As they walk Jack looks around but there's no sign of Mike anywhere. Relief floods through Jack. He quickly opens up the locker, 'Take that Mike! Yes, that's right even after everything I still have the key.' He gloats to himself as he gets his wallet and a shirt. Iona's putting some clothes on over her costume smiling to herself as she replays how smug he looked when he pulled the key out.
As they're walking out though Iona sees Mike walking back to the desk. She speeds up a little bit not too keen on starting another conversation between him and Jack. That's right she noticed the strange tension and came to the conclusion that Mike was just being protective of seeing her out of school with someone they don't know. Chalking it up to nothing more than brotherly love in action, 'but it's not like he's completely wrong to be thinking that I'm maybe influenced by this stranger.' She closes her eyes for a bit longer a blink, trying to blink out the idea that Jack is influencing her in any way. She's a strong independent-thinking woman after all. She's walking even faster to try to leave before Mike can say anything else to them.
Iona wasn't the only one to see Mike. You didn't think Jack was that blind did you? Nope, not after walking in on high alert. 'I hope we don't have to stop to talk to him again. I'm hungry and I don't feel like getting threatened by the guy who's her father's favorite person and the guy who's properly going to rat us out to her parents. It's not like I haven't really given him a chance, but there's a type and he's it. I don't think I made the best impression either so it wouldn't surprise me if he just has it in for me already.' Jack's mind is running through all of this as they walk quietly.
Iona ends up leading them out a way that avoids Mike completely and they end up walking out the side of the building right onto the street. "You learn a thing or two volunteering in the holidays."
"Cool." Jack's just too happy that she didn't stop to chat, and just like that they both silently agree not to say anything else about sneaking past her friend. "So where do you want to eat?"
"Anywhere is good. I don't really mind." She looks a little distracted so Jack takes a quick look for whichever one looks most likely to serve ice cream. The thing about beachside cafes and restaurants is that they're like book covers and although you can get an idea of what's inside from what you see on the street you can't be completely sure about how much ice cream there will be when you get there. So Jack decides that they need a better method for choosing where to eat.
"Okay how about this," He puts his hand over her eyes and points his hand out. He then swings it left to right and ends up stopping somewhere to the right where he hopes the place that looked the best is, "we eat there."
The whole process leaves her laughing again and it feels great. The sort of feeling that you get from dancing between blown bubbles. They both feel it every time he makes her laugh. Every time they've spared with words. She moves her mouth from side to side like she's chewing on the idea of eating there, "I've never been there but it looks good to me."
So they cross the street and walk to the little resultant with the big window facing the sea and tables just behind it. It's well-lit and smells like hot coffee and pastries as they enter. Jack goes up to the display window and looks at the different cakes and pastries that line the shelves behind the glass, and then at the menu that's printed out on the wall behind the counter. Iona grabs a table by the window and starts flicking through her phone to make sure no one is looking for her or asking her why she was suddenly sick. To her surprise, there's no message or missed call or anything. She then chooses to take some pictures of the sea and the cafe and maybe one or two of Jack while he's not looking.
As he's studying the menu a middle-aged-looking woman comes out from what I assume is the kitchen. I mean I'm not sure what other room would be behind a cafe counter. Maybe a speakeasy for nannies, or a Mom's Fight Club, or a meeting spot for mafia widows with vendettas, but those are all other stories that we don't have time to unpack today. So moving on! We were just about to see how the rest of Jack and Iona's day plays out and if they're really getting away with sneaking out of school...
"Hello, what can I help you with?" The middle-aged woman who is definitely not a mafia widow with a vendetta asks. She has a warm voice and a smile big enough to leave traces all over her face. Jack can't help but picture her as a mom, it gives the little place a homely feeling.
"Hi, can I please have one hot chocolate with everything, a coffee, and two of those roast beef sandwiches? Thank you." He orders for both of them after looking to see Iona studying her phone at one of the tables by the big window that made him choose this cafe over the other restaurants and cafes that line the street. Just between you and me, she's studying his face in the picture she took of him. Committing everything about him, about the day to memory.
"Just a moment, please."
She went back through the door she had just come out of, and a moment later comes back with two plates in her hands, on which are some of the best looking sandwiches I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot of amazing sandwiches from all corners of the universe. She sets the plates down on the counter and goes back to fetch the two mugs. One with what looked like cream, cocoa powder, and sprinkles on top and the other with what looks like a milky coffee. Jack thanks her again and pays for the meal telling her he'll come back for pastries even if they wouldn't eat them now because they looked so good. She laughs and with that Jack carries the mugs first. Then the sandwiches over to their table.
"There you go a hot chocolate with everything for you and a coffee for me, and two of the best looking roast beef sandwiches we might ever eat," he says sitting down across from her.
"Wow this looks great," she says looking down at the food in front of her, "How did you know I'd want a hot chocolate with everything?"
"Well, you see I'm gifted."
"Really?"
"Yes, I can read your mind." He jokes over my lucky guess.
"Well then tell me this, what am I think right now?" she tests.
"You're thinking about how amazing I am and that that sandwich is mine if you don't eat it soon," He says reaching over to pull her plate closer to him.
"Hey, no fair that's mine." she protests and pulls her plate back.
She then takes a sip of her drink and the cream lines her top lip. It doesn't stay there long, because as soon as Jack's about to mention it a little pink tongue runs across her lip and removes the cream. When she catches him watching her she blushes and the only thing he can think about is home cute she looks. He shrugs his shoulders and smiles as he picks up one of the triangles of his own sandwich and takes a bit. It tastes even better than it looked on the plate. Obvious Iona agrees since he can hear a moan escape her mouth as she bits into her own sandwich.
She quickly covers her mouth and he smothers the giggle coming up his throat as he mentally takes note of it. A part of him is tempted to see her blush again, but another part of him is worried that she might never do it again so instead he carries on eating. Pretending that he didn't hear a thing as he takes another bit.
"So what do you think?" he tries to carry on like trying to draw attention away from what just happened.
"It's really good," she says before taking another sip of hot chocolate.
"Yeah, it is. Much better than some of the places I've been to before. I'm glad I pointed here otherwise we would never have found these amazing sandwiches." He says taking another bite of his sandwich but he's trying not to let it slip that he chose this place because it looked like the cafe that he went to once with his dad and his brother when he was really small. A cafe that now feels a little bit closer. He goes quiet his face relaxing as fragments of memories sweep past behind his eyes.
Iona turns to stare out the window her own thoughts taking her elsewhere.
They stay in the seaside cafe for a long time enjoying the food and each other's company. Somehow Jack's fallen into a comfortable, laidback feel when he's around her. His thoughts wander back to her. 'Who'd have thought that a person I've only known for two days could get me to open up and relax when people who I've known for years can't even hold a conversation with me for longer than ten minutes.'
He ends up going back to the counter three more times. Twice for more hot chocolate and once to order pastries and big slices of chocolate cake, and ends up blowing all the money he'd managed to save up for the past two months. I can't say he regrets it though or that he regrets making her skip breakfast today. In fact as far as I can tell he seems pretty pleased with himself.
"So let me get this straight, you were only in school here for a month before you managed to get to know the nurse pretty well, you were in detention twelve times, and got suspended during exams?" she sums up what he just told her rather shocked at his newly achieved school record.
"To be fair I said about twelve times, it could be less... it could be more," His shoulders rise and fall knowing full well that it's fourteen including yesterday's trip to see her, but who's counting? "But yes that's pretty much right," he answers as if it's nothing.
"You know Jack, I've never met anyone with the ability to attract trouble the way you do."
"You ain't seen anything yet Princess," He smiles from the other side of the table toying at the thought of getting in trouble with her. Well rather at the thought that detention would suck a whole lot less with her there.
"I can't wait," She stops mid-sentence. Her face falls and she looks through him. She takes a deep breath resigning herself to the fate that is; the consequences of her own actions. Knowing this doesn't make it any better.
He never gets to hear what she was going to say because just then guess who walks into the cafe. That's right good old "just-a-friend-Mike" and he has the you're-parents-are-worried-about-you-and- you-need-to-leave-right-now look written all over his face. What can I say? He has a very expressive face. Jack would bet anything that he's here to tell her that her parents have been calling her for the past hour and they just called him, then he's been looking everywhere for her. Then it's the "I'm so happy I found you here" line and "I'll cover for you if you leave now". Lines that Jack would be more than happy to play if he knew that her parents would believe, or even just like him.
'This isn't going to end well.' He thinks as Mike stands as close as he possibly can to Iona.