Chapter Three: Tongue-tied!
As soon as the bell rang above the door, the girl behind the counter looked over and smiled at the sight of Charlie. "Hey Chaz!" she greeted him chirpily, a far cry from her mood moments before they had entered. Charlie winked at her and pushed Leo inside roughly.
"Alright Izzy? This is Leo, my best friend from school. Say hello to Izzy Leo!" Charlie pushed him harder and further towards the counter as he squeezed the ties of his hoodie closer together.
"Hi!" Izzy smiled warily at him. His face was shrouded under that hood as he kept his head down and nodded to the floor.
"Ignore him he's shy!" Charlie mumbled, "Two Lattes please and a sticky bun!" he licked his lips and rubbed his stomach as he eyed up the cakes inside the glass cabinet on the counter. Izzy frowned at him and placed her hands on her ample hips.
"Chazzy! Mands says you're on a diet, and you do need to keep trim for the wedding!" Leo looked up and enquired,
"Thanks!" he muttered to Izzy and shook his head in annoyance as she mouthed a sorry at him. Leo was pushed into a chair at the back of the coffee shop and Charlie's face appeared in front of him. "I was going to tell you I..." he ran a hand through his hair, his nervous twitch.
"What is it Charlie?" Leo asked him quietly as Izzy busied herself in the corner of his eye behind the counter.
"Leo, I asked Amanda to marry me a few weeks ago and she said yes. I wanted to tell you but there really wasn't a right time to...you've been so down and then you ended up...well you know now so..." Charlie sat back in his chair and rubbed the palms of his hands down his jeans as he looked around the coffee shop nervously. Leo turned to look at Izzy who was heading their way with two coffees but no sticky bun.
"Congrats! I'm really happy for you!" he finally replied as Charlie could barely conceal the grin on his face. Izzy placed the two cups on the table and her eyes connected with Leo's for a brief moment. He flinched and turned his face towards the wall, worried that she had spotted the scars on his face.
"Where's my bun?" Charlie demanded as Izzy muttered something that sounded like get lost and scurried back to her place behind the counter. Leo broke the silence that had reared it's ugly head and asked, "So, have you set a date yet?"
Leo sat in the coffee shop in the furthest corner he could find. He'd been in here for the first time a couple of weeks ago with his best friend Charlie. He had found out about Charlie's engagement, he was shocked at first but then when it sunk in he was happy for him. Charlie had asked Leo to be his best man, but he was apprehensive. The scars and burns on his face were fierce and not quite healed yet. And while he sat and thought about how he was going to let him down gently, he waited to see Izzy Henderson again. He'd visited a few times since that first day and she'd only been on twice. This other girl only warranted one cup and then he was going to leave. When Izzy had been on he drank so much coffee that he was pacing the floors all night at home afterwards. He thought back to the second time he came here, his first alone...
He'd stood outside looking in for a good fifteen minutes, watching people going in and out. Izzy was serving a number of customers during that time as he watched. He took in her appearance in more detail this time, she was wearing her strawberry blonde hair in a ponytail and he could see behind her thick glasses that her eyes were blue, a darker blue than his own. She wasn't stunningly beautiful, but there was something about her, homely and friendly...warm! She wasn't skinny and she wasn't overweight either, just...voluptuous was the only word Leo could find to describe her, womanly even. A far cry from the stick thin Barbie dolls he used to mess around with, with their fake breasts and their outrageous tans. Why did he ever think they were attractive? Because it was what you did in his circles...his former circles! When Leo finally found the confidence to enter on his own, Izzy looked over at the sound of the bell. She smiled when she saw him, even though his hood was hiding his face again. That first day, he wasn't sure if she'd seen his scars, if she had she hadn't flinched at the sight of them. He had mumbled, "Black coffee please!" and hurried over to the far corner and sat down.
Izzy came over with his coffee and sat it down on the table as he had his hands clasped tightly looking at the wall. "Thank you!" he said quietly and he could hear her smile as she replied,
"You're welcome!" As she retreated back to her position, Leo watched her wiping down the counter with a cloth, reading a comic book and texting on her phone. She would sometimes glance over at him, and that's when he would order another coffee for an excuse to stay. This went on for two hours until he realised all that coffee had gone to his bladder and he was running out of excuses to stay. He'd read the entire cake menu from cover to cover and he'd even browsed the internet on his phone for half an hour. As he got up to pay, he could see her watching him. He placed a fifty pound note on the counter and left without saying goodbye as she called to him. "WAIT! That's way too much! Your change!" she waved the note at him as he pushed the door open with his back to it.
"Keep it!" he nodded and left as quickly as he could.
The second time, she was rather busy and he just sat and watched her for a whole hour, nursing the same cup of coffee. When it was time for him to go, he left another fifty pound note on the counter when her back was turned. As he left, the sound of the bell alerted her to him leaving and he glanced around swiftly to see her mouth make an O shape at the sight of the money, and it made him smile to himself.
"Do you want anything else?" a voice muttered beside him as he snapped out of his nostalgic trance.
"Huh?" he looked up at the girl who was working there instead of Izzy and shook his head.
"Well that's £1.50!" he rummaged in his pocket and found the exact money as the girl popped her chewing gum impatiently.
"Is Izzy around?" he asked and surprised himself. The girl snorted and chewed her gum loudly.
"Izzy works weekends, she's at uni?" Leo caught the girl's eye as she smirked and snatched the money from the table.
"Oh right, so she'll be in on Saturday then?" the girl frowned at him and continued to chew irritably.
"That's what weekend means, yeah! What's your fascination with dizzy Izzy anyway?" Leo felt a fire erupt in his belly, he didn't like the way she had said Izzy's name, or the way she referred to her as "dizzy". He chose to ignore her and sipped his coffee quietly, eventually she got the message and left him alone. He didn't stay long, only to finish his coffee. He walked past the counter and out the door without even giving that girl the slightest glance.
Saturday came around finally, it had been a long few days for Leo waiting to visit the coffee shop again. He stood outside and watched Izzy serve an old lady, helping her over to a table, taking her coat and placing it over the chair. Leo walked in activating the bell as she looked over and smiled. "Hello!" she greeted him and he felt his cheeks grow hot.
"Hi!" he answered her. "Black coffee please!" he tugged his hands into the pockets of his hoodie and retreated to his usual place. Izzy came over with his coffee and even after he thanked her, she stood for a moment. "I'm sorry, here!" he snatched a handful of coins out of his pocket and placed them clumsily on the table, as he shuffled through them to get the right change he heard Izzy sigh. He looked up at her with wide eyes.
"Has Charlie sent you?" she asked him with her hands on her hips and her head cocked to the side. Leo gulped and shook his head slowly.
"No, I just like coffee!"
"Oh!" she blushed and spun round quickly, almost losing her balance. She walked slowly back to the counter with her head down, leaving his money on the table. Leo let out a breath he'd been holding in and dipped his head with relief. He stayed for a couple of hours, watching how kind she was to everyone and how sad she looked at times. He was fascinated by her, and he couldn't understand why!
When his bladder started to fill up again and it grew dark outside, he knew it was time to go. He left another fifty pound note on the counter and hurried out the door. Izzy shouted after him again but he kept going until he was at the end of the road, he crossed in a hurry, narrowly missed by a white van. He reached his house and fumbled in his pocket for his key as he danced on the porch bursting for the toilet. Later that night he lay in bed thinking about Izzy Henderson and how sweet she was with all the customers, even him, the weirdo with the hoodie! He thought about the other girl and how rude she was about Izzy, it annoyed him more than he liked.
The next day he fought the urge to visit Izzy again, but his itch had to be scratched and he ended up going to the coffee shop once more. There was no one in, only Izzy behind the counter. As the bell chimed when he entered she glanced over, and seeing it was him, she nodded and picked up a cup. "Black coffee?" she called to him as he half smiled and jammed his hands in his pockets.
"Thank you!" he went to go for his usual spot when she called after him,
"Please, keep me company? There's no one here and...Sunday is usually such a quiet day I get rather lonely!" Leo couldn't refuse her and sat on one of the stools by the counter, folding his arms he looked down and counted the triangles on the colourful counter top as Izzy placed his coffee in front of him. "I'm sorry!" she laughed nervously, "I've forgotten your name, I know you're Chaz's friend but..." Leo smiled again and answered her quietly.
"Leo, my name is Leo!" Izzy clicked her fingers as if she'd known all along and all she needed was a little nudge.
"Of course, sorry I'm a bit scatty cats!" she waved her hands around and rolled her eyes goofily and it made Leo laugh. "What's with the hood?" she enquired softly as he took a sip of his coffee and it caught in his throat. As he coughed and covered his mouth she looked embarrassed, "I'm sorry, I..."
"No!" Leo rasped and held up his hand, "It's fine, I..." she interrupted him, trying to change the subject, seeing the fear of answering her question in his eyes.
"So are you going to be Chaz's best man?" Leo was grateful that she spared him the explanation of a rather delicate matter.
"Um, not sure." he gulped down his coffee and wanted very much to leave, this was awkward and he didn't want it to be. He wanted it to be like the other times, smooth and quiet and pleasurable. "I..." he scraped his stool backwards and stood up, "...I have to go!" he pulled another fifty pound note out of his pocket and left it on the counter, rushing out of the door before she could protest.
Leo lay in bed that night, feeling stupid. Why did he run like that? Because he was getting too close, because she asked about the hood, because eventually he would have to show her his face and she wouldn't want to talk to him ever again! She would be repulsed by his ugly scars and burns, how could he dance with her at the wedding? How could he even show his face? Why was he thinking about dancing with her at the wedding? Where did that come from? He barely slept that night, and when he got up the next day, his mother was in the kitchen making his breakfast. "Bacon and scrambled eggs, how does that grab you?" she asked him.
"Yeah fine!" he rubbed his head and felt how long his hair had got.
"So have you decided to be Charlie's best man or..." Tara enquired innocently.
"I'm still mulling it over!" he mumbled and leaned on the kitchen top with his elbows and propping his face up with his hands. Tara could see the scars over his nose in the sunlight, the burns beneath the stubble on his face.
"So where's the hood?" she smirked as she looked her son up and down with amusement. He was wearing joggy bottoms and nothing else, bare chest and bare feet. "Since when did you wander around like that?" Leo stood up and surveyed his state of undress and sighed.
"I...dunno!" Tara laughed quietly,
"I think those sessions with Rhys are doing you good!" Leo smiled to himself as his mother looked so pleased with his progress.
"Yeah..." he said, as his smile broadened and a pair of big blue eyes behind thick glasses came to his mind, "...that'll be it!"
To Be Continued...
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