The Love Triangle: Mackenzie Meets Jean-Luc

Chapter 9

It was Saturday, and Bluey was nervously waiting for Jean-Luc to pick her up.

She was at the local coffee shop, getting a hot cocoa. Normally she would have gotten a latte, but she was already too jittery for caffeine. 

They had agreed for Jean-Luc to pick her up from Chill Coffees since Chilli had to cover for her coworker who was on maternity leave and Bandit and Bingo needed to go to Hammerbarn to replace the roof gutter. Jean-Luc's mother owned a 24-hour taxi service, and Jean-Luc was allowed to take a taxi occasionally, so a driver was going to pick her up. A driver! Bluey could still barely believe it when Jean-Luc had told her.

The bell on the door rang, and Bluey looked up. It wasn't Jean-Luc, just an overcaffeinated office worker getting her third coffee in two hours. Bluey sighed and went back to her text messages. She scrolled through the ones that Jean-Luc had sent, and yes, he was supposed to pick her up from Chill Coffees at seven o'clock for the movie. Yet the clock was ticking towards seven, and Jean-Luc wasn't here.

Bluey grumbled under her breath and searched up a review of the movie they were going to watch, Australia Under Siege, about a zombie apocalypse attacking Australia, and scrolled through the suggestions. A text popped up over the search bar from Honey. It said, where are you girl i need you!! 

Bluey texted back, is this about ur french presentation?

yess and i NEED U TO HELP! ALSO JEAN-LUC!

Bluey muttered something obscene under her breath. honey, u know i love helping u but im on my date. A little white lie wouldn't hurt anyone.

omg really? where?

cant text, jean-luc doesn't like it

>:(  was Honey's only reply. Then another came. so ur not doing it bc ur bae doesnt?? thats not cool. do what u want to do first.

u just want me to do ur presentation for u.

meyyybe. but still! do what you want when you want, and not before.

Bluey smiled. Sound advice from a sound friend. Then she checked the time. It was 6:54.

Bluey sighed, but decided to stay. He might still come! He said that he would pick her up at seven, and it wasn't seven yet. She would wait.

What Bluey didn't know is that Jean-Luc was outside the door of Chill Coffees, mentally debating if he should go in early. It was 6:54, after all. Bluey was pretty punctual, she would probably be inside. Would it look too needy if he went in? Should he walk in at seven on the dot? Should he look like he didn't watch the clock for hours earlier today, counting down the minutes until seven? Should he look cool, like he didn't care? But that would be a lie. Because Jean-Luc, deep down, really did care about Bluey. But he didn't want to go in now, now at 6:55, because Bluey might not be there.

Jean-Luc mentally slapped himself. Toi, idiot! Bluey tient à moi! Si elle ne l'avait pas fait, elle n'aurait pas accepté d'aller à ce rendez-vous! Gérez-le et entrez! 

He strode inside before he could stop himself, and instantly regretted it. 

Bluey was nowhere in sight. 

Jean-Luc looked around, trying not to look like he'd been ghosted. He even walked up and down the aisles of tables, trying to see in case Bluey was lying down in a booth. 

She wasn't.

Jean-Luc had given up hope until Bluey said, "Jean-Luc," from the other side of the coffeehouse. She caught up to Jean-Luc and said breathlessly, "I was in the bathroom."