Promise?

Chapter 13

She spent the rest of the day in her bed, watching movies that she had already watched and then some episodes, all armed with the junk she needed.
And thinking about what she would say tomorrow when they actually met over coffee.
Chloe was bad at small talk, but somehow felt the need to fill the silences. And it got really awkward when she didn't know the person meaning which she would just remain saying random stupid things that didn't make sense and make a fool of herself.

What she loved was deep diverse conversation. She never understood how people got along with small talk. To her, knowing the person in and out was what appealed. The more you know the person, the more you read between the lines, the more you save yourself some ditching or heartbreak.

Wrapping up the most lazy day she had in weeks, she slept still not knowing if she was making a mistake.

******

She entered the cafe that they once frequented, thinking he would be late and she would have to wait.
But there he was, slightly waving at her and with that smile on his face that made her feel it would all be alright.

She smiled back and sat there, looking at him, rather closely for the first time, without being in a fit of rage or wanting to kill him, or the hangover that was killing her.
And oddly enough, she felt at peace.

With some really great coffee in her hands and a bit of a conversation flowing, she was not anxious and was deeply thankful that she didnt have to hunt for topics to fill the silences.

'So what are you upto these days' he asked, looking at her like he was trying to read her.

"Oh nothing great. I'm just some accountant at some firm you wouldn't know much about. What about you?"

" Until now, I learnt the ins and outs of marketing. What works and what doesnt. And it was all going great until this guy I worked with suggested that i was great at the writing too and maybe I should try something new. So here I am, kind of at a sabbatical/career change as the manager of my firm would like to see what I'll do if I was given some time to study people and present him with some article that would make him want to give some column space in a magazine not many would know about and thats about as brief and accurate as it can get." He ended, taking a deep breath.

"You ever tried participating in a monologue competition?" She snorted, laughing at her own joke.

"No, I didn't. I knew you'd beat me." He said with a smirk knowing that would definitely get to her.

Faking a smile and taking an ever patient sip from her coffee she crushed all his hopes as she calmly replied, "Like I would at almost anything else."

"Oh, you sure about that?" He asked, challenge much evident in his tone.

"Positive. I'm already good at accounts and numbers, can deal with human emotions better than you and can manage to write something decent on any topic you tell me to. But nothing geography related so don't show off okay?"

"You think you can write better than me?"

" I'd definitely do better than you if I had to write something and you had to do accounts."

" Great. Five sentences on homeostasis. Start."

" Homeostasis is a topic that Alan so gladly presented, with the intention of making me look foolish, thinking I would look stupid not knowing what it is. Well, I dont. But here I am talking about homeostasis just because I can, enjoying the colour drain from his face as he just realised I will make a sentence out of everything. And while I am at it, I would like to tell hime that even he wouldnt be able to explain what homeostasis is, let alone prepare such a wonderful monologue. And now, there he is sitting, sulking, silently sipping his coffee because clearly, I can say better monologue, I made 5 sentences on my feelings for homeostasis and I know that he knows that no way in hell would he be able to solve accounts." She exhaled to then say, "That good enough for you?" And then proceeded to sip her coffee in a way that she had just kicked his ass and proved her point.

Recovering from his momentary bruised ego sulking, he said, "You totally spoke shit in the form of sentences and I love what a smartass you've become. God, you're amazing."

"Oh my god, am I supposed to blush or something? Fall in love with you? Develop some secret crush?" Sarcasm flowing right off her tongue. Or maybe not much.

"I thought you already were." And there came the smirk.

"If I ever was, it all went down the drain just now as I saw you sulking there, without putting much of a fight. Come on, what happened to you?"

"Nothing. Just a little bit out of practise."

"Good for me. I get to kick your ass."
She smiled.

"Dont dream too much. You got any plans for today?"

" Not really, no. Why?"

"Then maybe stick around for lunch. Then I'll drop you home after some pointless roaming."

" Where do you want to roam?" She asked.

" I dont know. We'll see."

"What do you mean we'll see. Atleast tell me."

" I havent really thought about it okay. Lets have lunch and then decide. As much as it drives you crazy, i dont know."

" Its not driving me crazy. I just like to know things. Be well informed, you know." She sulked, putting up a weak argument as she pouted.

" One thing about life is, you dont really completely know everything. So learn to embrace that fact."

"Yeah to embrace tha fact." She repeated, mocking, rolling her eyes.
"No need to be some pep-talk giving 40 year old in a pantsuit okay?" She continued.

This made him laugh so hard, he almost told her how much he'd missed her.

"You know you're crazy right?" He said

"Sure. Like everybody isn't." She retorted.

"They are?" He asked raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah. We're all our own different amounts of crazy. Someone's crazy is other's normal and vice versa. Perception, my child." She completed.

"Now look at you getting all yoda about perception." He laughed.

And as she sat there, in the same old cafe, she was just glad to meet the friend she thought she had lost. And grateful that she could still talk to him aboug anything and everything. And kick his ass.