For previous chapters the full story so far is available here:https://cereliawolf.com/875-2/

The jetlag was still bad when I woke up the next morning but a shower, a bagel and a cup of coffee later I felt almost human. 

My dad drove me to the coffee shop shortly after 6am. He spent the next hour reminding me how to do the drinks from the menu and talking to me about how the business was run. I used to work here regularly before I moved to London and I was surprised by how much of it I remembered. 

The coffee shop was relatively small but it had always been very busy. My dad worked here alone during the weekdays but on a weekend it was even busier than usual and he had two barristers who helped him. As today was a Monday it was just me and my dad in the coffee shop and I could tell he was happy to be spending so much time with me. 

It was still a few minutes before we were due to open and my dad was going through the process of checking and ordering inventory when there was a knock on the door. My dad went to open the door. 

“I know you are not open yet but I could really do with a coffee.” Said the voice behind the door. 

“Yes sure, come in.” My dad said. He opened the door and stood aside. Jela walked into the shop and straight up to the counter. I felt my heart rate increase. This guy gave me serious butterflies and it seemed as though I couldn’t get away from him. 

“What can I get for you?” I asked. 

“A coconut milk latte and text back please.” He said. I felt my cheeks heat up, I couldn’t believe he just said that. My dad was looking at me suspiciously. 

“Sorry, I was jetlagged. I haven’t even checked my phone yet.” I said, as I was preparing his coffee. 

“I will forgive you if you go for some drinks with me tomorrow.” He said. I looked up, he was smiling at me. 

“Ok, I finish work at 6pm tomorrow.” I said. I put the finishing touches to his coffee and placed the lid on his cup. 

“Great, I will meet you right here.” He said as he took the cup from me and took a sip. 

“Delicious. The coffee is good too.” He winked at me. I was probably bright red now. 

I watched as he walked out of the shop before I glanced over at my dad. He was grinning at me. I knew he was waiting for an explanation, not that I had a clue how to explain what had just happened. 

“He was on the same plane as me.” I said, as though that explained everything. My dad nodded and held out his hand encouraging me to go on. 

“He asked me to go for a drink with him. I agreed.” I said. 

“Is he your boyfriend?” My dad said. 

“No.” I said. Of that I was sure. I didn’t want to say this in front of my dad but I was sure that for Jela I was nothing more than a conquest. Not that I would let it get that far. I was sick of being used by men after Mark, even if they happened to be incredibly gorgeous rockstars. 

My dad didn’t believe me. He seemed convinced that there was more going on than I was telling him. He asked me lots of questions and more than once I caught him staring at me as I worked. I tried my best to ignore it, it wasn’t as though I had answers anyway. 

When we got home that evening Emery had cooked dinner for us. The table was set, and my half brother was sitting at the table waiting for his food. My dad went to sit down at the table and started asking his son about his day while I went into the kitchen to help Emery serve the food. 

“Your dad told me all about your visitor today?” Emery said the moment I walked into the kitchen. She was clearly wasting no time before trying to pump me for information. 

“Yes. It was a surprise.” I said, not wanting to give anything away. 

“You’re going on a date with him tomorrow though.” She said.

“I don’t think it is really a date. We are just going for drinks together, that is all.” I said. I didn’t want them to take this for more than it was, I really wished that it could have kept this whole thing a secret.

“It is absolutely a date and I want to hear all about it tomorrow night.” He said, her voice was getting higher as she got more excited. I nodded in agreement even though I knew that she would be disappointed when I told them about how it went.

I finished arranging the vegetables on the serving plates and took them through into the dining room. Emery followed closely behind me carrying the plates with the meat dishes. We took our places at the table, I watched as my dad and Emery exchanged a look. I guess my dad had hoped that Emery would be able to get more details from me about what was happening before me and Jela. It just so happens that there were no more details to get so it was never going to work out that way. 

Charlie spoke to us almost constantly while we ate. He had been to the park with Emery this morning and he wanted to tell his dad and me all about it. I was happy for the distraction so I wasn’t complaining even after the fifth time he told me about the ducks that he saw in the pond. 

After dinner I went straight up to my room. I logged onto my emails so that I could catch up with my friends back in London while eating one of the protein bars I had packed in my suitcase. Emery was still getting used to cooking for a vegetarian. She was still at the stage where she would cook lots of vegetables and assume that was what I usually ate. I was going to have to find a way of introducing them to my usual diet. Either that or I was going to have to take over cooking completely while I was here. There was no way that I could live off just potatoes and vegetables for more than a few days. 

I caught up on all my emails and sent replies to most of my friends before my remaining jet lag got the better of me and my eyelids became uncooperative. I gave in and headed to bed, I would have to reply to the rest of my emails tomorrow. 

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