry voice piped up from my left.
My head snapped back in surprise. I'd forgotten about the damn coffee.
"Uh, to take away. Thanks. Sorry." I shoved some change into the moody barista's hand and stepped backwards while he made my overpriced cup of milky, sugary caffeine. I hurriedly turned my back towards the group of lecturers as they accepted their drinks and headed out of the door.
Phew, I thought, they're gone.
A few minutes later, the barista grunted at me, which I assumed was the universal hipster barista signal for "Your coffee is ready."
I left the cafe, pulling my thick winter coat tighter against me with one hand, my warm coffee clutched in the other. The rain had stopped and I was confident that the rest of my day would go undisturbed.
"Ellie!"
I froze. Slowly turned around.
Professor Lloyd had called to me from her group of lecturer cronies. Darn. I'd left the cafe and turned right... they'd gone left.
I smiled and walked over to their small group, trying to hide the shaky hand that was carrying my coffee cup.
As I joined the group of five I greeted each lecturer in turn. Grumpy Business Sod nodded in my general direction, while the other two unknown lecturers smiled warmly and waved. I swallowed hard and forced myself to look at Maria, who was wearing an expression of mixed politeness and amusement. She looked as beautiful as ever, dressed in an all-grey shirt suit and high heels, adorned with a bright red scarf that matched her lipstick. She smiled and waved.
I winced as a bit of scalding-hot coffee slopped over the edge of my cup and burnt my shaky hand.
Professor Lloyd bounced on the spot and pulled at her scarf. "Ah Ellie. Did you get my email last night?"
I clutched my coffee with both hands to stop any further spillage due to my trembling hands. I forced myself to sound as casual and confident as my usual self. "Oh, I didn't, I'm so sorry. I'm bad at checking emails on a Sunday."
"No matter!" Professor Lloyd smiled and bobbed up and down, presumably to keep herself warm.
It was making me feel queasy.
I suddenly wished I'd flattened my hair down.
"It was just to remind you to send me your research proposal again, after our discussion on how best to re-write it."
