Page 35 of Under The Meh-stletoe

"Wonderful. A-ha." A snicker reached us from outside. "We'll be waiting. I'll tell them to use the glue sticks creatively. Oh! We ran out of staples, too. I'm going now."

"Wonderful indeed," I said to Daniel alone. "The rumour mill will officially start running now. How long did we keep it private? Two days. Only two days!"

He pursed his lips. "Let them talk about it then. They're not wrong and we can’t stop it. Want to go with me for coffee? If we stay here, I'll want to go right back to it."

"We'll buy some tape on the way."

After six weeks working for the committee, stopping by Eva's coffee shop brought a familiar wave of coziness to me. Daniel opened the door and, as soon as we'd stepped inside rEvalution, Eva's hands began moving on her espresso machine.

"The usual?" She asked. "A large black and a cortado. We'll deal with payment in a sec."

"I can help if you like." I leaned across the counter to peek at her POS. "Yep. I'm familiar with this system."

Eva arched an eyebrow. "Oh? Sure. Show me."

I rounded the counter and set up behind the screen. I tapped a few buttons until I figured out where everything was.

"Okay, let's see… done." I blinked at Daniel. "It'll be six dollars, but make it ten to add a wonderful tip in thanks for letting me play barista."

Daniel smirked and paid.

Eva laughed. "Do you want to play barista? You seem to be my favorite kind, getting those extra tips."

"I worked as a barista during college. I liked it."

Eva gave us our coffee cups. "Do you know how to serve a good coffee?"

I went back to the patron side of the counter. "Yep. I don't think I'll ever be as fast as you, but I remember. I loved it."

"Are you looking for a job?"

I startled. Daniel and Eva stared at me, unwavering.

"Not really. Not until my sister's doing better. The committee has taken me away from her enough."

"What about some casual help? Just a few hours a week on my busiest times. Starting in the new year."

"I'm still not sure what I want to do in the long term…"

"Then it's a good idea." Daniel put a hand on my back. "Just to give you something to do. Get out of the house for the next few months."

"Think about it," Eva said. "I'll text you."

I nodded and we said goodbye.

We walked by the center fountain of the plaza when Daniel asked me about the party.

"Is Renata coming on Saturday?" he asked. "Do you need help? I can drive you both."

We made arrangements and, at some point during our walk, we'd started holding hands. If the chisme was about to make its way through the town, then we'd do it on purpose. We may not have decided yet where this would go, but we didn't need to hide.

Daniel may be cranky, but we clicked. He was the kind of man my ex never was; I already knew Daniel was a reliable man. He had goals and pursued them relentlessly and, in those moments alone, he showed me a side of him that I wanted more of. He was just my type.

Maybe this thing could go somewhere. Maybe I wanted him to lead me to an actual relationship. Despite how much I'd resisted it.

Maybe I wasn't done with grumps, after all.

Shit.