Daddy Issues

47 - Not like that

'So,' I sigh, pulling my legs up onto the booth to hug my knees. 'What have you been up to?'

'Oh,' he says, stretching his arm over the back of the booth in a semi-comfortable position, even though he's clearly anything but. 'Nothing much, really.'

'You've been doing nothing for the past 3 months?' I ask, raising my eyebrow.

'Well, I mean, I've been doing things,' he splutters. 'Just, nothing interesting. Um, I had to find a new place.'

'Right.'

I know he's been back to the house to retrieve his stuff sometime shortly after he left. I made sure not to be there when he did.

'Did you find something nice?'

'I did,' he says, nodding a little. I notice he keeps his eyes on the table in front of him, rather than on me. This is a lot more awkward than it used to be.

'It's close to main street. And it's pretty spacious.'

'Big enough for all your books?'

He smiles a little and throws me a short look before his eyes dart back to his hand that's fidgeting with the edge of the table.

'I haven't unpacked them all yet, but I'm sure I can find a place for most of them.'

After about a month, I went downstairs to see with my own eyes that all of his boxes with stupid books had gone. Then I cried like a pathetic idiot.

'Have you been reading at all lately?' he asks, forcing himself to look at me again.

'Yeah, a little.'

I was still reading the book Dan borrowed me when he left. But I haven't been able to finish it, even though it's so good. Because every time I picked it up, I had to think about him, so I shoved it under my bed so I wouldn't have to look at it. When I told Mel, she immediately got me another book to read instead.

'Um, I still have your book,' I tell him.

'Oh, you can keep it.'

An awkward silence follows.

'So... you got that job at the coffee place?' he asks me finally.

'I did.'

'Good for you. What's it called again?'

'Love and Latte's.'

'Cute. That's a cute name. And you like it?'

'Yes, I like it, Dan,' I reply, entirely aware that I'm sounding a little frustrated. This conversation is starting to feel like an interview. Between two people that never met before. Dan must notice the tone of my voice, because he finally stops fidgeting with the table and sits up a little straighter to look at me properly.

'I knew you'd be good at that.'

Fuck him and the casual pride in his voice when he says that. And fuck the way my heart swells when I hear him say it.

'I never said I was any good at it, I just said I liked it,' I say as coolly as I can muster.

'Well, are you good at it?' he asks with a tiny smirk.

'I'm amazing. Obviously.'

He laughs. So I do too. I could never keep a straight face when those annoying dimples appear on his. I guess the tension has broken at least a little bit, because I feel a little more relaxed when I reach for the Sprite again to finish it.

'What about the band? Have you played any more gigs?'

'Actually, we played at the wedding of some friends of Pete and Avery's. The band they booked canceled last minute, so-'