Page 86 of The Sweetheart
The pink-haired girl at the counter stood up straight and turned to give him a welcoming smile that turned to appreciation as she gave him a once-over. Nolan barely spared her a glance. His eyes locked on Kai, his back still to the counter while he finished fixing the cup in his hand.
“Uh, Kai?” the girl called while Nolan waited to get his attention. His mouth curved in an affectionate smile, his heart expanding painfully, when Kai turned and did a double-take, undisguised longing in his eyes. It was all Nolan could do not to jump the counter and scoop his sad boy into his arms.
The pink-haired girl silently took the cup from Kai’s hand and handed it to a gentleman to Nolan’s right, and Kai’s attention flickered back to the present. He moved to the cash register, his gaze never wavering from Nolan.
“Are you going to ask me what I want?” Nolan asked, keeping his voice low but unable to keep a little bit of humour out of it.
Kai punched a few buttons on the screen, then looked at Nolan expectantly. Alright, so he wasn’t talking to him. He wasn’t throwing him out either, so Nolan was going to count it as a win. He looked down at the confirmation screen in front of him and smiled when he saw that Kai had punched in a cortado for him. Of course he knew his order.
“Do you mind making it a double? I haven’t been sleeping well.”
Was he pushing his luck? Maybe, but the rush of affection he felt at the flicker of concern in Kai’s eyes made it kind of worth it.Maybe it made him an asshole, but he was grateful for any confirmation that Kai still cared. Even after what he’d done.
Nolan watched him while he prepared his drink. His face was thinner and Nolan was sure that meant he wasn’t eating properly. His eyes were bruised and tired, and his hair had grown out some. Before he was done looking his fill, Kai was sliding a paper to-go cup across the counter. Nolan pulled out a brown, hundred-dollar bill from his wallet, and when Kai gave him his change, he dropped it into the tip jar. Kai stared at him, his expression uncertain and confused. Nolan gave him a reassuring smile, pulling Kai’s phone from his pocket and sliding it across the counter to him. Then he picked up his cup and left.
When he got back into his car, he glanced over, meeting Kai’s eyes where he stood in the cafe window.
“Don’t worry, baby. Everything’s going to be fine.” He spoke the words quietly, manifesting it into existence, because he was not going to accept anything less when it came to Kai. He started the car just as his phone rang, and he hit the button to connect Myles to the car.
“Hey. They want to go in tonight.”
“No. I need time. I want him to see it,” Nolan said coldly, his heart hardening instantaneously.
Myles hesitated. “We’ll have to find him first. You want me to arrange it?”
“No. I found him. I’m on my way. We’ll discuss next steps when I get there.” He glanced over one more time. He was going to make things right, and it was already coming together beautifully.
34
“Hey, are you okay?” Felicity asked, resting a hand on his arm as he watched Nolan drive away. He’d picked up the phone from the counter, and it sat loosely in his hand while he tried to process what had just happened.
No, he wasn’t okay. He was shaken from the unexpected encounter and now his brain chanted, “What does it mean?” in a loop like it believed he, somehow, had the answers.
“I need a minute,” Kai told her, already walking away. Thankfully, the cafe was in the middle of a lull, and Priya was there if Felicity needed back up. Kai beelined for the storage room at the back. He didn’t bother turning on the light, just tucked himself into the corner and let gravity take him to the ground as he folded in on himself.
What does it mean? What does it mean?He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath in and holding it as he tried to regulate his breathing before he went into a full spiral.
Nolan’s face popped into his mind's eye, standing in his cafe. He’d looked tired, the bags under his eyes mirroring Kai’s, but he also looked so perfect.I haven’t been sleeping well, he’d said.Because they were supposed to be sleeping together. How could they rest properly when they weren’t together?
Kai cradled the phone in both of his hands, taking it in for the first time. He’d given it back. Did that mean that he wanted Kai to call? Or maybe he’d left a message. Kai swiped up, quickly pulling up the messages app but there was nothing there.
“Kai?” The door opened, and light flicked on as Abigail poked her head into the room. “Are you okay? Felicity said you seemed upset.”
Kai rested his head against the wall and sighed. “I’m fine. I just needed to get my head right.”
“Does this have something to do with the extremely handsome stranger you just served because,phew, I understand needing a breather after that.”
Kai closed his eyes; the laugh he allowed himself barely reached his ears. God, she was so unserious sometimes, but the rush of affection for his boss displaced some of his jitters.
“Do you mind if I sit with you for a few minutes?” she asked, tenderness in her voice. When he shook his head, she sat beside him, cross-legged on the floor, “Tell me about him.”
Kai didn’t know where to start. “He’s perfect. Sweet. Caring. It felt like the universe was playing a joke on me when I met him. We weren’t even together all that long.”
“I don’t think time really matters all that much. Sometimes you have a connection with someone, and it runs so deep, it feels like it always was.”
“That’s exactly how it felt. I never understood about soul mates, but the first time I saw him, I just knew who he was to me. Was it like that with Eli?”
“Oh yes,” she answered, voice wistful. “We were high school sweethearts. We just knew we were always going to be together.”
