Chapter 10
Ivy
The Saturday lunch crowd was always unpredictable in the shop. It seemed to be one extreme or the other, rush or hush, and nothing in between. While this morning was insanely busy, today’s lunchtime was absolutely dead.
Toni was on break, leaving Nina at the counter, while Ivy revised the schedule.
Lucas had phoned with news: the weekend hires for his other shop could now train in the evenings instead of only on weekends.
Ivy came out of the office just in time to see Mollie leaving.
She reached for the cleaning cloth and spray to wipe some tables when she noticed Mollie had left her scarf behind.
Ivy grabbed it and ran to the door, keeping her eye on Mollie as she walked past the front window of the shop.
In doing so, Ivy completely forgot to look through the glass door in case any customers were coming in.
She ran straight into one as she pulled the door into the shop.
Ivy hadn’t even realized that she had reached out to grab the customer’s arm while trying to keep her balance. She rushed to try and stop the customer from losing theirs but in the true Ivy style, she just crashed into them instead. Way to go, Ivy!
Before looking up, Ivy dove into a long trail of apologies.
“Oh my God, are you ok? I am so sorry! I was just going after a customer who left their scarf behi...” Ivy’s eyes by that point hadn’t yet made their way up enough to make eye contact but had reached the loose waves of fiery red hair that she’d know anywhere, causing her to completely lose her voice.
It was her.
Ivy couldn’t believe it. Standing in front of her was the same woman she’d looked out for daily.
Only this time she looked different, less put together.
Instead of the tailored pants suit and heels she was so used to seeing her wear, she was wearing fitted jeans, with a soft wool jumper, a padded body warmer, and chunky tan boots.
Most surprising, but not unwelcome, is that there was no sign of her signature perfect French braid, instead her hair was pulled into a low ponytail at the base of her neck to one side and cascaded in loose waves over her shoulder.
Ivy was painfully aware of the blush rushing up her chest and making its way to her cheeks and the tips of her ears. Ivy also realized that while the woman had let go of her arm... Ivy had yet to let go of hers. Stop staring! Ivy told herself.
“It’s OK, we’re both fine, you can go after her if you want, she won’t have gotten far,” the woman said in the dreamiest, slightly smoky voice Ivy had ever heard in her life. The accompanying smile was even dreamier as she stood aside to let Ivy leave the shop.
Ivy knew she should stay and ensure the woman and the young girl, who stood slightly behind her, were absolutely fine.
She knew she also had the woman’s permission to chase after Mollie.
Knowing she should do something, anything really, and actually doing it however, seemed like two very different things for her body to handle. Instead, Ivy froze.
“Wait, are you OK? Did you hurt yourself when we bumped into each other?” The concern in the woman’s voice and face, followed by her hand reaching out to touch Ivy’s arm again seemed to be enough to wake Ivy from her dream state.
“No, no, I’m fine. I’ll be fine. You didn’t hurt me, I mean, I didn’t hurt myself.
It wasn’t your fault. It was my fault. Are you sure you’re, OK?
” Ivy struggled to make her way through that entire statement but relieved that the only one there to witness it in the empty coffee shop was Nina.
.. until she ushered the woman and young girl inside the shop and turned to see Toni had returned from her break and was grinning like the cat who got the cream. Dammit.
With her face a shade any beetroot would envy, Ivy sat the scarf on the counter and motioned for Toni to put it in the Lost and Found box under the counter for Mollie’s return, and led the woman and young girl to a clean table and took their order: a decaf cappuccino and a hot chocolate.
She made her way over to the far side of the counter, all the while feeling the burning of Toni’s eyes to accompany the huge grin on her face.
"How bad was it?” Ivy whispered so that the woman couldn’t hear.
“Honestly? I expected far worse for your first time to talk to her,” Toni replied with a sparkle in her eye.
“I think I blacked out after I realized it was her. I can’t even remember her order. What do I do?” Ivy panicked.
Toni reached out and placed a hand on Ivy’s shoulder, “don’t worry, you go take a minute through the back, I’ve got this.”
Toni made her way over to the table where the woman sat listening intently as the young girl talked animatedly. Ivy slipped through to the back staff room and leaned against the door as it closed behind her.
What the hell just happened? She finally got the chance to interact with the woman she’d been daydreaming about for the past three years.
.. and instead of it playing out as a cute Hollywood movie meet, like it had in her head so many times.
.. she crashed into her trying to enter her shop and nearly took her out in the process. Smooth Ivy, smooth.
Ivy got up off the door, removed her glasses, and walked over to the sink to splash some cool water on her face. After she dried herself off and put her glasses back on, she took a second to fix a hair pin that had come loose, then made her way back out to the shop front.
“Well, do you want to know what order you’re about to bring them, and more importantly, who they are?” Toni said, her grin having evolved into a smirk.
“Yes, I mean, what are they having? And thanks for doing that. Their order I mean. Oh my God what is wrong with me and why can’t I speak around her?!” Ivy was spiraling, Toni was loving every second of it.
“Her name is Cleo, she’s having a decaf cappuccino.
The little one is her niece, Sophie, and she’s having a hot chocolate with the works.
I also let them choose a pastry each which you’ll pay for along with the rest of their order.
.. and she knows that you’re the manager as that was the only way Cleo would accept not paying for the order herself.
” Toni handed the tray filled with the order to Ivy.
“Oh, and since when do we offer table service?” she added, just as Ivy started to walk away, causing her to pause for a split-second before glaring at Toni.