Dancing Through The Night

Chapter 29 - Cohen

I need to talk to Alannah. The way we parted yesterday, the way the entire evening went, and the distant email, I owe her an apology. Who am I kidding. I owe her an explanation. In person.
Winston needs his morning walk so I may as well stop by her place. I can bring her a coffee. That might give me some extra points when I speak with her.

At the next cafe I pass I pick up a coffee for each of us. It takes a bit of juggling, getting the two cups to Alannah's place without spilling anything with Winston pulling in all directions. We make it eventually. Standing outside the white house, I'm relieved to see that the lights inside are on. She must be awake then. For a moment I second-guess my decision to just dropp by, unannounced, early in the morning. As quickly as the negative thoughts come, I push them away again. Enough of this cat and mouse game. Today, I'm going to kiss Alannah!

The coffees nearly fall out of my hand. Alannah left my place last night with Tessa. Where does this guy come from? His hair is all tousled but apart from that, he looks like a decent person. Josie sits on his hip, grabbing his shirt in her little fists while cooing happily.

"Can I help you?" He looks me skeptically up and down. Who is he, and who does he think I am? Surely Alannah didn't just make up with Josie's dad after leaving my place last night. Maybe he's just here to spend some time with his daughter. It's an awkward situation and I'm reminded how little I actually know about her. 

Wether she is back with Josie's dad,  or he's just visiting, I don't want to cause any dramas between them. I'm Alannah's doctor. Is she here?" There's no way he believes that. Housevisiting doctor with dog delivering coffee before 7am.

He points upstairs, his staring glance moving to the two coffee cups. "Having a shower. Want to wait?"

"Never mind. I'll call her later." And with that, I turn around and walk away, two coffee cups still in hand, dog still pulling, but I'm not concerned about spilling the drinks anymore. At the next public bin I discard them both. Another reason to never get coffee to go in single use cups. What a waste.

All morning I've been thinking about my embarrassing performance at Alannah's place. I should have just told the guy my name and waited. It's too late now. She hasn't replied to my texts. Maybe I needed this encounter to move on. I should have read the signs earlier. Alannah's never asked for me to help her. I've been pushing myself into her life. Idiot!

I'm being called into work for an emergency. That always throws my entire schedule out of the window. Now I'm off tonight. To keep my mind off this morning's events, I call Brendan. We arrange for me to come to his place in the afternoon. Brendan suggests we hang for a bit and then go to a small music festival at the other side of the beach.

With a six pack in hand I arrive at Brendan's apartment which overlooks the wharf. My shift tomorrow doesn't start until two, so I may as well have some fun tonight.