Chapter 14

Mel

I continued down the street. Stupid shit, why had I suggested this? This was so awkward, I should have learnt from all my exes to just leave it alone. I glanced at Nina. She was walking quietly next to me. Why had she even agreed if she never texted me back?

We continued down the street, and I took a left turn into one of the alleys.

“Here”, I said as I halted in front of a café. “Does that seem okay?”

She simply nodded, and I pushed the door open. I’d better make this quick and just get it over with.

I found an empty table, and she took a seat.

“So… a cappuccino? Macchiato? What would you like?”

She murmured something I couldn’t hear.

“What?”

“A latte”

I walked up to the counter to order our drinks. Dammit, why had I proposed this? I should just forget about it. Drink the coffee and leave.

I returned with our drinks, sat down, and silence fell between us. I cleared my throat.

“So… you were out doing your shopping?”

Stupid shit, this was going just as bad as last time. Why couldn’t I even come up with something real to ask. She nodded.

“Done anything fun during the week?”

“No…”

She stared down at her coffee cup. Dammit, this was so awkward. I thought back to the last thing we’d managed to keep a conversation about. My paintings… Stupid shit. I had no desire to talk about them, but at least she seemed to have something to say about them.

“So… Have you been to any of my exhibitions?”

It was as good as it would get. She shook her head.

“I’ve seen your paintings. I… like your landscapes.”

It was the first real answer I’d got so far, and I remembered she’d mentioned it at the first dinner. Stupid shit, I didn’t want to walk down that path.

“So… You’ve seen any of my latest paintings?”

She nodded, but at that moment, the waiter came up to us.

“I’m sorry, we’re closing earlier today.”

“Oh, okay…”

Man, that was lucky. I got up.

“So… It was nice seeing you again.”

I grabbed my jacket.

“Have… a good day.”

I left. Dammit, this was just stupid.