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We sat down on one of the tables, and Buddy immediately followed under the table and happily laid down at our feet. The waitress Oliver had talked to initially came by to take our orders with a sweet smile.
“Don’t we know each other from somewhere?” the waitress asked Oliver.
“Oh yes, aren’t you Emma?” Oliver replied with a chuckle.
“Yes. Oliver, right? We were at the same high school,” she remembered and smiled excitedly. “It’s been a long time since you’ve been gone. How have you been doing?”
“Nice to meet you after that long time. I nearly didn’t recognize you,” he pointed out. “I’ve been very busy in London. I just came back home for Elle’s wedding.”
Right after that, another patron that finished his coffee yelled impatiently, “Hello, hello…The bill please.”
“Sorry guys, I need to take your orders, otherwise the other guests will start a riot here,” she whispered to us as she bent forward.
“I’ll just have the chai latte today,” I told Emma.
“I’ll just have a cappuccino,” Oliver said.
She nodded and went off to get our orders after the inpatient patron got the bill and payed. She then stopped by one of the tables, to laughingly refill the coffee of one of the customers, who tried to flirt with her outrageously.
“I see you still don’t like to drink coffee,” he remarked. “I wondered why you didn’t get a cake, though.”
I smiled slightly at him. “Some things change and some remain the same.”
He shook his head. “I know, right? It’s nice to see Emma after all these years.”
We both fell into an awkward silence before he spoke again, “So, you have a boyfriend.”
“Yeah,” I murmured, my heart trying to shake off the weird feeling that clung to it after Dan left earlier this morning. “He’s a pretty great guy and I love him.”
If only he was around as much as I wanted…
“What about you? Is there some unfortunate woman you’re tormenting in London?”
He shook his head. “Nah. My work keeps me busy, so I don’t really have time for dating.”
So busy… Just like Dan.
“Oh.” I pasted a smile on my face. “I’m sure you’ll find someone. When you do, she might convince you not to work too much.”
He laughed and shook his head. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I think I’m pretty good for now.”
I nodded and around this time, Emma the waitress came with our orders. Oliver turned the conversation around to other, lighter topics. I had almost forgotten just how smart and funny he could be. Dan was pretty smart too, but Oliver just had this way about him that was…different.
It was almost like I didn’t have to pretend to be someone else just to catch up with him.
It was like… he could seeme, and I didn’t have to work so hard to get his attention.
It felt…lovely.
We sat there, talking about the good, old times and some of his funny experiences as a doctor abroad. I would never have thought that in something as serious as a hospital, there would be something to laugh about but with Oliver being the way he is, he found humor even in a bleak place such as a hospital.
We were laughing about one of his patients who thought he was getting a heart attack—when in reality, it was just heartburn—after drinking one too many cups of coffee, when I heard my phone ring. I glanced at the number flashing on the lit-up screen and frowned.
“Excuse me, I really need to take this call,” I apologized to Oliver as I stood up with my phone in hand.
“Sure thing,” he replied with an easy smile. “I’ll watch over Buddy and make sure he stays out of trouble while you take care of it.”
“Thanks!” I flashed him a grateful smile and hurried over outside the café to the part shielded from the rain by a striped awning.
