Where Two Collide

Chapter Twenty-Four - Cat

Chapter Twenty-Four

Cat

I dressed in my warmest hoodie and met Addie in town. Addie's already ordered for us both when I arrive, and there is a steaming mug and piece of Red Velvet cake waiting for me. She's sat in a booth, so I slide in beside her. Her long hair is swept up in a top knot and she's wearing a bright green tank top, which shows off the toned muscles in her arms. She wasn't lying about the boxing; she clearly has the muscle to show for it.

"I'm so glad you came," she enthused. "I've never been told no so much in my life; you've really got that playing hard to get down to a tee."

"Oh, you know it." I winked at her then lifted the mug to my nose, giving it a sniff. "Is this coffee?" I wasn't sure, it smelled more like hot chocolate than anything else, but her previous threat of showing me what I was missing still rang in my ears.

"Absolutely," she said, batting long lashes at me. "But I thought we'd start out with the basic. Give it a try." She gestured for me to drink, whilst lifting her own mug to her lips.

I took a drink, fully prepared for the dirt-like taste. What I actually tasted was a frothy chocolate hit with an ever so light roasted bean after taste. I lick the froth from my lips and set the mug back down on the table.

"I think you might be right," I said, conceding. "This isn't half bad."

"Girl, Mocha is straight up heaven," said Addie. "Just admit it."

"It's not terrible," I laugh.

"I'll take that," she said, pumping her arm in celebration. "I'd say I have satisfactorily paid you back."

I nodded. "How is your tattoo? Does it hurt?"

"It's honestly pretty good, it's already starting to peel."

I pulled a face at her, that was not an image I wanted in my head. "Gross."

Addie grinned and then picked up her fork, attacking her cake with the kind of fervour I'd only ever seen from Alice. I smiled at that and she looked back at me questioningly.

"What?"

I brushed my hand through my hair, wondering if I should divulge or hold back. Addie seemed like she was cool, if at all possible, I'd have liked to keep her and keeping my personal life at bay wouldn't really help our new friendship. "You just reminded me of my sister," I said, finally. "She was just in hospital after a car accident."

"Oh shit," said Addie. She dropped her fork to her plate and put a hand over mine. "Is she alright?"

My brain felt like it had some sort of mechanical failure by her sudden touch and it took me a moment to recollect my thoughts. "She's fine now. Honestly it was a kind of scary, the whole thing. She almost drowned in the car, and the hospital sent her home as she was ok, but then she wasn't ok, and I found her collapsed in the bathroom." I wasn't sure why I was telling her all of this, however I felt a sense of relief finally saying it out loud.

Addie rubbed her thumb over the back of my hand, and I felt an electric shock run up through my arm. "That's so awful, I can't even imagine what you went through. Are you close?"

"She's my twin, so we're pretty close. It's like we are literally two different halves of one whole. We're nothing like each other, but I don't know what I would do without her," I said, my voice suddenly hitching as though I might cry. I never cried. That wasn't me at all, and I didn't want that to change. I pursed my lips, breathing slowly through my nose until the feeling past.

One corner of Addie's mouth lifted in a half smile. She didn't look at me in that pitying way that I had expected. She just seemed to understand. "I wish I had that kind of bond with someone," she said. "And especially to be a twin, you guys have each other's back for life, you're both so lucky."

I nodded. She was right, we were lucky. Twins were rare, except in our family and no matter how different we were, and how much we changed, we would always have each other's back. Addie's hand was still on mine, I smiled at her, trying to let her know I was okay now. She smiled back yet didn't let go.

I cleared my throat. "Do you have any brother's or sister's?"

Addie shook her head and stared off into the distance as though deep in thought. "Nope, and my parents are divorced, so I've spent the last eighteen years bouncing between them every other weekend. I think it would have been easier doing all that if I had had a someone else."

Her casual age-drop didn't escape me. She wasn't that much older than me, not even two years difference. I hadn't realised that I was concerned at all about our age difference until then, somehow, I felt more at ease with her knowing we were not that far apart. "Thanks for this Addie," I said gesturing at my cake and then at her. "It's been forever since I've had a female friend and its actually really nice to talk to you."

"You're welcome." She smiled brightly at me.

The door to the café we were in swung open and we both glanced over as the bell run on the door. A flash of recognition crossed Addie's face, and then a deep frown.

"Oh for fucks sake," she whispered under her breath.

It was the girl with the pink pixie-cut I'd seen the other night at the bar. What was her name? Piper.

Piper scanned the restaurant; it wasn't until I saw the surprise on her face when she spotted Addie that I realised this was just a coincidence. She looked as though she was considering coming over, and the angry energy Addie was emitting suggested she didn't want that at all. Piper paused mid-step, finally noticing my presence beside Addie in the booth.

That was when Addie stole the breath right out of my lungs.

With one hand still in mine, the other slipped beneath my hair cupping my neck. She pulled my face effortlessly toward hers, and her lips brushed lightly against mine. My heartbeat sped quickly, thumping out of my chest as she kissed me softly. She was kissing me. Addie was kissing me. And the strangest part was that after the initial shock, I was kissing her back.

The bell went again, the café door banged shut, and Addie stopped. The kissing stopped, and Addie's hand dropped away from my neck. She glanced nervously over at the café door. Piper was gone. When she looked back at me, she gave me a guilty look and removed her other hand from mine.

"I am so sorry," she exclaimed. "When my ex walked in, I just panicked. I thought, I can't deal with her again today. I'm sorry I shouldn't have brought you into that."

"I-I," I stuttered, still completely thrown. I'd just had my first kiss and it was nothing like I had expected. "It's fine," I said. It was not fine. I felt faint, and lost, and my hand felt cold where she'd been holding it.

"She just won't leave me alone since we broke up," Addie continued, seemingly unaware of my struggle. "She was the one that was having an affair, but she can't get it into her skull that we are over, done, caput." Addie dropped her fist on the table in frustration. "Thanks for playing along, I owe you one...again."

"You don't owe me," I said, looking away, looking at anything in the room except at her. "This was seriously enough."

"No seriously," said Addie. "You're always doing me favours I need to do better than cake this time."

I waved her off and started to slide out of my seat. I could feel my cheeks burning and had this desperate urge to get as far away from Addie as possible. "This was nice. I mean the cake and coffee was nice, not the kiss. Though there was nothing wrong with it, it was fine," I said, fumbling awkwardly over my words. "I have to get back though."

"You do? Already?" Addie looked disappointed, she set her face in her hands on the table. "But you haven't eaten any of your cake."

I forced a smile. "You have it, I know you wanted it anyway," I said, then dashed out the door.

Outside the door and on the street, I touched a finger to my lips. What just happened?

*** Please don't forget to Vote and Comment, your feedback is great and voting helps get this book in front of other readers :) ***

I was actually introduced to drinking coffee by having Mocha. Do you like coffee? Comment below!