He was already there when she arrived. A pot of coffee and two cups were already on the table. He went to stand up as she approaced him.
"Hi," he said and put his arms around her to hug her.
"Hi," she said but she didn't hug him back.
She just let her arms hang down her side awkwardly. They sat down.
"I took liberty to order a pot of coffee for us," he said, trying to break the ice.
"Thanks," she said quietly while he poured the coffee.
"So how are you?" He asked.
"I'm fine. I already told you that," she answered.
"No," he said while reaching over and grabbed her hand.
She looked up and met his concerning eyes.
"How are you really?" He asked.
"How do you think I am after last night? Your cousin threw me under the bus," she answered angrily.
"He shouldn't have done that," he said.
She sighed.
"It's not like what he said is a lie. I am a slut," she said, feeling ashamed.
She pulled her hand away from his and bowed her head so her hair went in front of her face.
"I don't care," he said.
"Yeah right," she said.
"Hey, look at me," he said and reached over to pull her hair back behind her ear.
She hesitated a couple of seconds and then looked up. He reached over and grabbed her hand again.
"I don't care. For crying out loud, it's the year 2016. Women should be allowed to sleep with whoever they want just like us men. I honestly don't care about who you've slept with. I care about you," he said, never breaking eye contact with her once.
She saw nothing but kindness in his eyes and she decided to open up to him.
"I don't even like the men I'm with. I don't even wanna be with them," she said quietly.
He raised his eyebrows. She took a deep breath.
"It's just..." She started.
It was hard to get the words over her lips. He was still holding her hand, not saying anything, just waiting for her to tell him whatever was weighing heavy on her mind.
"I just feel so lonely. I don't know any of the people I party with night after night. They mean nothing to me. I go there and pretend to be this partygirl just so I won't feel lonely. I drink to keep all the dark thoughts at bay, and when I'm drunk I hook up with some random guy. I give him whatever he wants just to feel like someone actually cares about me for a few minutes but deep inside I'm still so fucking lonely," she said fast.
Her tears started flowing and she bowed her head again. He stood up and went over to sit next to her.
"Come here," he said and pulled her close.
He put his arms around her and let her cry into his shirt. After a little while she stopped crying. She looked up at him, feeling a bit ashamed.
"Come on, let's go," he said and stood up.
"Where to?" She asked.
"We start with a walk. No hooking up or anything. Just you and me having a good time getting to know each other," he answered and reached his hand towards her.
She gave him a little smile, took his hand, got up from the chair and left the café with him.