The New Girl

[November] - New Relationships, New Feelings? (2)

Dianne grabbed her purse and traipsed out of her room, ready to head to the corner bakery to grab some sweet treats for the weekend since Andy happened to be visiting again. A rather quick two weeks had gone by between his last visit. When they'd first met, she hadn't thought he'd be the type to travel to London to see her...he was a famous actor after all. So the fact that he was making an effort while Strictly was still on, made her practically twirl with excitement.

"Oh, hey Joe!" she greeted her lanky roommate who had a granola bar stuffed in his mouth as he walked out of the kitchen toward the stairs. "Do you want to come down to the bakery with me?"

"Uh, I'm kind of busy," he gestured up the stairs, clearly lying as he avoided eye contact.

"Oh come on," she begged, grabbing his arm and dragging him toward the door. "I need your sweet tooth to sample a few things."

She smiled to herself as she watched his eyes roll but dutifully slide on his shoes and grab his puffy coat. It was almost December and London had become bitterly cold, causing the four roommates to spend even more time inside together - more time in close quarters which led to more time to get on each other's nerves.

At least that was the explanation Dianne had for why Joe had been a bit more withdrawn the last few weeks. It had started that first weekend Andy had visited - and though Joe had promised her on the sofa that he would be nicer, she had yet to witness it. Though, she thought with a frown, she hadn't witnessed much of anything from Joe. He had thrown himself into some new projects that required all his time up in the studio, and had even skipped the last two Sunday's on the sofa, telling her he had work to do.

It was a bit off-putting, but between Strictly wrapping up soon and her relationship with Andy, Dianne hadn't had too much time to dwell on it. It was just a busy season...she had every confidence that things would return to normal soon. Maybe Joe trudging out the door behind her was the first sign that things were calming down.

"Why do you need me again?" he grumbled as they exited the building lobby, immediately pulling their coat collars higher to shield themselves from the cold wind.

"I need you to tell me what desserts guys like," she grinned at the way his nose crinkled in annoyance.

"Caspar and Oli were free I'm sure," Joe replied, rolling his eyes, though Dianne noticed the hint of a smile on his face.

"They're the WORST to do something like this with," she replied dramatically. "They're like two little kids, squabbling over everything."

"Oh, so I'm the mature choice," Joe pointed his nose haughtily in the air.

"Eh," Dianne shrugged, dodging the elbow Joe shot out her way, unable to hold in a giggle as she felt the pure joy ripple through her as the slightest bit of normalcy in their teasing relationship returned. It became apparent in the way her cheeks hurt from smiling how much she had missed it.

As they made their way into the warm bakery, she shivered, moving a step closer to Joe who instantly took a step away. Frowning slightly, she tried again, eyes widening as Joe took an even bigger step forward, feigning interest in the warm baked goods in the case.

"Get three of those," Joe cleared his throat, "And two of those...and one cinnamon roll. Boom. Done."

Dianne watched him closely for a second, noticing how he had his lips pulled in tightly, his hands shoved in his pockets, and his weight shifted back and forth on his feet. He seemed jittery...nervous, even.

"What about those eclairs?" Dianne asked, never taking her eyes off the man at her side, trying to figure out what was going on in his head.

"Which ones?" Joe asked.