Secrets Not Lies

Chapter One - Meeting

I wasn't sure what exactly had compelled me to give PJ's idea a shot, but a week after he proposed it, I walked through the doors of the café down the road from my parent's house. His idea had been fairly simple and seemed like my most convenient option I had. I'd been struggling with moving out of my parent's house ever since I'd dropped out of college. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my life, I didn't know where I wanted to work, and I had limited time to figure things out. My parents were moving across England in two weeks, which meant that-since I wanted to stay in London-I had that long to find my own place. It was difficult though seeing as I didn't have much money and knew there was no way I could afford an apartment on my own.

That's when PJ came in with his idea. He'd told me a mate of his had the same sort of dilemma as me, to some extent. He had a career ahead of him, but it was taking some time to get it off the ground and didn't provide enough money for him to live off currently. He was graduating university soon, so, like me, didn't have much time to figure stuff out.

I spotted PJ as soon as I was in the café and he waved excitedly towards me. I was always late for things, so I was surprised when I saw he was sat alone and his friend wasn't there yet. I wandered across the space and slid into the chair across from PJ, who was grinning quite widely at me.

"Someone seems a little too excited," I remarked as I sat, shrugging my winter jacket off my shoulders.

"Hey, I'm about to save your ass here if this works out," PJ stated. "Shouldn't I be excited about helping you out?"

I eyed him dubiously, not completely convinced that was the whole reason why he looked so excited. "I suppose," I said slowly. My eyes roamed toward the empty chair beside PJ and wondered aloud, "Where is this mystery guy anyway? Didn't you say to meet here at three?"

"I did," he confirmed, "but he texted me a little before you got here saying he's stuck in traffic. He'll be a little late. He's usually on time for things though. Maybe if my idea does work out he'll help you with managing your time better."

"I'm only ten minutes late this time," I scoffed defensively.

He squinted his eyes at me before glancing over at the barista as she called out someone's order. "Why don't you go get a drink since we'll probably be waiting a little while longer?"

I rose from my chair, taking my wallet with me as I approached the counter. I ordered my usual hot chocolate, deciding not to try any of the fancy festive lattes. A few minutes later it was ready and I swiped it from the counter, the drink immediately warming my hands. When I turned to go back to the table, I realized the once empty seat beside PJ was taken. I was growing curious to meet this guy after PJ had talked so highly of him.

I placed my drink on the table before sitting back down in my chair. My eyes flickered from PJ to his friend then back again, indicating for him to introduce us.

"Oh, this is Phil," he said quickly, then told him my name as well.

Phil smiled warmly at me. I took in all his features for the first time as our eyes locked. The first thing I noticed were his striking blue eyes, a beautiful color, like the sky on a clear day. I noticed he wore his raven black hair in a style similar to mine, just swept the other way. His gentle smile made my stomach swarm with butterflies suddenly, startling me.

"Nice to meet you, Daniel," he greeted, making me cringe slightly.

"It's just Dan," I corrected him. I'd told PJ to stop introducing me with my full name and he clearly had no intention of stopping now that he knew it bothered me.

There was an uncomfortable silence that settled over the table afterward, Pj looking between me and Phil as if he expected us to talk. I cursed the fact that I wasn't social at all and talking to people I just met had never been easy for me.