Nowhere But You

Chapter 18

"So?"

Robin leaned over the counter of the coffee shop and looked up at her friend, expecting a verdict.

"I mean..." He shrugged, "It's not bad. I won't say it is."

"Oh, come on, Nathan!" She whined, although she was expecting that answer.

"It's not better than mine!" Nathan exclaimed, with his green eyes open wide.

"Shh! Keep it down!" Robin commanded. "It's slightly better than yours, plus he brought these rare exotic beans from Africa, and that also helps."

She was referring to the new barista, a tall, skinny guy covered in tattoos, who sported a bleached blonde hairdo and piercings in his face and ears. He always had a warm smile for his customers and made the best espresso shots most of them had ever tried. Robin was dying to have Nathan try them, and it was finally happening.

"So, it's the coffee, not his technique." Nathan smiled playfully and fixed the baseball hat of his old South American team he had decided to wear every day that summer. "I still win."

"Andrea makes the best cappuccinos and lattes and you used to make the best espresso, until he got here." Robin waved at the barista, who was tending a customer away from them, and he reciprocated with a big grin. "Face it, Oli," she patted his arm, "You've been dethroned."

As he followed Robin to the table, Nathan scratched the back of his neck and smiled to himself. It was the first time he'd heard her call him Oli since he got back. He hadn't dared to say it to her just yet, in fear that she wouldn't welcome it.

He still didn't know if it had been just a slip of the tongue, so he wouldn't risk it. Still, the warm feeling of things slowly getting back to normal soothingly washed over him.

They sat down at the table where River and Eli were waiting. Saturday morning. Robin and River had spontaneously run into Eli and Nathan at the coffee shop, all wishing to treat themselves with some decent carb-filled nourishment, vitamin C and caffeine.

"So, since we're all together here," Robin began to speak after swallowing a first bite of her sandwich, "I wanted to let you know I talked to your new friend Les, or Liz, yesterday at work."

"Did that encounter occur accidentally on purpose?" River inquired, familiar with Robin's ways especially when she set her mind on something.

"It just happened." She shrugged. "Anyway, I told her you guys are game."

"But," Eli said, "Does she go by Les and Liz indistinctively or...?"

"She's just Liz, okay?" Robin chuckled, "But I did question her about it... as politely as I could!" She clarified. "I saw her in the kitchen at lunch time. I was like... 'Hey! Liz, right? From accounting?' And she said: 'Hi, um, Robin. You're Sandra's assistant.' And I was like: 'Well, I do a bit of everything, heh... So, we haven't talked much yet...' And she was like: 'I'm still new here.' And I was like: 'Right, but, I just wanted to say you're a sick drummer.' "Robin paused and raised her hands in front of her. "Dudes, she stared at me, wide eyed... She has these big, almond shaped eyes, you know? She wears a ton of eyeliner... Her entire look is really cool with that long, dark hair she has! I wish my hair was that long and shiny, and—"

The guys just looked at Robin, signaling her with their eyes to carry on. River particularly enjoyed her way of telling stories, but sometimes she lost her track of thought and added more stories.

"Anyway, she just stood there, you know, processing the fact that we had blown her cover and was like: 'Was it that obvious?' And then I shot her with: 'What's not obvious is why you didn't go as yourself.' Boom."