Stella and Annabelle

Stella and the coffee date

Stella was desperately trying to get through her last meeting in time to meet rainbow socks. It had been pushed back by half an hour and she was getting anxious. Stella hated plans changing outside her control. She knew she could just text her and let her know she was running late but what if she was on a lunch break and couldn't stay long? What if she had an appointment? Stella was anxious she wouldn't have time to find out who this woman was and why she was so intrigued by her. She had not dated since long before she was pregnant with Oscar and wasn't sure she was really ready at all. Stella got away from the meeting with five minutes to spare. Luckily the café she had chosen was only a short walk from her office. As Stella headed out the door her phone buzzed, Sarah was calling. Now what?

"Hey Sarah, what's up?"

"Err hi boss, I'm really sorry but I've had something come up and I can't do the christening afternoon tea on Sunday anymore."

Fuck!

"Oh, um, ok then. Is everything ok?" Stella tried to stay calm.

"Um yeah, it's a family thing. So sorry to muck you about."

"It's ok, I'll err, sort something out."

Fuck, fuck, fuck!  It's not that she couldn't do it herself, it was just what to do with Oscar? Stella had relied heavily on her parents to look after Oscar when she had decided to go back to her business after having a few months off. They had been great at first but she knew she needed to sort something else out as well. Things had gone well with Sarah so her parents had decided to take a trip to Europe for three weeks, believing Stella could cope without them. Stella stopped and took a deep breath. Nope! Not thinking about this now. She was too excited about her date? Yes date. She smiled coyly to herself feeling like a teenager with a crush.

When Stella got to the café rainbow socks (although she wasn't wearing them today) was already sitting at a table sipping coffee, "Hi," she said looking up at Stella.

"Hi," Stella replied, smiling awkwardly, "thank you for meeting me, I err, sorry if I came across a bit, um, you know," Stella sat down feeling her face going red.

Rainbow socks giggled slightly, "It's ok," she said with a smile. They sat there in silence for a moment.

"I'm Stella by the way. Ah you probably already know that from the card."

"Yeah, um, I'm Annabelle. Nice to meet you Stella... So uh, you often get your toddler to pick up women for you?" Annabelle laughed nervously.

"Can't say I do," Stella smirked, "but I guess it appears to be an effective method, haha."

"I guess so," Annabelle smiled.

The server approached their table and Stella ordered a latte.

"So Annabelle, tell me about yourself. Um like what do you do? What are you into and, ah, yeah?"

"Oh um, well I'm kinda between a few things at the moment. I err, I was in this band and working at a café and doing some bartending and then some stuff happened and yeah I decided to have a break from my usual crowd so I am, ah, having a break at the moment. So I guess I'm into music and stuff," Annabelle looked into her coffee, appearing to be avoiding Stella's eye contact.

Stella wasn't sure what to make of Annabelle. Clearly there was a bit going on there. But Stella wasn't one to talk. She was literally a single mother and another woman going on a date with her felt like a miracle at this point.

"You're a musician? What do you play?"

"Oh um I sing, and play guitar, and piano, and a few other bits and pieces, haha."

"Wow, that's really cool. I ah used to sing a bit in school, but haven't in years."

"Yeah? What did you sing? Like in choirs?"

"Haha, not exactly."

"I had a band, but yeah we didn't stay together after school," Stella blushed and laughed nervously, she hadn't thought about her band for a long time, she hadn't thought about Frank in a long time.