Coffee Beans

Special Night

The meal was going better than Ellie had expected by the time she was half-way through her pasta dish. Mark was easy to talk to and they had a lot in common; they had grown up in a similar part of London and even taken the same subjects in school.

"Don't tell me you wanted to work in a bank?" Ellie was trying not to laugh as she took a mouthful of pasta. It certainly wouldn't look good to spit her food out.

"Sure," Mark said. "I loved the idea of suits, briefcases and the money I could earn. Plus I was good at math so it was a realistic career path for me."

Ellie nodded slowly and tried to imagine Mark in a suit. Navy would probably look best on him, especially with his hairstyle. "So how did you end up working in a homeless shelter?"

"A friend of mine became homeless just after we finished university together. I wanted to help him but he would refuse my 'charity'. So I volunteered at the shelter where I knew he was staying in, and that way he allowed me to get him help." Mark to a bite from his pizza and smiled, his cheeks full like a chipmunk.

"That's..." Ellie struggled to find the right words to say. She hadn't expected Mark to be so -

"Nice?" He said as if reading her mind.

The brunette nodded, looking down at her dinner. Embarrassed was an understatement. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mark open his mouth to speak, but his jaw simply hung open. Ellie turned around in her seat to see what he was looking at.

The door to the restaurant had opened, two women walking into the warmth given off by just a pizza oven. Ellie's eyes immediately fell to the women's hands which were entwined with one another. Looking up to see who they were, Ellie's jaw also dropped.

One of the women was Robin. She was wearing a casual, but slightly smart, pair of black jeans with a plain white blouse and leather jacket. She looked incredible. The other woman was wearing a dress and dangerously high heels. There wasn't much left to the imagination with that outfit.

Ellie shook her head and turned back around in her seat, taking a large mouthful of pasta. Mark sniggered but still looked concerned.

"Why would she be here?" He asked.

"Robin lives down the road from the cafe; it's only natural she would come to one of the high-street restaurants for dinner. It's exactly what we've done?"

Mark sighed and took a bite of his pizza. He shrugged his shouldered and slumped back in his seat. Maybe this evening wasn't going as well as Ellie had thought.

She held her breath as a waiter lead Robin and the other woman to a table at the back of the restaurant. Ellie had a perfect, uninterrupted view of the table which was lit by a trio of candles, unlike the lamp-lit table she was sat on with Mark. Had Robin not even see her?

"Don't look so panicked, Ellie," Mark said, taking one of her hands in his. She was taken aback but, at the same time, comforted. She smiled a little but couldn't stop flicking her gaze over to Robin. The blonde was holding hands on the table with the other woman, neither of them letting go until their food arrived a short while later.

Mark tried his best to get back to their evening, asking her about the origins of the café. Ellie gave the odd answer but was well aware that any connection they'd had was now gone. Strangely fixated on Robin's movements, Ellie felt her heart sank a little as the blonde reached over the table and kissed the other woman. It was only a peck but the giggles afterwards said a lot; that wasn't a first kiss. This was normal for them.

"If she's upsetting you, we can leave?" Mark was still holding tight to her hand, his thumb stroking her palm.

Ellie shrugged, paused, and then nodded. "If you don't mind?"

"Of course not; I just want you to be happy."

A/N: As this is the 30th chapter, I made it a little longer than usual :) Hope you guys like this - it took me a while to write XD Remember to leave a comment below with suggestions, ideas, thoughts, bits you liked and bits that could be edited. Everything helps. Enjoy folks! :3