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The place was heaving, well it was sort of lunchtime. I got myself a coffee from the machine and wandered around the café trying to find a seat. The only one I could see was at a table with a woman sat at the other empty chair. "Okay if I sit here?" I asked her. She nodded yes.
I sat and got out the iPad and started scrolling through my emails. As I read my mails I picked up and drank my coffee. God it was awful, probably the worst tasting coffee I have ever had. Next time I am here I shall probably just get a coke. I finished my coffee and closed the iPad. The woman opposite was glaring at me.
"Did you enjoy my Tea?" She asked.
Oh sod it, no wonder the coffee tasted awful, it was her tea. I have no idea how I managed to swap my coffee for her tea. "Oh God," I said, "I'm so sorry. Let me go and get you another one."
"Don't bother. I will go, you stay here and look after my shopping." She got up and went passed me toward the drinks stations. I turned on the camera on my phone and used it to look behind me and watched as she walked past the drinks area and left the café. I got up and looked by where she was sitting. No shopping. I smiled to myself and picked up my coffee as I sat back down. Oh well, at least I still had my coffee to take away the horrible taste left from her tea. The coffee actually wasn't too bad as it turned out. I finished my drink and returned to browsing the store. I had wanted a decent dimmable floor lamp, and had expected that Ikea might have some, but no, they were not simple, you had to buy special bulbs and that was more hassle than I wanted. I spotted tea woman a couple of times as I wandered around the store, I guessed she probably saw me too. Mentally shrugging I went back to the car and drove back home, my lamp hunting unsuccessful on this occasion.
Pulling up at home I saw that Jools' car wasn't there, Jools had gone to the gym and would be gone a couple of hours. I decided to clear the leaves and brush the drive before I did some more work.
"Hi Neighbour". It was Aggie from a few doors up the street.
"Hi Aggie, how are you doing?"
"Fine, on your own?"
"Yeah, for a while, Jools has gone to the gym."
"Coffee?"
"Okay, yes, that will be good, thanks."
Well, that was interesting. We have often exchanged hello's and pleasantries, but I know very little about her. I haven't seen anyone apart from her and her daughter, so assumed she was a single parent, but, you never know, this is an odd estate to live on. Quite new and a real mix of small families and singletons. Like all new builds these days they were required to include affordable housing. I leant the broom against my front wall, locked the front door and hopped up to Aggie's, popped my head through the open door and called 'Hi'.
"Come in," she called from the back of the house where the kitchen was, "just pull the door to behind you". I shut the door, automatically pulling the handle up, locking the door from the outside.
"Ooh, don't want to be disturbed?" Aggie laughed. She was stood in the kitchen doorway watching as I slipped my shoes off.
"Well, you never know, either that, or it could just be force of habit." Or I guess it could have been a little of both of course. I walked towards Aggie and followed her into the kitchen. She had her layout different to ours. It was really a kitchen diner, but where we had a dining table, she had a small settee, looking through the patio doors at the garden. Her garden was still mostly soil and weeds, she hadn't laid a lawn yet. Just a small patio with a clothes airer on it, festooned with her smalls, drying in the breeze.
She motioned to the settee, "How do you want it, and sit down, you make the place look untidy."
"Well now, there is a question," I answered, a smile in my voice, "strong but with milk."
"No sugar?"
"Oh no, I never need sweetener."
Aggie gave me a look, quizzical perhaps, but definitely eye to eye, as if trying to find an extra meaning. I sat down on the settee, leaving the side to my left empty. Aggie fussed over mugs and milk before passing me a mug of coffee.
"Hot, obviously, be careful. You can rest it on the side table while it cools if you like."
"Thank you ma'am" I said a mock seriousness to my voice. "I shall do just that, don't want things too hot, might get burnt."
"Well not everything that's hot burns." Aggie gave me the 'look' again and sat next to me, angled slightly so she was facing me, our legs not parallel, leaving a small gap between is, but our knees touching.
"No? I suppose not" I returned her look, my eyes holding steady, "little one at school?" I asked.
"Yes, and your other half at the Gym, so, here we are like two lost souls."
