the book shop > j.l < MID EDIT

fifty seven

penelope

they found the cafe with barely any struggle, and took a seat at a table by a window so they had a view of the door and outside to see caleb when he walked in. john and penelope sat on one side with john by the window so penelope could greet caleb. they had around ten minutes left before caleb had agreed to meet them and penelopes anxiety was increasing massively per second.

her leg shook vigorously under the table and she bit at her neatly painted nails making the polish chip.

"i don't know if i can do it john," she said shakily moving her fingers to tap on the table.

"you can pen, you've come too far now - literally," he placed a hand on top of hers.

"i'm gonna get a drink, do you want one?" she asked, she needed anything to try and take her mind off of the man who was supposed to be walking through the door in a matter of minutes.

john nodded and walked to the counter with her.

penelope ordered a hot chocolate and john ordered a coke. they waited patiently for their drinks at the counter and penelope took in the cafe noticing the simplicity of the decor. it was red with signs hanging up all over the walls and framed photographs, penelope thought it looked like a good location to bring her camera and take a photo shoot.

her thoughts however were abruptly disrupted by the chime of the bell on the back of the door. her heart almost escaped her throat when her and john both turned around to see him.

he was tall, around six foot, he was muscly and had a thick head of dark hair. he most certainly didn't look his age which was forty six. his eyes were big and a blue colour, but they were round in a puppy dog way making them seem kind. he was a handsome man, john felt quite intimidated by his presence.

penelope stared at him as he made his way over to the counter, still having not noticed her. she instantly knew his face, how could she not? she'd obsessed over his photograph for four years.

eventually his eyes did land on her, and his face paled almost as if he'd seen a ghost. he slowly walked over to her and john grabbed their drinks and just stood next to penelope holding them as he noticed the obvious similarities between the two people. his head flicked between the two in amazement.

"penelope?" his voice called out. his voice was deep and he had a thick welsh accent.

penelopes voice got caught in her throat and so she just nodded her head slowly. john nudged her arm and she snapped out of her daze.

"uh yeah, caleb?" she laughed nervously to which he responded by nodding back.

"goodness you can tell you're a relative of sabrina's you're the spitting image of her," his voice cracked slightly - barely noticeable. his eyes wandered over to john and he held out a hand to greet him obviously noticing he was with penelope.

john took it quickly, "john, im penelopes boyfriend," he gave a small smile and caleb returned it.

john led the way to the table in silence as neither party knew exactly how to start the dreaded conversation. john slid into the booth first followed by penelope and caleb sat opposite the two. they offered to buy him a drink but he refused saying he didn't want one.