Coffee and Cafés - Book Two of the Café Latte Trilogy

Hazelnut Latte

I think I looked very strange writing this chapter because I was GRINNING LIKE A FOOL the entire time. SO MUCH SQUEEEEEE.

Love, Cam ❤

Hazelnut Latte

In the afternoon, I heard Misa raising her voice slightly from the communal office, so I stuck my head out of my office. She was flicking through her phone, talking angrily on the office phone. "But I can't see where on earth this delivery was supposedly pencilled in. No one pencilled. There is absolutely no pencilling here."

Ian popped up from behind a desk, sending me into heart palpitations. "Tom, I need your head."

"On a platter, or...?" I asked.

"Memory man," he tapped my forehead and then handed me a tablet. "Do you know Angelo's password?"

I frowned. "Are you trying to get into his account? Just ask him."

"He's out for the next two hours," Ian checked his watch. "I've got a Zoom meeting with a client, but the details are on his tablet. I don't know the link, and I forgot to ask him for his password before he left."

I thought back to when Misa had talked me through the system. "I think it's Cinzia's birthday. Which is a terrible password, he should change that. February 11th."

"Thank you," Ian took the tablet back and typed it in, unlocking it. "Thank you. Misa, you okay?"

Misa looked up, having finished her phone call. She did not look okay. She tried to put on a brave face and smiled. "Yeah, sweetie, I just have to take off a couple hours early today. I've got a stupid delivery coming in, and I can't miss it. It wasn't supposed to be here until six this evening, but... well, we got our wires crossed."

I wondered what it was, but I didn't pry. "I can drive you back, if you want," I offered. We had a company car that we usually only used to get to meetings out of town, but it would get Misa back faster than public transport would. "I've got a pretty light workload this afternoon."

Misa sighed in relief. "Yes, that would be incredible, thank you. Do you mind if we go now?"

I reached into my office and grabbed my jacket, while Misa took the keys from Angelo's office. We said goodbye to the others, but Ian was busy preparing for the Zoom call, and Chris and Barbie were both in their offices focusing on their work. It was three, so the traffic wasn't as bad as it usually was, and we managed to get out of the city within a fair amount of time. Misa didn't talk much throughout the journey, checking her phone very often, her leg jiggling with nervous energy.

After twenty minutes, I caved. "Okay, what's up? You're acting really... I don't know, you're making me nervous."

"Sorry," she sighed. "It's just... it's kind of personal."

"I mean, if you want to talk about it, you can trust me," I told her. "But I understand if it's too personal to talk about with me."

Misa looked torn between the options, and the rest of the journey was made up of silence. Her flat was a nice one-bed flat, but she lived further out to compensate for the rent costs. We pulled up outside, and I went to say that I hoped the delivery went okay and that she was welcome to call me if she needed anything.

I opened my mouth and she said, "Okay. Come in with me."

I was puzzled, but unclipped my seatbelt and got out of the car, locking it up behind me. I followed her to her house, watching her unlock her door and open it. It was a nice flat, with lots of cosy knitted blankets and fluffy cushions. Misa sat on the sofa, and removed her wig.