A moment stretched painfully long. Jim rubbed the back of his neck, and Lottie stared at her plate. For the rest of the meal, they all picked at their food in heavy silence.
Later that evening, when Greta drove home with Lottie, the atmosphere in the car felt as sticky as treacle. Lottie crossed her arms and stared out of the window at the sky, at the pavement, at her phone, at anything other than her mum.
Everything replayed in Greta’s mind, as if her failures were stuck on a loop.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the little coffee shop again. Its warm light glowed invitingly against the damp, dark evening. The white rabbit in the window stared back at her, as if to say,Hey, don’t worry. Everything will be okay.
Greta tightened her grip on the steering wheel. ‘Look, I’m sorry tonight didn’t go as planned,’ she said. ‘At least it was memorable.’
Lottie remained quiet, as if holding on to her grudge.
‘We should go shopping together this weekend, or watch a movie. Some girls’ time together.’
‘I’m seeing Jayden,’ Lottie said, plucking at her jumper. ‘Walking his dog.’
‘Oh?’ The boyfriend? ‘Well, let’s do it another time.’
Lottie nodded. She picked up the flyer that had drifted to the floor. ‘Looking for the perfect blend?’ she read aloud with a smirk. ‘Like that even exists . . .’
As the traffic light turned green, Greta set off again. A moment of doubt crossed her mind, but she quickly brushed it away. She wanted to believe the perfect blend in lifecouldexist. Just like it had before. Otherwise, what was the point?
And somehow, strangely, she felt like the white rabbit and the coffee shop might hold some of the answers.
Chapter 6
THAT NIGHT, GRETAtossed and turned, yawning and getting tangled in her sheets. Whenever she closed her eyes to sleep, she pictured the waitress cooing at Jim, Lottie’s downcast eyes, and the broken bracelet. The shame of her outburst felt seared into her mind, and she drifted in and out of slumber, never quite sure if she was awake or not.
When she got up the next morning, she rubbed her eyes, overcome by tiredness. Lottie had already left the flat. A used cereal bowl sat in the sink, and a hastily scrawled note lay on the kitchen table.
Gone to meet Jayden.
Greta sighed. Sunday used to be a time for family, when she, Jim and Lottie went to the park or enjoyed going ten-pin bowling. She used to cherish those moments when they’d felt like a team rather than solo players. Now it looked like she’d be spending the rest of her weekend alone. The hours stretching ahead felt long and empty.
She busied herself by tidying the flat, the lavender room spray and the lines she vacuumed into the carpets not doing much to lift her spirits.
Craving a shot of caffeine to boost her energy levels, Greta opened the kitchen cupboard, only to find a few granules lying in the bottom of the coffee jar.‘Lottie,’she huffed aloud.‘Add things to the shopping list.’Did she have to do everything around here?
In need of fresh air and decent coffee, she got dressed, grabbed her coat, and went out for a walk.
The winter air was crisp, that in-between temperature that meant you put on a scarf, then took it off again several times a day. She walked through the park, her feet crunching through the dried copper leaves, picturing a younger Lottie scooping and throwing them around like confetti. They used to buy ice creams drizzled with raspberry sauce and sit astride stone lion statues to eat them. The memories seemed to drift around her like ghosts.
She passed Brewtique, spotting Josie bustling around inside, serving up full English breakfasts. But Greta’s feet instinctively carried her towards the ‘Perfect Blend’ coffee shop instead. A frothy cappuccino and a brownie felt like the friends she needed right now.
The dark green paint around the windows of the shop curled like wood shavings, giving the place a slightly abandoned feel. Yet unlike the other shops on the street, there were no dandelions sprouting through the cracked pavement in front of it. There was no graffiti or litter either, almost like it was invisible to others.
It was 11:00 a.m., but the second hand on her watch had stuck, ticking slightly back and forth like a tiny metronome. As Greta reached for the door-knob, her hand shook with an odd sense of anticipation, like the jumpy sensation she got before an audition. She felt drawn towards the promise of something . . . different.
Surprisingly, the door swung open with ease, and a brass bell tinkled to announce her arrival. The warm scent of rich, freshly ground coffee greeted her, with hints of dark chocolate, nutmeg, and something smoky.
Inside, the shop was more inviting than she’d anticipated. Fringed red lampshades cast an intimate glow, giving the place the feel of a speakeasy (minus the gin). Greta felt instantly at ease, like she’d stepped into a different era. There were several round wooden tables with three-legged stools, and a single leather booth draped with red velvet curtains. In the corner, a vintage TV flickered in black and white, playingIt’s a Wonderful Life.
A dark wooden counter, intricately carved with floral patterns, added to the shop’s old-fashioned charm. Before approaching it, Greta stopped to admire the hundreds of glass jars lining the shelves. Each was filled with coffee beans or other infusions, such as seeds, dried leaves, cinnamon sticks and vanilla pods. The jars had stoppered lids, and she read a few of the handwritten labels—Mind’s Eye Elixir, Heart’s Desire Blend, and Emotion Beans. Very strange. She noticed there were no blackboards or menus anywhere.
Behind the counter stood an old woman Greta recognised. She was quiet and still, with eyes like drops of mercury and white hair trailing down to her waist. She wore simple, boxy black clothes and an enigmatic smile, grinding a pale green jade pestle into its mortar.
Something behind her intense gaze made Greta’s forearms tingle, as if brushed by a feather. ‘I think we’ve met before,’ she said tentatively. ‘It was a rainy night. You gave me a flyer in the street . . .’
The old woman nodded. ‘That sounds like me. I tell people about this place, in case they miss it. Some notice the shop and others don’t.’
