Almost Loved

by Mira Toria

  To the family, sisters, besties and hammies.

  The bartender placed the two Black Russians in front of the girls and started to turn when the blonde woman placed her hand over his for him to stop. Flashing a blinding smile, she spun a strand of her hair between her fingers.

  “What does it take for a girl to leave a guy her number?”

  He was certainly getting an eyeful with how she was tilting her body, displaying everything to her advantage. There was no point in denying she wasn’t attractive because the dress was flattering, leaving little to his imagination.

  On a regular night he would’ve gladly flirted with her and quite possibly have pushed it further if she was interested, but tonight something – or rather someone – unintentionally caught his attention and that threw him off. Shaking his head, he gently moved his hand away and smiled in the direction of the brunette laughing with her friends.

  She had come to get a drink earlier and caught him off guard with how comfortable and unfazed she was around him. Aside from her ability to match him word for word, he couldn’t stop thinking about the pout that played on her mouth.

  Their conversation hadn’t been lengthy – in fact, it was shorter than any other conversation he had so far – but she managed to unconsciously dazzle him to the point where after she left with her drink, his mind wandered with her in it.

  He would’ve ignored all of this and called it a day if he hadn’t noticed her eyes flashing towards him a few times. A smirk pulled at his mouth as he thought about it – clearly he wasn’t the only one left curious by their conversation.

  “So?” He snapped his attention back to the girl at hand, she was still looking up expectantly at him. “How about after your shift we have our own event?”

  Giving her a small smile he shook his head, not tonight when his mind was elsewhere - he wasn’t cruel enough to do that. Besides, the night was still young.

  “The event’s pretty good tonight.” The brunette he was admiring looked over and quickly looked away embarrassed when she realised he was staring at her as well. He noticed that her cheeks were slightly pink, like she flustered, and his mouth pulled into a grin. “Definitely good and getting even better.”

  “Run! Lyris, run!”

  Lyris pounded the ground with her feet, running away as fast as she could, listening to him shout out at her like her life depended on it.

  She tried to yell out that she was, but she felt hands grabbing onto her waist.

  Lyris Bond woke up with a start, breathing hard like she’d been running a marathon. Groaning because it was far too early to be awake, she tried to go back to sleep, hoping against her better judgment that she would be able to get a few dreamless hours before her alarm rang.

  Dreamless moments where she could leave behind Bradley and everything she ever thought was real.

  A few hours later, Lyris found herself in her café, making drinks to order as the crowd thickened. She couldn’t help but feel happy as she let her eyes pass through her café; the sight of a line that was progressively moving forwards, and the sounds of satisfied customers grabbing their coffee with more enthusiasm than they would want to admit.

  As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t let herself get distracted by everyone. The last thing she wanted was for the soft hums of and happy sighs to turn into grumbles of annoyance. Pouring the milk into the cup, she checked the name before calling out to the crowd, “I have a medium macchiato for Carly!”

  Carly bounced forwards, weaving through the crowd before she claimed her drink. “Thanks, Lyris!” As she excused her way towards the doors, Carly took a sip of her latte and took a moment to wave goodbye again. “See you tomorrow, Evey!” she called out.

  The blonde girl at the register quickly waved goodbye to Carly seconds before the next customer came forwards, eager to have their caffeine fix for the day.

  Lyris continued to call out drinks for the next hour before things finally calmed down enough for her to grab some water. The rush in the café was expected because their extra hand, Claire, was sick.

  As the café emptied, the two of them fell into their routine, picking up dirty mugs that were left at tables and wiping down crumbs.

  “I have a bit of a hate-love relationship with morning rushes,” Evey admitted, retying her blonde hair into a tighter ponytail. “I appreciate the business, but it can be a bit overwhelming.”

  Lyris grinned, knowing she shared the same sentiment. The rush could be a little daunting especially when people became progressively anxious as they waited.

  “I know,” Lyris said, “but come on Eves, would we have it any other way?”

  “Have I ever told you how much it sucks working with my best friend?” Evey laughed. “I can’t even complain without you knowing I’m not complaining.”

  “Hey, I have to put up with those horrendous dates you set me up on.” Lyris popped a cookie into her mouth, grinning widely. “We’ve got to even out the scales somehow.”

  Before Evey could respond, the door to their café burst open and Lyris didn’t even have to look over to know who would create and need such a dramatic entrance.

  The man took off his sunglasses and popped them onto a table, breaking into a grin as he saw the two of them. He threw his arms over them before starting to ramble almost nonsensically at the same time.

  “I missed you girls so much! Wish you could’ve come with me to check out some of the shows, but then I’d have to call you away from the café and I know you two well enough to know that wouldn’t even be possible. Every green eyed blonde was my beautiful Evey, and every doe eyed brunette called out Lyris so loudly, I almost took the next plane home!”

  “Leon!” Lyris laughed into his shoulder and wiggled her way out of his suffocating grip. There was no doubt he was happy to see them; his flamboyant happiness was infectious enough for her to forget the exhaustion from the morning rush. “I wasn’t expecting to see you for a while!”

  “As if I could stay away from you girls for too long,” he sighed dramatically. Placing a hand over his forehead, he groaned, “The agony!”

  Lyris was used to Leon being away for weeks on end because of what he did, but he never failed to remind her with his antics how much she’d missed him in the absence.

  “Maybe you should’ve considered dramatic acting instead of fashion as a career choice.” Lyris teased him, walking to the bar to make him his regular drink.

  Evey wagged a finger as she shook her head. “You’re forgetting that Leon’s too much of a drama queen to really be happy with sharing the stage.”

  “Hey,” he protested, grinning far too much for Lyris to believe he was actually offended. “Be nice.”

  Sliding into the chair across from him, Evey propped her chin onto her hand. “Why?”

  Lyris passed Leon’s coffee to him before mimicking Evey’s position. “Yeah, why? Did you bring presents home for us? I’ll say sorry if you tell me you brought me home a boyfriend.”

  Evey’s elbow slid from under her as she turned to Lyris, disbelief colouring her voice. “You’ll let Leon set you up on dates, but not me? How is that fair?”

  Stuffing a piece of a muffin into her mouth, Lyris took the time to choose her words carefully. There was a fine line with discouraging Evey from cooking up any more harebrained schemes and offending her. “Eves,” she started, “I can count on one hand the number of bad blind dates you’ve set me up on.”

  “Go,” Evey challenged.

  “Rick – he liked getting massages from his mother, oils and candles included,” Lyris began. “Then there’s crazy Davis. That guy got so drunk on our date, I had to call a taxi to take him home and then later he came to our house, trying to break in so he could declare his undying love. After Davis there was –”r />
  “I got it,” Evey grumbled, putting up her hand to stop Lyris from continuing. “I might’ve been a little hasty setting you up on those dates, but my intentions were actually good.”

  “I’m not saying they weren’t,” Lyris assured her. “I really appreciate that you’re looking out for me, but you have the tendency to go a little overboard without West there to stop you.”

  “Leon.” Evey turned her attention him, hoping that he would back her up. “I’m not that bad at setting people up, right? I helped set you and James up.”

  “You did introduce me to James and I am very grateful for that,” he admitted. “Speaking of James, last night’s reunion was something.”

  “Leon!” Evey slapped his arm playfully. “Come on, let’s stay on topic.”

  “Evey, every cupid has their expiry date.” Leon shrugged and Lyris was about to high five him but he put a finger up telling her to wait. “But then again, what’s a challenge if it isn’t challenging?”

  “I need to find new friends,” Lyris grumbled.

  “I can help with that.” Leon fished two tickets out of his pocket and handed them over. “Not with finding new friends,” he clarified. “I was thinking more along the lines of a different sort of friend.”

  Leon Monte invites you, Lyris Bond, to attend the premiere of his fall/winter fashion show.

  Saturday the 16th of March starting at 7:00 pm located at the Glass Doves.

  Lyris glanced over at the tickets Leon handed Evey and saw that they were nearly identical except Evey’s were addressed to her and West.

  “A fashion show?”

  “There’ll be people there,” he said vaguely. “Even if that fails, you can always be there to support the show.”

  Leon tried to play it off as if missing his show wouldn’t be a big deal, but Lyris knew better.

  “I wouldn’t ever miss any of your shows,” Lyris promised him. She glanced over at Evey for support, but then she noticed that her best friend had a wicked gleam in her eyes that seemed all too familiar. “What are you thinking?”

  Evey shrugged innocently and got up to put away Leon’s dirty cup. “I was just thinking about bringing out my cupid arrow and bow one more time,” she said casually.

  “You’ll be shooting your arrows at every man that walks!”

  The mere thought of Evey and Leon running wild at a fashion show, showing her off like a lost puppy for someone to adopt, made her cringe. It wasn’t possible for her to convince the two of them to stop – not with the fashion show so close to date – but there weren’t any rules saying she couldn’t put up boundaries.

  “I swear, no more after this,” she warned. “The fashion show is the last time any of this blind date crap is going to happen.”

  “Oh Lyris.” Evey shook her head and sighed happily. “Just watch and see. I’ll make a believer out of you. The fashion show is only going to be the start.”

  The café they both worked at was one they owned. After high school ended for both of them, they went their separate ways; Evey went on to do a degree in business while Lyris travelled abroad to master her skills as a pastry chef. They’ve always kept in touch and after Lyris came back to live with Evey, they decided to open their own little shop together – Bitter&Sweet.

  The café was a dream for both her and Evey. It was something they both worked on together once Lyris came back from London. They purchased an old store that was up for sale and worked relentlessly with the contractors to renovate the space.

  Gone were the tiles and in were auburn wood floors, creating the illusion of a bigger space. They ripped out the centre wall so that there wouldn’t be a divide in the dining area and placed windows in the front so natural light would be able to stream in. Low lights from the ceilings illuminated the brick walls, casing a warm glow over the café. The place was finished with pastel mugs, coffee tables and couches that worked with the homey ambiance they were trying to create.

  It had taken months of hard work and sacrifices on both their parts, but it paid off in the end. They were now one of the most well-known cafés in the area and they continued to bloom with business from new and old customers.

  “Sweet damn!” Leon’s voice broke through to her and she peered over to see him texting frantically on his phone. “Sorry girls,” he said distractedly. “I have to – sweet baby lords, I can’t believe they’re having difficulties still. People really do die without my help.”

  Her and Evey said their goodbyes to Leon as he blazed down the street, looking ready to spit fire.

  Evey offered to go into the kitchen and clean up some of the mess, leaving Lyris in the front by herself for a while. Despite what others may think, the silences between the two of them weren’t from tension – both of them were content working on their own without feeling compelled to fill the void with noise. They’d been friends long enough to know when the other was lost in thought.

  Lyris’ phone lit up with a new text and she tapped it distractedly as she cleaned up around the bar area.

  Lyris, please call me.

  She knew what shouldn’t have happened after reading that text; her stomach shouldn’t have flipped. Her heart shouldn’t have faltered for a second and she absolutely shouldn’t have felt breathless.

  But it did happen.

  She swore under her breath, angry at herself for being so easily affected by a few words, before she deleted the text.

  It wasn’t the first time she got a text from Bradley and it wouldn’t be the last. The things she should have done were things she found herself wanting to do, but couldn’t.

  She should have switched numbers the second he got wind of the new one. She should have blocked his number once the texts became more regular. More than anything, she should have told someone he was contacting her, but the thought of admitting she wasn’t close to getting over him was sickening.

  “After everything you’ve done,” Lyris muttered, wiping the table with more force than necessary. “After everything you’ve done this should be easy. Getting over you should be easy.”

  So why is it anything but?

  “Ly?” Evey came up behind her and grabbed a mug for herself before filling it up with coffee. “Who were you talking to?”

  She casually slipped her phone into her pocket, hoping that Evey would never see that text. “Myself.” Lyris frowned, realising how unfortunate it was that she wasn’t lying. Shaking her head, she told herself to keep it together or else Evey would figure that there was something wrong and start prying. “What’s going on?” she asked.

  “I’m worried about you,” Evey said. “You have this distracted look you get before you flip back to being ish normal.”

  “Ish normal?” Lyris repeated. “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “Meaning you haven’t been you since London,” she replied brazenly. “Like you’re more cautious – which I suppose is a good thing – but you take it a degree too far.”

  Lyris shot a glowering look at Evey. She continued to scrub the counters using work as an excuse not to answer Evey right away. “Sometimes being cautious is considered a good thing.”

  Evey laughed deliriously and peered at Lyris over the rim of her cup. “I suppose it could be, but with you, it’s become a fault.”

  “I can always trust that you’ll say what’s on your mind.” Lyris threw the rag into the sink and tried to take her mind off Bradley’s text. She didn’t like how somehow that lined up with what Evey was saying. “You know why I’m like this,” she said quietly.

  “I know,” Evey said, her voice softening. Lyris knew that despite what others might say about Evey, she wasn’t someone that spoke to hurt others. If her words hurt, it was because it was something that needed to be heard. “But that’s also why I want you to do something for me at the fashion show.”

  “Yeah?” Lyris’ interest piqued against her better judgment and she dropped into a chair and waited to see what Evey had to say. “Like what?”

  “Like l
etting loose.” Evey’s mouth curled into a smile. “Be yourself – without any of your silly worries for one night – and see what happens.”

  There was something about Evey that made it hard for Lyris to ever be angry with her because no matter how many times things backfired, she knew Evey always had good intentions. But Lyris felt that because Evey was so optimistic, she never accounted for the repercussions.

  “What exactly do you expect to happen?” she asked her skeptically. “Stars to collide? Time to stop as I’m falling so someone can catch me?”

  Evey pulled out the chair across Lyris and shook her head as she took a seat. “I don’t expect sparks to start a fire tomorrow. But is it really such a bad thing if it does happen?”

  Lyris’ mind flashed back to the text she read earlier and grimaced. “I’m going to say yes.”

  “Come on Ly. It’s like falling in love again. It’s probably the best feeling in the world. Don’t you want someone that’ll make your heart skip a beat?”

  “It’s called the beginning of a heart attack.”

  “Or have someone give you butterflies in your stomach?”

  “That’s why they invented sky diving.”

  “Or you know, staying up all night thinking about that one person?”

  “Isn’t insomnia a serious problem?”

  “Having someone stay up all night thinking about you?”

  “Did I call for a stalker?”

  Evey scowled at her rebuttals. “You can’t say it feels awful having one person who can make you laugh at the stupidest things.”

  “I guess that explains why you’re with West,” Lyris teased. West had been with Evey for a long time though Lyris had known him first. She was also one of the first people to mentally cheer when the two of them became an item, but that didn’t mean she didn’t enjoy teasing them. “I’ve always wondered about that, you know?”

  “Stop it,” Evey laughed, a slight blush colouring her usual pale cheeks.

  “That’s not what you said the other night.” Evey’s laugh faded, her mouth opened in shock, and Lyris’ grin deepened. “Yeah, our walls aren’t as thick as you’d think. Actually,” she added thoughtfully, “they aren’t as thick as I’d like them to be.”