“There you are,” Becca said. “I was starting to wonder where you’d got to.”
I shrugged, deliberately avoiding her gaze as I made myself a cup of tea. “I had a bit of paperwork to catch up on. It’s been one of those mornings.”
“Been busy, eh?” John asked from behind his newspaper.
“Nonstop.” I sat beside Becca, glancing over her shoulder at her phone. She turned it away from me with a playful scowl.
“Do you mind?”
“No, and neither do you usually. Who are you messaging?” I asked with a knowing smile.
“None of your business.” Becca poked her tongue out at me.
“Oliver will be gutted.” I smirked. “Though he deserves everything he gets.”
“Well…”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s Oliver you’re texting, isn’t it?”
“He sent me a really nice apology. Look.” She held out her phone, but I shook my head.
“It’s alright, I believe you. He made a half-assed attempt at making it up to me too.”
“So, are you guys friends again?” Becca asked.
“Yeah, I guess so.”
Before we could continue our conversation, Rowan came into the break room with his phone to his ear. I knew there was something wrong immediately just from his expression.
“Alright, just—” He was interrupted. “Stop panicking, it’ll be fine. Have you got money for the bus?” Rowan pinned his phone to his ear with his shoulder as he made himself a coffee.
Becca looked at me, eyes sparkling with curiosity, and I just shrugged, continuing to pretend not to listen in.
“Okay, well just come here then and I’ll take you home after work.” There was a pause. “Yes, you’ll have to wait for me to finish. I’m not a taxi service.” Another pause. “Do you want my help or not, Teegan?”
Ah. Both Becca and I looked at one another.
“Alright, I’ll see you in an hour or two. Yeah, okay, bye.” Rowan hung up and shoved his phone back into his back pocket.
“Kids, am I right?” Trisha smiled up at him.
“You can say that again,” Rowan sighed. He sat down at the table with us, at the opposite end to me.
“What’s happened? Is she alright?” Trisha asked.
“Yeah, she’s fine. She’s forgotten her house key, and no one is home to let her in.”
“She’s coming here then?” Becca asked, blowing on a spoonful of soup.
Rowan caught my eye as I glanced up at him, though he quickly looked away. “Yeah. I’ll take her home once I’m done for the day – much to her disgust. She’ll only sit with her nose in her phone all night at home, so I don’t see why she can’t do that here until it’s time for me to go.”
I fought a smile. Whilst the idea of meeting Rowan’s daughter made me nervous, it was oddly endearing hearing him complaining about her, like a ‘proper dad’.
“She can help me on reception, if she’s really bored,” Becca replied. “Half an hour answering the phone and she’ll be glad to sit in a corner and scroll her phone while she waits.”
Rowan laughed. “Thanks.”
“Gosh, I haven’t seen Teegan since she was this big,” Trisha said, holding up a hand. “I bet she’s turned into a real young lady now.”
