Page 35 of The Vampire and the Barista

CHAPTER 12

Jamie brought his lunch box and two drinks over and sat down with Max. “I brought you a coffee,” Jamie said, putting it in front of Max.

“Thanks. Thomaz made you lunch as well?” he said, nodding to the lunch box.

“Yeah. It was really nice of him. He gave me the lunch boxes as I was leaving,” Jamie paused and looked at Max. “I saw you sat next to the chap whose name I have forgotten. I’m guessing he’s one of the shifters that was mentioned. I had so much information thrown at me last night, but I was still stressed out from what happened to Karl and Kitty to remember everything. I know I’m new to all this, but you seem scared of this new world. What can I do to help?”

Max put down the mini quiche he was about to eat and sighed. “I’m getting better. Bert, the guy whose name you forgot, is a wolf shifter. Technically, he’s king of all wolf shifters, so there’s that, as well as he can change into a wolf, and it’s a dangerous world.”

Jamie snorted. “Max, I hate to break this to you, but our world is dangerous. Have you watched the news lately? Our world is going to hell in a handbasket.”

“True,” Max said, nodding. “And everyone I’ve met has been nice.”

“So..,” Jamie prompted.

Max blew out a breath. “Fine, I’ll jump in with both feet, but if something goes wrong, I'm totally blaming you.”

Jamie laughed. “Okay, I can take one for the team.”

Max held his quiche up, Jamie picked his up, and they clinked them before eating.

Jamie and Max talked and laughed for ages, as it really was quiet in the library.

Finally, Max went off to shelve more books, and Jamie cleared their things up and wiped down the table.

It was an hour before closing, and a man walked up to the counter. Jamie got really strange vibes off him, dangerous even.

“What can I get for you?” Jamie asked, trying not to shiver.

“Black coffee, large,” the man demanded.

Jamie didn’t want to turn his back on the man, but did and got his drink as quickly as he could. “Three ninety-five, please.”

The man used his card to pay and stared at Jamie for a moment before picking up his coffee and moving away. He chose a table towards the back of the seating area and sat staring at Jamie.

Jamie turned his back on the man and cleaned the coffee machine, making it take as long as possible, all the while he could feel the man’s eye boring into his back.

He pulled his phone out, about to message Ivan and ask him to come early, but gave his head an internal shake. It wasn’t the first time some weirdo had come into the library or coffee shop. Instead, he sent an email to his boss, giving his notice and suggesting Lucy take on his shifts. He then messaged Karl to check on them. Finally taking a breath, he turned around. The phone was still in his hand.

The man was still staring at him, but now with a smirk on his face, like he knew Jamie had turned his back on purpose. He raised his cardboard cup and saluted Jamie, drinking the last of his coffee, all the while still watching Jamie. Finally, when he was finished, he licked his lips, put his cup down, stood up and tilted his head at Jamie before walking off, heading for the library exit.

Jamie blew out a breath as Max came rushing over.

“Are you okay? That man was weird.”

Jamie nodded. “He was. He stared at me the whole time.”

“Thank goodness it’s nearly time to close. I’m closing early tonight, as he was the last person here. Shut everything down and message Ivan, let him know I’ll drive you home.”

“We were going to stop off on the way home so I could pick up some clothes as I’m wearing Dave’s at the moment.”

“I thought I recognised them. We can still do that and be at the coven in time for dinner.”

“Okay, I’ll message Ivan and let him know.”

“And I will go and lock the doors,” Max said happily, walking off.

Jamie’s phone pinged, and he looked down. He had a message from Karl, saying they’d been having fun and had started martial arts. He messaged back saying they can tell him all about it later. He just finished messaging his brother when Ivan messaged, telling them to stay safe.