Of Mochas and Macchiatos

Part 21

I contemplate running after him but just as I decide to dash out after all, Mr Robinson comes out of the store.

"Well, Evie! What are you doing out here in the cold?" I paste a smile on my face.

"Oh nothing, Mr Robinson. Just missing something." Or someone. That spectral fog has settled upon the town once more.

"Is it out here? Shall I help you look for it? What is it?" Mr Robinson shivers slightly in the cold air and readjusts his glasses, staring out into the mist. Rafe is no longer there, swallowed by the curling tendrils of fog that seem to clutch so very tightly at this place.

"No. It's gone. And I think it's beyond salvaging now."

Surely this is what I wanted? I wanted to break up with Rafe. Those nightmares. They're warnings. And yet somehow, I now regret that urge to break us apart.

The worst part about working in the bookstore is that there's not much to take my mind off Rafe. I recite the first twenty elements of the periodic table. Then I look up the rest of them on my phone and plug in my headphones to listen to the elements song. Eventually I'm able to recite the first fifty elements. But after a few recitals, I trail off. Lost in thought again. A man comes in to buy an Agatha Christie novel for his impending flight and as I attempt to make small talk, I inadvertently ruin the ending for him. Aghast, I apologise profusely. Give him that novel and offer him another one, both for free. And although he accepts the books, he shakes his head at me, looking betrayed.

He stares at me as if I am a wicked person and suddenly I feel like exactly that.

Finally, my shift finishes. Although it is only late afternoon, dusk has befallen the town. The mist seems to swirl through the air as I traverse the streets, my coat pulled up tight against the cold. I still don't know what to tell Rafe. The heels of my boots clatter noisily against the slick pavement. Too loud. Each step disturbs the silence of the night. There are no bird calls, nor chatter of crowds in this weather, and barely any cars too. No headlights flashing in and out of sight. The only sources of light are the dull glow of the ornate street lamps that line the streets and the occasional glimpse of moonlight when the clouds dissipate for a few seconds.

I'm nearing the Neptune Fountain when I hear the echo of footsteps behind me. My breathing becomes ragged and I hold my breath as I pause. Do I say something? The fountain is shrouded in darkness and the nearest street light is too far away.

Yes. I will say something.

"Hello?" My voice sounds so small in the looming emptiness of the silence between us... between me and this unseen person.

The clatter of footsteps stops and I feel a cold shiver trawl it's way up my spine. My heart beats ever so fast and I start to properly panic. My back is pressed against the cool stone of the fountain and a spray of water from the fountain is making my hair damp and cold but I do not care right now. I open up my purse, rifle through my belongings, the ring on my finger snagging on a useless receipt from eons ago. I push past my air pods (there they are!), some sugar sachets in my bag. Why the hell do I have sugar in my bag? I thought I had pepper spray. Oh god, please tell me I have it.

"Is somebody there?" I call out desperately. There is a sudden wind that erupts around me and it whips my words away as I tap at my phone screen, turning on the light. The tiny glow does nothing in the fog. But in the sudden howling of the wind, I think I hear something. Not footsteps, they'd be snatched away by the hurricane like forces around me. A voice.

"Evie? Is that you?"

Oh my god.

"Gareth!" He emerges from the fog. Like a ghost, taking form. A mere shadow sliding into reality. When I see him, I rush him, melt into his arms.