six
When she said she’d thought about the kiss on the cheek all night, Dani wasn’t kidding. It was the single thing that had occupied her thoughts for multiple hours, remembering the soft breath on her, the closeness of the two women’s faces and the spark of electricity that shot through her body at the touch of Jamie’s lips.
It was the thing she thought of when she came home, the thing she thought about when she showered, brushed her teeth. It was the last thing she thought of before she fell asleep and it somehow made its way into her dreams as well.
The event hadn’t exactly escaped Jamie’s mind either, she had had a hard time focusing on anything else. She almost surprised herself with the bold move. Almost. However, she decided it was the right thing to do, after a wee bit of thinking. She made a mental note to thank Owen for leading Dani to the pub.
She could not wait to see her American friend the following day.
Unfortunately, the florist couldn’t just abandon her post to waltz over to where the blonde was, only a couple of meters away from her. It was bothersome, really, to be so close to her, yet unable to talk to her. The cobble street between them could might as well have been an entire ocean and Jamie couldn’t leave her lighthouse to greet the ship floating out in the waves.
A window shopper looked at some potted plants in the corner of the shop, so the florist was basically alone, which gave her plenty of time to glance over to the coffeehouse, hoping to get a look at the blonde she’d recently gotten to know.
Jamie was very devoted to her work, she literally poured her soul into every bouquet she made, every plant she potted, but she couldn’t help being distracted by that one very intriguing woman. She was always focused and hard working, but there was nothing she could do about her thoughts slipping away sometimes.
Across the violent sea that was the street, Owen appeared, it wasn’t unusual for him to drop off baked goods there. He was making his way over to Jamie, a sailor in a little lifeboat. With a grin on his face, almost covered by his mustache, he opened the door.
”Good morning,” He held up a small paper bag and a takeaway mug. ”Delivery for a Miss Jamie Taylor.”
”Morning, Owen.” Jamie greeted and reached for the bag to look inside of it.
”Breakfast sandwich,” Owen declared. ”However,” He quickly moved on. ”The tea’s not from me. It’s a gift from a very happy young American in a certain coffeeshop.” He grinned widely.
”Right,” A smile tugged at the corners of her lips. ”Thanks.” She nodded.
Owen leaned over the counter and rested his chin on his hands.
”You didn’t happen to stumble upon anyone fitting that description yesterday, say in a pub?” He raised his eyebrows.
”You just can’t mind your own fucking business, can you?” Jamie smiled to herself and shook her head.
”Well, how did it go?” Owen wondered, his grin reaching his ears.
”Had a few drinks, talked a bit, nothing special.” The florist looked out the window.
”She definitely seemed to think it was something special.” The baker nodded towards the shop across the street. ”Wouldn’t stop smiling the entire time I was there and she thanked me for the pub recommendation.”
”Yeah, well I had a nice time.” Jamie said, not wanting to share any details.
”Alright then, as a batter of fact, I knead to get back to the bakery.” Owen pushed himself up off the counter.
Jamie didn’t scoff or roll her eyes at his god awful baking puns as usual, her mind was somewhere else, with someone else. She quickly reached for a pen and looked around for a piece of paper.
”Seriously, dough. Cakes won’t bake themselves.” The baker searched for eye contact with the woman.
”Do me a favour, eh?” Jamie said after she’d scribbled something down. ”Hand this over to Dani on your way back, will you?” She asked.
Owen’s face lit up again. He snatched the note folded in half before he strolled out. Right before exiting, he gave Jamie a thumbs up and hummed along to some song only he seemed to hear.
The door to the coffeeshop flew open and caught the attention of both the customers and the baristas.
”Mail for Dani!” The baker from down the street exclaimed in a sing-songy voice, slid a piece of paper across the counter and pranced back the way he came without another word.
Confused murmurs came from an elderly couple having tea in the sofa, Dani could make out something about ’manners’ and ’mailmen these days’.
Her coworker’s eyes fell on the note as he emptied the coffeepot.
”Well, are you going to read it?” He asked her.
She knew it was from Jamie. Owen had just been there and if he had written it himself, he would have given her it the first time he came over.
”Yeah.” Dani chuckled quietly.
Going for lunch at 12.30, fancy joining me?
Jamie x
The familiar feeling of blushing washed over her and she read the note again. Was she being asked out on a date? Or was it just a friendly lunch? Should she go home and change clothes for it?
”Can I take my break half an hour later today?” She asked without takeing her eyes off the note.
”Sure.” She got in response, no questions asked.
Time seemed to stand still, but maybe that just had to do with English timezones. No matter how many times she looked at the clock, the hands never seemed to move. Maybe it was broken? She raised her left arm to check her watch and was disappointed when it showed the same time as the clock on the wall.
She was sure some time traveller had picked out this moment to stop the time just to mess with her. It wasn’t exactly fair, she thought. What had she ever done to the time traveller?
After an eternity of serving customers and waiting for the lunch break, her boss acknowledged the blonde’s fixation with the clock.
”You know, it’s not going to go faster because you look at it. You might even break it with that intense stare of yours.” The man filling a kettle with water said.
Dani just sighed. It was fifteen past twelve.
”You can go now if you want, I’ll be fine here.” Her boss said when he saw Dani’s frown.
”Are you sure?” Her face lit up. ”Thank you so much.”
She threw off her apron and made her way to the bathroom to check herself out in the mirror. Hair was looking alright, no stains on the shirt, thanks to the apron. She turned the tap and let the water flow down her hands in an attempt to wash the nervousness away. It didn’t really work, not that she actually expected it to.
She decided it was acceptable to feel a little nervous, it was natural. Having lunch/a potential date with a charming, witty, not to mention hot woman was enough to make anyone shaky. But what if she had read the situation entirely wrong? Maybe Jaime just wanted to be friends, nothing more, maybe that was why she asked Dani to lunch - to clarify that.
Dani tried not to overthink things, not that she usually was very successful, but she really tried. This was a situation she easily could overthink, thought that could stay with her for days. But no, that was not going to be the situation.
She was proud of herself to have made a new friend in this foreign country. She came here all alone, knowing no one and she had already landed herself a lunch with a nice woman. This was an accomplishment.
With the most confidence she could muster up, she left the bathroom to walk out to wait for Jamie outside. It was a typical London day, she’d come to learn. A little bit windy and grey clouds covering the sky, threatening to release rain to those walking underneath them.
The florist came out and smiled at her. She wondered if there was such a thing as a ’European hello’.
”Hi.” Dani stuffed her hands in the pockets of her jacket, unsure what to do with them.
”Hey,” Jamie answered, locking the door. ”Thanks for coming with me.”
”So where are you taking me?” Dani curiously asked.
”It’s not far, nice little place. I can’t cook for the life of me, so I usually head down there to eat.” Jamie turned around and put the keys in her pocket. ”Only takes a few minutes to walk there.”
”So you judge me for not being able to make tea, but it’s perfectly acceptable for you not knowing how to cook?” Dani asked, humored.
”That’s about right, love.” Jamie nodded and started walking. ”Thanks for the tea, not made by you I could tell, this morning.” The brunette looked over at Dani and gave her a sincere smile.
”You paid for several of my drinks last night, it was the least I could do.” Dani hoped the other woman would mention what happened the previous night.
”Let me know if you wanna grab a drink again sometime, I’m there all the time anyways. Also they let me order after last call.” Jamie smiled and kicked away a small stone in front of her.
The American chuckled, she’d very much like to have a drink with her again.
”You sound really proud of that.” Dani laughed.
”Yeah, I’m chuffed. It’s the dream.” The brunette nodded and flashed a smile.
”You sound like a teenage boy.” Dani teased.
Jamie gasped dramatically.
”Are you questioning my maturity, Miss Clayton?” She squinted her eyes and furrowed her brows.
”Just slightly, although compared to Owen, I guess you’re not that bad.” The taller of the two giggled.
”Yeah, poor lad can’t go a second without making some bad pun only he finds funny.” Jamie scoffed.
”I find him charming.” The blonde said. ”He’s always so cheerful.”
”I have no time for happiness and jokes.” Jamie declared. ”I’m dreadfully serious at all times. Can’t understand that man for the life of me.” She deadpanned.
Dani chuckled at that. They walked past a park that probably looked better in sunlight. People were sitting on the benches, some were walking their dogs, umbrella in hand ready in case of a downpour. A young couple stood under a tree, sharing a cigarette.
”And we’re here.” Jamie stopped.
They had arrived outside a red stock brick building with a small outdoor dining area. A weather worn sign above the door probably held the name of the restaurant, but Dani couldn’t see what it said.
The florist opened the door and held out her arm.
”Ladies first.”