A/N Huge apologies for the delay in posting, computer connectivity issues is all I can say. Hope to respond to your reviews over the next couple of days xx
'Coffee and Friends make the perfect blend'.
To his own annoyance, he found himself looking for her every time the door tinkled. They'd been closed Christmas day but re-opened Boxing day, hoping to feed off the post Christmas shoppers, eager for a bargain. They hadn't been open all day, just ten till five. Nancy covered the first shift and Helen the last.
He looked for her the next day and the day after. He brought Ben in the next day as he took care of some personal stuff, then wondered how he could possibly ask if she had been in, without appearing too interested. His waitresses had been constantly trying to set him up and if they had a sniff that he was keen on Ginny, he'd never hear the end of it. He smiled wryly. If only they knew.
She finally came into the café on New Year's Eve. It was Helen who saw her first. "Ooh, Ginny's back, and she's brought a fella. Bit dishy," she said to him. He scowled as her friend slid onto a chair and looked morosely down at the menu, completely uninterested. He thought he looked familiar.
She appeared next to Helen. "Hi, how was your Christmas?" she asked both of them.
He grunted, plating a doughnut and putting it next to a latté. He gestured to the table near the window. Helen picked both up, giving him a strange look. "Fine, I'm going." She huffed over to the table.
He looked at her. "What can I get you?"
She looked back at the bloke she came in with. "Er, two of those cappy things," she said.
"Cappucino?" he asked, and she nodded, turning to go.
"Something to eat?" he asked, gesturing to the cake and biscuit display.
"Oh, erm." She looked back uncertainly at the bloke, who was staring down at the table. Then she checked out the cakes. "Perhaps a scone to share. I'm back in training."
He eyed her up and down. "You look pretty damn good to me," he said in a husky tone.
She pinked. "Why, thank you, EJ." She emphasised his initials, letting him know she hadn't forgotten their last conversation before Christmas.
"Helen will bring the scone over with your drinks," he told her.
"Fine," she said, and walked over to her friend. When he took a good look at the guy he was surprised to see it looked like Oliver Wood.
"What was all that?" hissed Helen.
"What?" he asked, frothing her milk.
"You were flirting with her," accused Helen.
"Just good customer service," he corrected.
"That might be her boyfriend over there," pointed Helen, not too discreetly. She looked back at him, studying his face. "Oh my god, you like her!"
He groaned internally. "Just looking out for my regulars. Gotta keep 'em coming back," he said, plating Ginny's scone. "Can you go get the jam and cream, please, then take them to her...them."
She winked at him. "I'll see what I can find out about him, Boss."
"Don't call me Boss," he called out after her, then cursed when he saw he had burnt the milk for the froth. He tipped the milk out, cleaned the jug and started again. From the corner of his eye, he saw Helen chatting with the two, although the man she was with looked despondent.
Helen returned minutes later for their drinks. "Okay, his name is Ollie. He's upset about something and she's trying to cheer him up. They don't want any jam and cream," reported Helen.
He shrugged, trying to show he didn't really care. "Whatever."
Helen smirked knowingly at him. "Right," she said, and left to take them their drinks. He knew he hadn't fooled her.
He noticed Ginny seemed to like her cappucino, watching her take a tentative sip. Her tongue came out to lick away some of the creamy froth on her lip. She looked over and their eyes met. He looked away first, again. Damn!
He noticed later that she and this Ollie sat close together, talking in hushed tones. Helen drifted past often, always asking if they wanted anything more. They declined, and Helen returned their plate with the scone on it. It was uneaten, but had been pulled apart till there was only crumbs on it.
"So she's talking about some party they're going to tonight, at some manor. He wants to go but says he can't, and she's trying to convince him to go. She looks the sort to like a party, don't you think?" asked Helen, in a conspiritual tone.
He shrugged. "Haven't given it any thought," he said.
"It would do you good to get out and party," noted Helen.
"Clean up required in the booth, please," he said, ignoring her comment and gesturing.
She shot him a sour look, then looked at the booth in question. It was right near Ginny and her friend. "I'm on it, Boss," she saluted, winking.
He gritted his teeth and plated a biscotti to serve with a short macchiato for another table. He grabbed a Coke from the drinks fridge for her companion, and an energy drink for himself. He then returned to his coffee machine.
When he turned around next time, she was there; Ginny. "Thanks," she said, placing the two dirty cups and saucers on the side.
"You liked it," he noted, gesturing to the cup.
"Yeah. I like the froth," she agreed.
"I'll do you a piccolo latte next time," he suggested. He looked past her and the man waiting for her. "Everything okay?"
She looked back at Ollie and sighed. "Yeah," she said, turning back to him.
"So, big plans for tonight?" she asked.
He had momentarily forgotten it was New Years Eve. "Oh yeah, big party to go to," he lied. "You."
She stared at him unnervingly for several seconds. "Yeah, same," she said.
He had a feeling she knew he had lied.
"So, closed tomorrow?" she asked. "To recover from your big party."
Yeah, she knew. He never could fool her. He nodded.
"Then I'll see next year," she said, licking her suddenly dry lips.
His eyes followed that pink tongue. "Happy New Year," he said.
She nodded. "I have high hopes it will be." Then damned if she didn't look him up and down.
He watched her walk to Ollie and speak, then they both walked out together. His eyes followed her as they walked past his window, but she didn't look up.
Helen watched him watch Ginny. She smiled, trying to contain her excitement. She couldn't wait to tell Stacey and Nancy about their boss.
Later that night, close to midnight, he climbed onto the roof of his building. He settled back and took a swig of Corona, placing a second bottle at his feet.
It was cold; snowing, but he barely noticed as he had cast a warming charm and shield charm on himself. The sounds of people below in the street celebrating carried up to him. Settling into the chair that was up there, he waited for the last minutes of the year to pass. As he did, he pondered the path that he'd taken, the path that had led him to where he was right then.
And when the amateur fireworks started down below, and the cheers rang out, as they started to sing Auld Lang Syne, his thoughts turned to her.
Where was she? Who was she kissing right now?
"Happy New Year, Gin," he whispered, raising his bottle to toast her.
~00~
She was in and out over the next couple of days, but rarely ordered a coffee. She would chat to the girls, for they had all seemingly gotten closer and appeared in cahoots. He heard her making plans to go to the cinema with Nancy on their next respective days off.
She was favouring the energy drinks that he liked too, and the flavoured waters that had sprung up. There was no sign of Ollie, and he heard her tell Helen he was 'taking some time to figure out what he really wants'. Whatever that meant.
It was towards the end of the month when he had the chance to do more than smile at her in passing. He usually did the opening hour himself. He was heading out early today; Ben was covering him after lunch for the rest of the day.
He was still pulling the chairs off the tables when she came in. "Hey," she greeted.
He glanced at the clock. Just after seven thirty. The work crowd would be in soon. "You're in early. What can I get you?" he asked.
"Erm, a latté, to go," she said, and he nodded, turning his back to her. When he glanced back at her, she was doing his job, taking the chairs off the table and placing them under the tables. She then pulled the stools off the counter near him, and sat at one.
"Haven't seen you much," he commented.
"Training, playing. I won't be in for awhile, we've got some away games," she said, shredding a paper napkin. "I'm heading out soon, actually."
"You're leaving today?" he asked, carefully watching the frother.
"Yeah. I had a stop to make somewhere, and I saw you were open, so I thought...I thought I'd just stop in and say hi...and bye," she said.
He turned to her and handed over her coffee. She added a sugar and grabbed a lid.
"How's the boyfriend?" he couldn't help but ask.
She appeared confused. "Oh, you mean Ollie? No, I mean, he's not my boyfriend. He's involved with a...friend of mine and they're having troubles. Ollie's having troubles," she corrected.
He felt immense relief. "That's nice of you, helping your friend's boyfriend." Privately he wondered about this friend.
She shrugged. "Ollie and I play against each other, so I tend to see him more than his boyfriend, even though his boyfriend is more my... friend."
He was taken aback. "He's gay? Wow, I wouldn't have thought that."
Ginny stood. "I really have to get going. I...I hope you have a good day today."
He was surprised. "Er, sure. You too."
She seemed to want to say more, but she changed her mind. "See you when I get back." She handed over the money and left. He barely had time to think about her last comments when two people came in and ordered coffees.
Ben came in at lunchtime. As it was busy, they both worked till the lunch crowd had died down, then he went upstairs to his apartment.
He sorted out the payroll, and checked outgoing orders. Tidied the apartment, knowing he was putting off his real reason for taking time off.
Deciding to get it over with, he left.
He arrived at the other end of the now familiar town, and took his time walking to his destination. It was colder here than in London, and most residents were inside. He raised the collar on his travelling cloak.
He walked into the cemetery, heading for the now familiar plot, casting a glimpse over at his godfather's, but not stopping. He clutched the single white rose tighter as he made his way to her.
"Hi Mum," he said, looking down. He saw that someone else had been by, had left a bunch of wildflowers and even cast a cleaning spell around the area. "Happy Birthday."
He stayed there for awhile, just bringing his mum up to date on the goings on in his life. Not that there was much to tell, for he'd just visited his family on Christmas Day.
He then left and appeared again at Exmoor Stadium. Handing over his ticket to the general public area, he settled down to watch Oliver Wood's Puddlemere United play the Wimbourne Wasps.
No-one around him knew that Harry Potter, missing from the wizarding world for over a year, was there.
And that was just the way he wanted it.