the deal; twh

Chapter 1 - Deals and Tea

This is a long time coming (that's what she said) ;)

     I sit down at an empty booth, anxiety filling my insides. I feel my leg start bouncing up and down as if I'm trying to operate a sewing machine with a broken foot pedal. I inhale, then exhale all the same, trying to ground myself in the few minutes I had alone. I take a sip of my tea. Unfortunately, it nearly burns the inside of my mouth and I jump in my seat. I frantically look around, making sure no one saw me. I set my tea down, allowing it to cool and try my best to relax.

     "I'm sorry I'm late. That meeting seemed to have no end." He sets his coat on the seat across from me. I look up and I meet his ocean blue eyes. "Darling, are you alright?" I nod. He smiles and goes up to the counter for his tea. He comes back shortly and sits down across from me. I feel calmer by the second. "Now, what did you want to talk about?"

     "The play." I sip my tea. He smiles to himself.

     "Ah yes, the play that you have told me nothing about. Opening night is Friday, right?" I chuckle softly and nod.

     "So the play is called Mind Swept. It's about a young family where the father suffers from a memory loss disease, not Alzheimer's. The family deals with slowly losing someone, not physically but mentally. They try to salvage every last moment with him until his mind is, well, swept away," I take a pamphlet out of my bag, "it's explained better in this." I slide the pamphlet across the table and he begins reading. "The father's named Mark, I play Mark's wife, Amy."

     "Wife?" He smirks as he looks up to me, his eyes radiating mischief, "how'd you prepare for that role?" I smile.

     "I just pretended Mark was someone from real life that I cared so much about."

     "That someone is in your friend group?" His smirk grew bigger.

     "Yes, and he cares deeply about others."

     "Oh, well, I'm flattered." He sits on straight and puffs his chest proudly.

     "Also, you know, I was inspired by my parents." I sip my tea with a smirk on my face, "You're great too." I add quickly. He chuckles.

     "Wow, the great Evelyn Kent complimenting me? Who would've thought?" Sarcasm rings through his voice. I sigh happily. Silence ensues as we continue sipping our tea. "Whoa, guess what I just remembered?" He looked at me with wide eyes, his lips curved at the ends. My brows furrow.

     "You... left the hob on?" He shakes his head, his smile growing a bit bigger.

     "Remember that deal we made in our second year of university? The one about marriage? Your role in your play reminded me of it" I feel my heart skip a beat. I can't believe he remembers that.

     "How many years left?" I ask him as I feel anxiety slowly taking over my body again. He takes a minute to think. His eyes bounce around the table as if he's imagining the numbers in front of him. He finally looks up to me, his eyes timid.

     "One." I sat back in my seat. Time has literally flown by. Who knew that two twenty-year-olds would set us up like this. "Lyn, we don't have to do this if you don't want to. We were young and stupid, I won't blame you."

     "I am a woman of my word. Are you a man of yours?" I smirk at him.

     "Of course." He sits up straight, attempting to look intimidating yet failing as a goofy smile took over his face. "So, it's a deal then?" He extends his hand out.

     "It's a deal." I smile and shake his hand.

-

"You think I can come over for a little while? I miss Bobby." He chuckles softly at my remark.

"Of course, darling. I would be lying if I said he didn't miss you too." A big smile takes over my lips. I become giddy as my mind races to memorize Bobby's face. We continue walking down the street as silence ensues. "You're sure you want to do this?" His voice shakes slightly with the sound of worry.

"Of course! I haven't seen Bobby in... like... two days? Is that right?" He smiles to himself, chuckling softly and whispering something to himself. He looks back to me with his facial features more serious.

"I mean, the deal." My face shifts back to a neutral position.

"Well, yeah. I told you, I'm a woman of my word." I go to cross the street. my eyes still connected with his. He abruptly pulls me back by the arm. A car zooms past us, I look up to him, "Thank you." I breathe out.

"Well, woman of your word, perhaps you should invest in your eyesight." He smiles cheekily. We cross the street.

"Says the one with glasses." I rebuttal with a smirk on my face.

"You have glasses too. Oh, and look, you're not wearing them!"

-

As soon as Tom opens the door to his flat, Bobby comes barreling towards him. I giggle and squat down, petting him as he licks my face. We go further into Tom's flat and he locks the door behind him. I sit down on the floor. Bobby continues to attack my face as I giggle uncontrollably and try my best to continue petting him. My eyes catch Tom for a quick second and I realize he's been staring at me for the last minute. I furrow my brows at him, Bobby calms down.

"What? I'm not allowed to look at my dog or my best friend?" I roll my eyes playfully and smile to myself. Bobby makes himself comfortable on my lap. I brush his silky, cocoa fur. Tom disappears into the kitchen and comes back out with a metal tray. He extends his arm down, signalling me to take a biscuit. "My mum made biscuits again, she said the chocolate ones are specially for you."

I smile, taking one and biting into it. It is quite literally heaven in my mouth. Tom smiles as he sees my reaction. "Give your mother my love!" A few crumbs spill out of my mouth. "Sorry!" A few more spill out, Tom chuckles.

"Are you okay to stay a little while longer?" I nod. He shuffles toward the couch, Bobby following. I get up, sitting next to Tom. He turns the telly on, "why don't we watch..." he lingers on, surfing through the options. I lean forward and squint my eyes a little. He turns to look at me. "Wear your bloody glasses!"