‘So?’ And she startedpushing through the throng of caffeine-deprived hipsters.
‘Right, quickly, before she comes back,’ Olive whispered.
‘What?’ Oscar said, browsing the cookies through the glass.
‘You said we were going to talk?’ Olive said, glancing over Oscar’s shoulder and watching Jane’s perfect straight hair swish away from them.
‘Now? Here?’ Oscar already felt clammy from the overcrowdedcoffee shop, but now he was being put on the spot he felt a wave of heat rush through his entire body.
‘It’s not like we have an abundance of opportunities! The only time I’ve really spoken to you today is on stage via a script.’ Olive tried to smile and keep her tone light and breezy, but she knew they had to talk now and they had to be quick.
‘True.’ He nodded.
‘So shoot.’She prodded him playfully, worrying that she really was being too pushy.
‘I don’t know where to begin.’ He tried to rub the creases out of his forehead.
‘Well… what do you want?’ she prompted.
‘You’re forward!’ he laughed.
‘And you’re panicking. I just want to know where we stand and we don’t have time to not be forthright,’ Olive said, going up on her tiptoes to tryand spot Jane’s imminent return.
‘I want this,’ Oscar gestured between them.
‘What is this?’I wish he’d just say what he means, she thought.
‘Fun!’I wish she understood what I meant, he thought, squeezing her hand.
‘Casual?’ she suggested. Olive’s father had always told her that when she wasn’t able to make a decision she should flip a coin. Not to see how the coinwould land, but because you would always know what you truly wanted once the coin was in the air. Much in the same way that it was only until she suggested being casual that she realised she was hoping he’d say no.
‘I guess?’ He shrugged.
‘Right.’ She pulled her hand away.
‘Doesn’t have to be.’ He took her hand back and raised it to his lips, kissing it gently. ‘I just can’tdo serious. Or committed. Not right now.’
‘Okay. We want fun, not casual and not serious,’ she said with a small but noticeable sigh.
‘Yes. That sounds right.’ He nodded, strands of his hair curling over his eyes.
‘So…… what is that?’ She sighed again.
‘Does it have to be anything? Can’t we just be us?’ Oscar felt a twinge of guilt twist in his gut when he saw her facechange. It was only a small difference, but he could plainly see the idea of being casual didn’t appeal to her, and probably never would.
‘Doesn’t that feel a little fragile?’ She blinked slowly and breathed a little deeper.
‘Isn’t that half the fun?’
‘I… I guess.’
‘Who’s fragile?’ Jane bustled back over to them, jostling several people’s coffee cups as she went.
‘He is. Our poor Oscar here has a jippy tummy. Is the loo free? I think he might need to go.’ Olive started pushing Oscar in the direction Jane had just come from.
‘What the…?’ Oscar wriggled against Olive’s hands as her fingers tickled him.
‘Go on, before we need to get someone over here with a mop!’ Olive shooed him away, trying to hide her laughter from Jane. Oscar widenedhis eyes at her but couldn’t keep the smile off his own face.
