Dolly

[15]

We sat at the same table as last time in the corner, all secluded and private. I quite liked sitting in the centre so that I can listen to people's conversations and internally violate their orders when it wasn't what I was expecting or something I didn't like. It was also a good spot to get loads of smiles from people walking past which was an opening for me to talk to them but the second I said 3 words, they walked off. Must always be in a rush.

I ordered Valentino the seasonal aero mint hot chocolate whilst I got my berry smoothie with a bag of roast chicken crisps because they are bomb. They don't actually have chicken in so don't worry veggie gods from above.

"Soooo," I drawled, ripping the crisps open and plopping one in my mouth, making an obnoxiously loud 'crunch' sound.

"Sooo..." he mimicked me, plucking the orange foil bag from my hands before I could react and by react I mean shove the whole darn packet up his nostrils... after I'd emptied the potato goods onto a napkin of course.

"Your moms dead."

Valentino paused as he was putting the crisp in his mouth, his eyes bulging and looking very taken aback. Oops.

"Erm." He looked around the café as if not knowing what to say so he shoved the crisp in his mouth and me doing the same, now having taken my snack back. I'd asked if he wanted any munch and he said no. "Yeah."

"How did that sad event come about then?"

Imma need another bag of these crisps, maybe 4. I'm broke so i shall ask my sugar daddy... after this conversation.

I'm intrigued to know more about him, his life, his family, his past. I don't know many details about stuff like that. I know his favourite foods and colour, what books he reads and whether he has two nipples or not. But i don't know him.

Valentino took a large inhale, sitting up straighter in his seat and clutching the handle to his mug tighter.

"Well, I barely knew her. She abandoned me when I was 3, at a fire station." He laughed when he said that, an empty one full of... hate?

"Cliche to say the least. She never wanted me, not for a second. My dad left her and I've never met him either. I think she despised me because I reminded her of him."

I felt sad for him. Genuinely upset. The kind of sadness where your heart feels all funny and goosebumps arise to your skin. I knew what it was like to not be wanted by your parents, to be abandoned when you needed someone the most. It was an indescribable feeling that you'd only understand if you've felt it.

"Then I was sent to a family who adopted me, I was only three so it wasn't hard to find people who liked the idea of a baby. Babies are always in high demand. I don't remember much about how they treated me so maybe it was good. Then the wife got pregnant when I was five and they decided they didn't want me anymore, they had a baby of their own blood now. Plus they didn't want to be seen with a dark baby when they were the whitest people in England with their Range Rover and fish and chip Fridays. Oh, can't forget the Sunday roasts every week without fail."