Brew Books

Chapter 23

Kitty can tell I'm in a bad mood, so she takes me to her yoga class. Afterwards, we treat ourselves to brunch at one of the cafés along Uxbridge road.

'They've got cold press juices here now,' Kitty says, looking past me to the counter. I turn and look at the drinks fridge, with a colourful display of juices.

'They look nice,' I say.

Kitty sighs. 'We're going to have to start doing juices soon. Like every second customer in summer asks whether we do smoothies.'

'Do we have space to make smoothies?' I ask, thinking of the counter in the Brew Books café. After working there a few weeks now I've started to realise just how small a space it is, especially when two people are trying to make coffees and prepare food.

'No, of course not,' Kitty says. 'But maybe we can squeeze a mini fridge in for bottles of cold press juice...' she trails off, staring fixedly at this café's fridge.

'At least Will has worked out his cold press coffee,' I say.

'Yes,' Kitty says, and at this she beams. 'I can't wait to add that to the menu in spring. And I think we need to start thinking about a rotating menu of your cakes. Oh, and I need to start deducting your baking hours from your shifts.'

'You don't need to,' I say. 'I love baking.'

'I know,' Kitty says. 'But if you're baking for the café, you're working, so I want to make sure you're being paid for it. Ed would happily allow you to volunteer, but he's all about the bottom line. And you need to keep the receipts for the ingredients you buy, so you can expense it.'

'Thanks, Kitty,' I say. I take a sip of my juice, and say, 'oh, seriously. We need to get juice.'

Kitty grabs the juice from me and takes a sip. 'Mmhmm,' she says. 'Oh, by the way,' she says as she places the juice back in front of me. 'Ed's super partial to those lavender brownies you made last week. I think he ate about four. So if you want to make those again, you'll definitely be in his good books.'

'I still have some of those lavender buds, so definitely,' I say, smiling. I like the idea of being in Ed's good books.

We eat avocado on toast, mine with feta and dukkah, and Kitty's with poached eggs. I notice that the coffee here isn't as nice as the Brew Books coffee, and the fact that I notice it impresses me. I used to love coffee from Starbucks and Costa, but since working at Brew Books I've become more attuned to the beans and the brew.

After breakfast, we put our coats back on for the short walk back to the flat. We're planning to watch Gilmore Girls, because Kitty and I used to watch it together, but when we get into Kitty's flat, Charlotte is sitting on the sofa.

Today her cherry red hair is pulled up out of her face into a half ponytail, and she's wearing an oversized sweater and black leggings. She's on her laptop, looking through street style fashion photography.

'Hey, doll,' Kitty says warmly. 'Mind if Jane and I watch TV?'

Charlotte looks up, and narrows her eyes at me for just a second, before closing her laptop and standing up. 'Of course,' she says. 'I might go down to work in the café, anyway.'

Charlotte pulls on boots and a coat and leaves.

'Work,' I scoff, but Kitty doesn't hear me, she's already settling onto the sofa.

I kick off my trainers and join her, pulling the fluffy blanket over both of us while Kitty sets up the DVD.

When we were about thirteen, Kitty and I used to religiously watch Gilmore Girls. We loved the quick dialogue and small town characters. One of our biggest arguments started when Kitty told me that she was Rory and I was Paris.

Kitty and I burst into song together when the intro song comes on. She throws her arm around me and I cuddle up to her.

Rory is moving to university, and Lorelai helps her to pack up all her stuff and move into her new dorm. It's an emotional episode, because Lorelai and Rory can't bear to be apart. There's a teary moment, and suddenly I realise I can't deal with this. I'm on the verge of crying.

'I just remembered I have to...' I say stupidly, but I'm not able to finish my sentence. I push the blanket off, standing up and moving to the front door before Kitty can say anything.

'Jane!' Kitty calls out, but I've picked up my shoes and my jacket and I'm in the hallway. I need to get out of the house, I need to run, but first I need to sit in the stairwell and pull on my trainers.

While I'm lacing up my shoes, I hear the door to outside open. My stomach lurches, and I deliberate on what to do. I could run back into Kitty's flat, or my flat, to hide from whoever this is, but then it's too late, and Harper's bounding up the stairs towards me, and I'm hastily wiping tears from my cheeks.

'Jane,' Harper says, beaming. 'I bet today I can guess your favourite book. Oh, are you alright?'

I've just tied up my second shoe, and I launch into a standing position, shaking my head as I push past Harper, down the stairs, and out of the building. I run across the road and towards the common, allowing the tears to come.

• Author's Note •

Thanks for reading! Please don't forget to vote and comment to share your thoughts and join in the conversation!

My question for this chapter is...

Have you ever watched Gilmore Girls? Are you a Rory or Lorelai? And, okay... Jess, Dean, or Logan??

See you next chapter!

elle xx