DAWNING POINT (AgeTabooRomance)

Chapter 2

"And you just walked out?" My best friend Kallum gaped at me in disbelief as I crunched down on another biscuit.

"Pretty much," I shrugged my shoulders as I finished my rendition of Friday night. "What, you don't believe me?"

He just laughed and shook his head, snagging a biscuit off my plate.

Warm afternoon sun blanketed the floor of café Delilah's, the only place we went for coffee in town.

The aroma of coffee beans lingered in the air, fresh and earthy. I loved the smell. And after having tried everywhere in town for a decent cup of coffee, I refused to drink it anywhere else but here.

Kallum sat opposite me, his eyes hooded as he processed the whole event to decide whether I was lying or not.

I sipped my coffee as I waited. I understood why he would question it. I wasn't the type of person to plunge into morality disputes with strangers, and quite frankly I was still surprised at myself. Conflict had always been a part of my everyday home life, so I avoided it as much as possible. However now when I thought again of his arrogance and abuse, I knew I did the right thing.

"Damn Lala, I am proud of you. You got some serious fucking balls," he prided, still chewing.

No one else in the world called me Lala. Kall and I had been friends since we were six and it had stuck ever since; no matter how much I didn't like it.

The pun wasn't lost on me. "I know right!"

"Geez, calm down." He took a long swig of his double-shot flat white. "You know you could get fired if Chris finds out... How do you know this guy isn't going to give you more trouble?"

"What is he going to say?" I threw out my hands. "'One of the little girls who works for you, that is like– half my age, by the way, has more nuts than I do'?"

Kallum snorted at my snideness. Really, his age had nothing to do with it, more so his maturity at his age was what threw me.

Kall wasn't wrong, though. I should probably be worried about losing my job. But somehow old mate didn't seem like the type of guy to go running to teacher to tell on me, no matter what he threatened. If he was clever and really wanted to get me back for the sure embarrassment I'd caused him in front of his colleagues last night, he'd get Chris on his side, have me make a formal apology and have me wait on him hand-and-foot each week.

Wasn't that a wonderful thought.

And I knew Chris would make me do that man's bidding as compensation to him for "damaging The Harbour's image" or some shit, even though he'd deserved everything he'd got.

Asshole.

Despite whether I was concerned or not, I really hoped it was the last time I'd ever see him again. Old-crank, not Chris.

Maybe Chris, too?

Oh, to hell with men anyway.

In any case, raven eyes was not likely to forget me, unless that was just his typical Friday night on the town.

All waitstaff should be so lucky.

And although I wasn't scared, per say, to run into him again, the anticipation gave me goose bumps at the thought. "He was just an asshole that wanted a fight. I gave him one. End of story," I stated matter-of-factly to Kallum, but more so to appease myself. I didn't want to worry about this any further.

Despite the front I put up around – well, everyone – I never acted like a brat for no reason. Everything I did I did with purpose and reason in mind.