The Voicemail (Me and Mrs. Jones Sequel)

9. Revealed

The cold, stale air should’ve driven everyone into the comforts of their home, but it wasn’t like that for a certain Irish lad. It was early in the morning and, believe it or not, the lads were given a couple of days off so of course they decided to come back to their home in Dublin. On his day off of course Danny was up and about instead of catching up on sleep.

“I’m absolutely freezin’,” a feminine voice echoed. 

Danny then felt a soft hand travel down his and intertwine with his long fingers. He looked down and saw bright blue eyes staring up at him. 

“It feels good,” he replied simply. “I love the cold.”

He started to breathe out, causing white clouds to billow off his lips making him feel like a dragon. He bit back a grin as he remembered how he used to love doing that.

“I can do this,” Danny said with a laugh.

“Ugh,” Tammy rolled her eyes. “How old are you, 9?” She laughed at him.

Danny laughed with her, ignoring the disappointment in him. He had been hoping that she’d join in on his antics but she hadn’t. But he just went along with it. “Ten, thank you very much,” he smirked.

“Whatever,” Tammy laughed. She continued to press herself to Danny’s side for some sort of warmth. She started to look around her surroundings when she halted suddenly, her eyes caught onto something interesting. “Hey, wait...what’s that?”

Danny stopped as well, turning to look at what she was pointing at. But when he did, he felt his heart stop.

He couldn’t believe it. He didn’t want to believe it.

“Hey, I think…,” Tammy took a step towards the shop. “I think it’s open.”

“Ummm,” Danny muttered.

“C’mon,” she replied. “I wanna try it.” She then started to pull Danny through the door.

Danny tried to pull her hand away and come up with a good excuse as to why he didn’t want to go in there, but he couldn’t think of one. He couldn’t help but hold his breath as Tammy continued to drag him through the glass door of Karen’s little cafe.

Unable to help himself, he let his eyes roam towards the little corner in the room where he had spent a good time of his life. He wasn’t surprised to see that it was still exactly the same. He then looked to the left and nearly laughed out loud.

Of course. Of course Karen wouldn’t have gotten rid of that old jukebox.

It still smelled of freshly baked goods and coffee. He couldn’t help but revel in the familiar warmth Karen’s always used to give him.

“What do you want, Danny?” Tammy cut through his thoughts.

He turned around just in time to see that Tammy was at the counter ordering something. He walked to stand behind her and was surprised to see a younger man at the register instead of Karen herself. He looked to be about 17 with his boyish face and brown eyes. What happened to Karen? Did something happen to her?

“Danny,” a voice gasped from  the kitchen door.

Danny looked up just in time to see the woman herself burst through those kitchen doors with flour dusting her face. She hadn’t changed a bit!

“Karen!” Danny said. He jumped over the counter and wrapped her in a tight hug, unable to help himself. “Lookin’ lovelier than ever.”

“Oh hush,” Karen blushed, slapping his arm lightly. “You’re still as cheeky as ever, makin’ an old bird like me blush.”