Chapter 1

'Mr. Hardbeck!'

'What?'

'Your paper?'

'Oh, right, sorry.' Rich dazedly started rummaging through his bag. He hardly got any sleep the previous night because of the volume of the sex going on in his roommate's bed. Time for a new roommate.

He finally found the paper and handed it down the row of students to Professor Murray. Rich then proceeded to spend the rest of class going back and forth from thinking about how he had to work after this philosophy course, and daydreaming about how lovely a good night's sleep would be. It wasn't that he didn't like university, he really did and was normally quite attentive. What had been keeping him up lately (besides his rowdy roommate) had been recurring dreams of Grace. The dreams themselves were lovely; they felt so real. But the realness of the dreams is what kept him up. He hated waking up from them. It felt like a punch in the stomach when he woke and remembered that it was all in his head, because that's where Grace lived now, in his head, maybe his heart as well. Rich was fine for awhile, as fine as he could be, when he was still at home. Now it was different, he was here in Cambridge while his friends remained in Bristol, a few of them scattered about at other universities. He hadn't made an effort to befriend anyone here; the closest Rich had to a friend in Cambridge was Kyle, who worked at Earl's with him. Kyle was a good guy and all, but he wasn't Alo, and Rich really missed Alo.

Early that afternoon Rich was back at Earl Grey's Café. Kyle hadn't come in yet and Rich was the sole person there besides an older woman sitting in a corner, sipping her tea and reading. Most people were either at work or still in class; Rich didn't like this time of day, the excess silence caused his thoughts to drift to Grace, which led to sadness. To prevent this from happening today, he pulled out his laptop and set it on the counter, resolving to mindlessly troll the internet. He opened his pictures and absently let the cursor click on a picture of her, and then another, and then one of them together. After staring at the picture for a few minutes he slammed his fist on the counter. The woman looked up. 'Uh sorry', Rich said, looking at the woman who then looked down again and continued reading.

Seeing as his melancholy was disturbing customers, he hit the x in the corner of his pictures and fired up Google Chrome. Rich pulled up his email, spam, spam, spam, Napalm Death's new tour schedule; he was about to click on that when a chat appeared in the corner. Barney would have to wait.

Cai O: Hey Rob, I don't think tomorrow is going to work for me. I'm feeling ill and running a bit of a fever, maybe a touch of the flu? Anyway, would Wednesday work instead? Let me know.

Obviously this 'Cai O' did not mean to send the chat to him. He was about to just leave the page when he looked up and realized the older woman was gone and he had nothing better to do.

R. Hardbeck: Hello Cai O, I'm sorry to say my name isn't Rob. I'm also sorry to hear you aren't feeling well, sounds to me like you should curl up in bed, watch films, and drink ginger ale. (I would suggest the 'Saw' films but they aren't everyone's cup of tea)

After hitting send, Rich went to collect the woman's empty teacup and wipe the table. When he returned to the counter he was surprised to find that 'Cai O' had replied.

Cai O: Oh dear, well I guess there are more than one 'R. Hardbecks' in Cambridge. My apologies for the mix-up. (Bed: Check, Ginger Ale: Check, and now thanks to you, Film Series To Keep Me Occupied: Check)

R. Hardbeck: WARNING: Dubious amounts of gore, viewer discretion advised.

Cai O: No warning needed, I'm sure this will be small potatoes compared the dozens of people I've slaughtered.

R. Hardbeck: Ah I am going to assume you're joking there...

Cai O: Haha don't worry, complete fiction :P

R. Hardbeck: Good, good. It's been nice chatting with you but I'll leave you to your films.

Cai O: Oh you're no bother at all, I've been incredibly bored this whole day until now.

R. Hardbeck: Well thank you! (I think?) But no I really do have to get back to work before the customers start chucking scones at me...:P

Cai O: Oh yes get back to work! Have a lovely day, Hardbeck. (:

R. Hardbeck: The same for you, Cai. (: (Enjoy the films)

Rich was grinning when he closed his laptop, but the customers now lined up were not; and Kyle was late, again. After dealing with those few unhappy customers, the rest of his shift went on without event. Picking up his bag, he remembered his conversation from earlier and realized he was looking forward to seeing if there were any new messages from Cai.

After grabbing a shower and settling at his desk, headphones on, he opened his laptop and was pleasantly surprised to find there was indeed a new chat from Cai.

Cai O: Just watched three in a row, that's lovely taste you've got, not creepy at all... I'm kidding I actually thought they were pretty great. They were so disgusting but I couldn't take my eyes off the screen! Oh also, before it slips my mind, are you male or female, Hardbeck? I realized after you left earlier that we didn't know what we were dealing with here.

Rich smiled as he began writing his reply, he thought their message exchange might have been a one time deal. Obviously Cai wanted to continue chatting and so did Rich.

R. Hardbeck: Glad you liked them, only four more to go! I am a male; are you as well, or are you of the fairer sex?

Cai O: I am happy to say I am of the fairer sex, though males aren't bad, I definitely enjoy a good male.

Rich grinned at this.

R. Hardbeck: That's lovely, hopefully I'm a good male. I was wondering how you pronounced your name?

Cai O: It sounds like Chai without the h, hard C.

'Cai' Rich said out loud. He liked the way it sounded.

R. Hardbeck: That's lovely, I really like it.

Maybe this was good, Rich thought to himself, maybe he needed to be chatting to a girl. He hated the idea of having to make room for another girl in his heart; he wasn't even sure he had room and he didn't want to feel like he was replacing Grace. He knew that Grace wouldn't be angry, if anything she would be encouraging him to find someone. 'I don't mind, Rich' it was almost like he could hear her voice 'You're so lonely, having another girl in your life doesn't mean you don't love me, it just means you love two people.' She was right, he knew. He would always love Gracie more than anything, she was his and he was hers, forever. But it didn't mean he couldn't have someone else, maybe even love someone else.

Cai O: Thanks Hardbeck(: R is a lovely name as well, though I'm assuming there's more to it than that..?

R. Hardbeck: Rich, my name's Rich. Would I be asking too much if I asked how old you are?

Cai O: Rich is lovely, and no I don't mind, I'm 19.

R. Hardbeck: Wow, what a wonderful coincidence! I'm 19 as well. I'm at Bradbury College here in Cambridge, oh and I work at Earl Grey's as well if you ever want to stop by. (: Do you go to uni as well? Or work anywhere?

Cai O: I know Earl Grey's, it's a great cozy little café. I take some courses from home and I do not have a job.

R. Hardbeck: Hey that's neat that you do courses at home. Perhaps I've seen you in the café?

Cai O: Perhaps.

Rich got a weird vibe from her short response and decided it was best to change the subject.

The two of them continued on like this for two months, getting to know each other. Like how Rich loved Napalm Death, playing guitar, but hated hot weather and the taste of spearmint. He told her about Alo and Mini, how he felt like they were his real family; he told her how he was the un-biological uncle of their cute little baby, Grace. He learned that she loved horror films but hated all things coffee flavoured. She told him about her older brother, Declan, and how he was 7 years older than her and lived in Aruba and worked training dolphins.

Although he had never met her in person, Rich felt like he was falling for Cai. He really wanted to meet her but was afraid to ask, since she had never brought it up. So he kept his mouth shut.