Trust me, Kitty

Chapter 32

Mikey

The picture of a vanilla latte on the wall behind the counter made my throat tighten.

I was in line at the café where Kathryn had agreed to meet me. I had called her in the morning, already nearly convinced she wouldn't answer when I'd suddenly heard her voice. I had been a bit surprised she was actually willing to see me after Lyla's party, but I was also relieved. Maybe I still had a chance to redeem myself in her eyes. Maybe I hadn't completely screwed up.

I teared my eyes off the menu and took a few deep breaths. The fact that this was most likely my only chance to explain everything to her made me extremely nervous. I would never forgive myself if I failed today. The whole ride here, I had gone through things to say and the sentences were still flying around my head. I'm so sorry Kitty. I never meant to hurt you. It wasn't my intention to be anything more than just friends with Ruby.

"Hello?" The barista was waving at me, a concerned frown on her face. There was no one between me and the counter. I felt my face redden as I stepped forward, wondering how long had she been trying to get my attention.

"One black coffee, please," I said.

She nodded. "Anything else? Something to eat maybe?"

"No thanks," I said before getting an idea. "Actually, could I get a vanilla latte, too? A large one."

"Sure," she said, probably thinking I was a caffeine-addict. But I didn't care. All I cared about was Kathryn and now I was about to lose her. And not just because she was moving to Australia but because I had been an idiot.

It was pretty ironic, really. I was losing her because I had tried to make sure I'd make it through eventually losing her. Ruby was supposed to help me cope once Kathryn was gone but she ended up being the reason I lost Kathryn sooner than I would've needed to.

"A black coffee and a vanilla latte," the barista said, handing me a tray with the drinks on it.

I thanked her and carried the tray to a table in the quiet corner of the café. I didn't want any extra audience for what was about to happen once Kathryn arrived. Thinking about it now, it would've been wiser to meet at a more private place, somewhere with no one to hear our conversation. But it was a bit late now.

I sat down and took a sip of my coffee, the hot liquid burning my tongue. Waiting was the hardest part. There were too many thoughts flying around my head and nothing to distract me from the nervousness of eventually seeing Kathryn. I kept glancing at the clock on the wall and with each minute that passed by, I grew more and more sure she would decide not to come after all.

But then I saw a familiar figure through the glass doors. Apparently there were still too many things left unanswered that she couldn't just never meet me again. I knew she was a curious person and I was pretty sure she wanted to get to the bottom of this. She wanted to get an explanation to everything I'd done during the past four weeks.

She stepped into the café, her eyes scanning the tables until finally landing on me. As she approached, I could see how dishevelled she looked. There were dark circles under her eyes, her hair was in a messy bun on top of her head and she was wearing shorts and a baggy T-shirt. Maybe it wouldn't have been that special were it any other girl, but I knew Kathryn cared about her looks and the impression she made on other people. It was rare to see her out in public looking like this. And it was all my fault she was in this state.

She slumped down to the chair at the other side of the table avoiding looking at me. I assumed she was too angry at me to even look at me. But I didn't blame her. I'd avoided looking at myself in the mirror this morning.