Brew Books

Chapter 34

Drew is waiting for me in the café on Charing Cross Road. He's ordered a coffee for me, and I realise it's some kind of frappe - the kind of thing I used to drink constantly, before I actually started working in a coffee shop.

I am flustered from my walk from Tottenham Court Road tube station, flustered from the heat of the underground and rushing because I'm scared of being late, and I'm really not sure how to greet Drew when I see him. He stands, and I approach him breathlessly. He takes the lead and pulls me into a half hug, half kiss, and then invites me to sit down.

'Hi,' I say again, when I've gained my breath. I stare at him.

Drew.

He looks different. His jet black hair is shorter, neater. He's wearing a shirt with graphic on it, some kind of gaming reference that I would never understand. He's got a slight blush to his cheeks, just under the frame of his glasses. Oh, I realise. His glasses are new. That's what's so strange. He's wearing a new pair of frames.

'You have new glasses,' I say stupidly.

He smiles. 'And this is the first time I've seen you with short hair. It suits you, Janey.'

'Thank you,' I say. I take a sip of my sickly sweet coffee. 'How have you been? How's university?'

'It's great, now that all our exams are over,' Drew says.

'And the nightlife?' I ask, half jokingly, because Drew's never really been an outgoing sort of person. He's always been into his books, TV, games, and studying.

'Bristol nightlife is pretty great, actually,' Drew says, and I'm surprised. We never went out together in Brighton.

'Although London,' Drew says, smiling and gesturing out the window, towards the bustling Charing Cross Road.

'Yeah, London,' I say. 'London is brilliant.'

'So you're happy here?' Drew asks. 'What are you doing? I feel like I have no idea what you're doing anymore. Have you officially quit uni?'

'Yeah,' I say. 'I don't know. I'm working at a bookstore. With Kitty. You remember Kitty?'

Drew laughs. 'Of course I remember your sister.'

'She's not my sister,' I say sharply.

'Right, I know, step-sister,' Drew says. 'Sorry. So how is Kitty?' He's always been polite to a fault.

'Kitty's fine,' I say. 'She's really established here. She moved to London straight after school, so she's been here over a year. She's got a really good group of friends and she's doing really well.'

'And you? Do you feel established?' Drew asks.

'I guess so,' I say. 'I have friends.'

'I'm glad,' Drew says. 'I have to admit, I was a bit worried about you.'

'Worried?'

'Well, you know,' Drew says.

'No, I don't know,' I say. 'What were you worried about me for? I live in London. My life is great.'

'Yes, but...' Drew shifts in his seat, and then takes a sip of his coffee. 'I don't know, Jane. You haven't exactly had it easy, recently. I know it was hard, with your mum, and your dad, and Kitty's mum. That's why I wanted to meet up with you today. Just to make sure you were okay.'

I stiffen. This is literally the last thing I wanted today. I want my ex-boyfriend to think I'm living my best life, here in London. I want him to think our break up hasn't affected me, and that I've almost forgotten about him. Instead, he still thinks of me as sad and messed up. I consider mentioning my new, blossoming relationship with Harper, but I don't know how to drop it into the conversation tactfully.

'I'm fine,' I tell Drew. 'And thanks for ordering me a coffee, but I don't drink overly sweetened lattes like this anymore. I mean, this is Caffè Vergnano, and I can barely taste the coffee because of all the sugar.'

Drew stares at me, and I realise he's seen straight through me.

'Jane,' he says. 'It's okay. I just wanted you to know that I forgive you, for everything. I don't want any bad blood between us, okay? We were together for so long, and I still think of you as someone that I want to be friends with for life. I think we can move on from everything that happened.'

'I have a favour to ask you,' I say, deciding to change the subject because I don't want to have this conversation with Drew.

'Okay?' Drew asks.

I reach down to my handbag and pull out the black laptop. I place it on the table in front of us, and open it, so the lock screen is displayed.

Matthew Lyndon-Reed.

'Who's laptop is this?' Drew asks.

'It's a friend's,' I say. 'But he's away at the moment, and I really need to get into his emails and do something for him.'

'Do what?' Drew asks. 'Can't you just text him and ask him for the password?'

'It's not that simple,' I say.

'So why have you got this guy's laptop?' Drew says. I can see his posture is stiff again, and he leans away from me slightly. I realise that despite what Drew has said about forgiveness, he has no reason to trust me. He's my ex-boyfriend, and there may not be bad blood between us, but there is history. Bad history.

'It's a long story,' I say. 'But you've always been the smartest person I know.'

Drew rolls his eyes.

'I mean it, Drew,' I say. 'You're studying computer science and engineering! I need your help with this.'

'With what? Hacking this guy's laptop?'

'Exactly,' I say.

Drew rolls his eyes. 'I can't hack a laptop, Janey.'

'Why not?' I ask, and my voice sounds shrill.

'Do you honestly think I can just type in some secret code right now and get straight into his laptop?' Drew asks. 'Is that seriously what you think?'

'Uh, yes.'

'Well, no. That's not actually how it works.' His tone is like a hit to my ego, and suddenly I remember how often Drew would talk to me like this. He is a lot smarter than I am, and he would always make passive-aggressive comments about my intelligence.

I know I'm not a genius, like he is, but I'm not dumb, and his comments always sting.

I slump, and snatch the laptop off the table and dump it back into my bag.

'Is that seriously why you saw me today? Because you wanted to hack some guy's laptop? Is he your boyfriend? And you want to check up on him?' Drew asks.

I stare at Drew. 'That's completely uncalled for.'

Drew drains the last of his coffee. 'Come on,' he says. 'There's this big book shop down the street. I figured we could wander around it. It's like old times, right?'

I take a final sip of my overly sweet coffee and then abandon it and follow Drew out of the coffee shop, and along Charing Cross Road, to Foyles. When we enter, my gaze goes immediately to the printed letters on the wall. "Welcome book lover. You are among friends."

Am I? I wonder.

• Author's Note •

Thanks for reading!

Tell me,

What's your favourite bookshop in the whole world? And what's so special about it?

See you next chapter!

elle xx