🌹Every Rose Has Its Thorn🌹

Chapter Two ~ Vanilla Latte

As a single mum Josie is always running around, after her work at the shop she has to get the groceries, prepare dinner, clean the house, help the kids with their homework, drive them around to and from their hobbies or friends houses and a hundred and one other things.
She absolutely doesn't have green fingers but fortunately her father makes sure her little garden is always in order. Josie's mother tries to help her with the cleaning, she watches Lou and Alex after school and on these days she often cooks for Josie too but she has a chronic muscle illness and on bad days she can do nothing other than lay in bed. Josie is very grateful for everything her parents do for her, they let her live her own life without interfering or doubting her decisions.

After work Josie drives to the grocery store, the kids are with her at the moment so she always needs to buy more food.  Alex and Lou are with Josie for ten days and then they go to their father/Josie's ex-husband from Wednesday after school till Sunday evening.

At first this arrangement was hard on Josie and it still isn't easy to miss her kids for five days but she accepts it and likes that it gives her more time for herself or to catch up with administration for the shop or the household. The kids are both okay with this arrangement, they are used to it after all this time and of course they love getting to have two birthday parties and Christmas gifts at two places.
Alex knows and understands the reasons why his parents split up. Lou acts like she is fine with everything but Josie thinks the little girl secretly hopes her mother and father will someday get back together again.

Harry is enjoying his free afternoon, after he goes to the flower shop he makes a random woman happy. The woman he gives the roses to is so overwhelmed she begins to cry. Harry loves to make people happy with just a small act of kindness. Then he walks through town, it's his friend, Nick's birthday party this Saturday and their group of friends want to give him a travel voucher and of course Harry is the chosen one who needs to go to the travel agency to buy it.
He also stops at his favourite vintage shop. In the past he has found a couple of little treasures in shops like this but today he isn't that lucky but that's okay, sometimes it happens.

Before he goes home Harry thinks he deserves a sweet coffee from the coffee shop so that's his last stop. When he steps in he immediately notices how busy it is, looks like he is not the only one who discovered they make the best coffee at this place. When Harry came here for the first time a couple of months ago he was always alone here but these days, you have to be lucky to find a spot to sit and you always have to wait at least ten minutes to order but the coffee is so worth it.

"A Vanilla latte please." Harry says to the young barista when she asks for his order. After paying he stands waiting to get his order, to pass the time he looks around the coffee shop. His heart skips a beat when his green eyes meet a familiar pair of brown ones. They stare at each other for a minute before a big smile covers her face and she waves at him to come over. At the same time the barista calls his name and he takes his drink from her and thanks her.

With a nervous feeling in his stomach Harry walks up to the woman, his mind is going crazy, what does he say to her? How does he act?
"Hello, flower girl," Harry says with a shy smile when he reaches her table at the back of the coffee shop.
"Hi, I was wondering if you want to join me?" Josie asks. She doesn't know where she suddenly gets the courage from but she wants nothing more than to get to know the man who has been wandering through her thoughts so much. Harry nods enthusiastically and sits down with a big smile.
"I'm Harry, by the way. I don't think I ever introduced myself properly," Harry says a little shyly. Both of his hands are holding his cup like he is scared it will walk away or he doesn't know what to do with his hands. Josie looks up with twinkling eyes.

"I'm Josie," she introduces herself. "Do you come here often?" She asks after a moment of silence, both shy, nervous but also excited at the same time.

"No not too often, I try to drink not too much coffee. Especially sweet coffees like this, it isn't healthy and I try to treat my body as healthily as possible. But I already went for a jog this morning and I'm going to the gym tonight so I think I deserve this vanilla latte." Harry winks at Josie, a giggle escapes her lips and Harry thinks it is an adorable sound.
"I'm having the vanilla latte too, the coffee here is the best." Harry nods
"Yes it definitely is but to be honest.... I liked it more when in was less crowded."
"Yes it was more cosy and relaxing before. Now it's just noisy." From then on they talk about anything and everything, they both feel comfortable with each other and discover they have so much in common.

After some time Josie's phone beeps, she looks at it and suddenly a frown covers her face.

"Sorry Harry, I would love to talk more but my father just texted me to ask if I can get the kids from school because he can't make it at school in time." Josie says, a little disappointed she has to end this nice conversation with this wonderful man.

"You... you have... kids?" Harry stutters. He didn't see this coming, during the whole conversation Josie didn't give any clue about being a mother.

"Erm... Yes, I do. Alex is ten years old and Lou is eight years old." Josie says while she puts on her coat and scarf.

"Thanks for the nice conversation, Harry. I really liked it and... I'll see you tomorrow." Josie gets up before her head ducks down and she presses her plush red lips against the pink skin of Harry's cheek.
"Bye Harry," she whispers in his ear. Harry gasps for air, it's an innocent kiss but to Harry it means so much more. Than Josie walks out the coffee shop with a little smile on her face and a belly full of butterflies.

Harry walks home but his head isn't in the present, it's back at the coffee shop with Josie. Their conversation had been perfect, they have similar hobbies, similar outlooks on life,... When she announced she has two kids, then kissed his cheek and said she liked her time with him, he was shocked by all of this. He never thought a beautiful woman like Josie would have fun spending time with him. Harry knows he isn't bad to look at but he thinks sometimes people think he is a little weird, especially his humour.

When he gets home and prepares dinner Harry is so distracted by his thoughts about Josie he cuts his finger. He can't stop thinking about the way her red lips felt on his cheek and how she gripped his shoulders with her little soft hands when she kissed him.
He didn't expect her to have children, she told him she is thirty years old so she became a mother very young. Harry loves kids, some day he wants kids himself but a relationship with a woman who has two children out another relationship? He has no experience with that but he thinks it can be pretty complicated. What if the children don't like him? He is sure the relationship is automatically doomed even if they loved each other very much. But he doesn't know Josie's children and they don't know him, maybe they will like him a lot? Why is he even thinking of this? Maybe Josie even doesn't want to date him? What if she is married? Maybe he misunderstood? Does he have a crush on a married woman?
No, he pushes those thoughts away, if Josie was married she wouldn't flirt with him, she wouldn't give him a kiss on the cheek or say she liked their time together. She definitely isn't in a relationship with another man. But the kids are real, Harry tells himself and than he asks himself an important question.
Is the fact Josie has children a reason not to ask her out on a date?