Jim fiddled with a packet of sugar, swinging his legs beneath the table and staring out the window. He was wearing the itchy cardigan Grandma had knitted for him as a Christmas present and felt uncomfortably warm sat in the café wrapped up so snugly. He reached up and pulled his milkshake closer, catching the straw in his mouth and chewing on it thoughtfully.
Mummy burst into giggles, her melodic laughter filling the air and mixing with the scent of coffee and freshly baked biscuits. He liked it when Mummy laughed; her eyes would go all crinkly and she would raise a hand to her chest to touch the little dip where her collar bones met. Lately Mummy had been miserable and stopped laughing, because Father spent so much time at work. But after she'd been reunited with her most best friend ever she started being less sad and more happy.
He looked across the table at her friend. She was pretty, but not as pretty as Mummy. She had fair hair, whereas Mummy had dark hair, and she always wore pretty dresses, and smelt of cigarette smoke and expensive perfume. Her name was Charlotte, but Mummy called her Charlie. He called her Mrs Charlotte and she would always correct him and say "you can call me Charlie, sweetie" but he would still call her Mrs Charlotte. Mummy had said that technically it was incorrect because Mrs Charlotte had "devorst" Sebastian's dad, meaning she wasn't really Mrs anything anymore.
Mrs Charlotte had moved to Ireland last summer with her son Sebastian. She had actually lived here when she was younger, and she and Mummy had been the most best friends ever, but then she met Sebastian's dad and moved to England to be with him. But now that she had devorst him she had moved back, and every Sunday Mummy and Mrs Charlotte would meet up for coffee at this café, and Jim had to come too because Father was at work and he wasn't allowed to stay home alone because he wasn't old enough. But it was okay since Sebastian would always be here and then he didn't have to suffer alone.
Sebastian was nice. He was taller than Jim, older too, and he had blond hair and everybody liked him. Nobody liked Jim very much. He didn't have many friends at school, but now that Sebastian was at the same school as him at least he had someone to sit next to during lunch. They never really talked very much though; Jim didn't even know his favourite colour, but it didn't really matter. Sebastian was still one of the least annoying people he knew.
He didn't even mind that occasionally Mrs Charlotte and Sebastian would come round for dinner. And it was even rather fun that time when Mrs Charlotte had to go on a work trip and Sebastian came round for the night. And he really enjoyed the time they all went to the beach together during summer. So it was all right.