Chapter 7

The phone rang again, cutting the girls from their stupor.

      "Mom?" She questioned apprehension pooling in the pit of her stomach, maybe something was wrong? Was her dad okay? Those were the questions running through her mind.

      "Is everything okay?"

      "Yes, nothing is wrong." Just like that, all her worries disappeared and she let out a sigh of relief.

     "Did I catch you at a bad time, honey?"

      "No, no, I'm surprised that's all." Last time she checked, it wasn't Thanksgiving or new year so she wondered the purpose of her mother's call.

      "I haven't heard from you for a while, so I thought to call." Her mom sounded almost hesitant.

     "I'm doing well mom, what about dad?" Nicole gestured for her to put the phone on loudspeaker. It was distracting.

      "He's fine, how is work?"

      "Work is fine, although right now I'm in Chicago," she put the phone on loudspeaker, "visiting Nicole."

    "Oh, say hi to her for me and your dad and I wanted to visit you but never mind. Maybe next week?" Her mother sounded strangely disappointed. It was odd.

    She didn't know what to say to that; the silence was becoming uncomfortable.

   It seemed like her mom wanted to say something, but she changed her mind at the last moment. And she was gone, not even giving her a chance to say goodbye.

    She kept on thinking about her mom's cryptic call till she slept and even then; she dreamt of fortunate families, what used to be, what is, and what wasn't.

    The next day, Nicole had gone out earlier, she said something about the bride throwing a fit about the venue, but Anna was kind of grateful that she wasn't there because knowing her friend, Nicole would most likely joke about her coffee date and she wasn't in the mood for that.

   She was dressing up for her date, just jeans and a cute top, nothing special. But she noticed her slight weight gain, and the gym was sounding more appealing right now.

    Her jeans were tight and her face was getting rounder, giving her a more child-like appearance. All the food she's been eating was finally catching up on her.

    The bell chimed as she entered the cafe. The quaint little cafe wasn't very crowded. The smell of coffee and baked goods wafted into her nose reminding her that she had missed breakfast. She quickly searched the cafe for Luke and when she didn't see him, she settled into a chair close to the window.

    She was gently tapping the table and looking out the window when Luke arrived. She was too caught up in her thoughts to notice him, so he coughed to get her attention.

     "I made you wait, I'm sorry." He looked contrite.

    Blue eyes glinting. "It's fine, besides I came early to enjoy the scenery, you know? I love cafes like this, not too crowded, not empty either, and the aromas just get to you."

    He noticed her obvious satisfaction. She clearly had a soft spot for cafes, who knew. He motioned for the waiter while steadily gazing at his companion.

  "So let's say, if you were to own your own cafe, it would look just like this?" He just wanted to keep her talking, her passion amused and at the same time intrigued him.

   "I feel like you're laughing at me." At that, both of them laughed as the server came for their order. He could see her internal debate as she looked through the menu. In the end, she decided to just get coffee.

   "Seriously though, let's say the owner came to you for advice on the decor and feel of the cafe, what would you tell him?"

  Her answer came almost instantly. "Artworks, I would advise the owner to get some artworks".

   He raised his brows at that, "Why?"

   Their order came at that moment. She took her time to open the sugar sachet, before adding it to her coffee.

   "Because art just sets the vibe of a place, you know? Like imagine there was a painting of a calm ocean over there," she pointed towards the entrance, "you would feel more relaxed than if a painting of I don't know, let's say fire burning a building."

    She continued, "painting A, that's the ocean painting, would make you feel very calm, just the right mood for a lovely cafe like this, but painting B wouldn't give the same vibe."

    They spent two more hours in the cafe, conversing on trivial matters and getting to know each other better. Anna enjoyed Luke's company so much that she almost forgot about the meetup she had with her friends. 
      
     By the end of the date, Luke had hinted at the possibility of more dates in the before, before she reminded him of her departure soon. He offered to drop her at the mall she was meeting her friends, which she gratefully accepted.

   After introductions were made between him and Bianca, he excused himself as he had business to attend to.

    With no sign of Nicole,  unsurprisingly, the girls began their bonding session. They were barely thirty minutes in when the notorious latecomer arrived.

    She scratched her blonde hair, giving them an apologetic smile as she sat down. She launched straight to a rant.

    "So Tony called me today, guess what? Apparently, he has a new girlfriend and mom invited her for our Sunday lunch, so he wants to make sure I show up early on Sunday. He made it sound as if I deliberately show up late to stuff, I mean it not my fault that I sometimes lose track of time." At that, Anna and Bianca burst into a fit of giggles.

   "Sometimes?" Anna questioned, still laughing.

     "Maybe more than sometimes," she admitted with a pout, "he said he was sure I was late when mom was having me, like who says that." She said, throwing her arms in expiration, still smarting from her brother's taunt.

   Anna laughed at her friend's dramatics. Her stomach grumbled at its lack of food but she ignored it, resorting to getting a heavy lunch later, as she was having too much fun to do anything about her hunger.

   "This is weird," Nicole said, out of the blues.

   "What?" Anna and Bianca were lost.

   "Almost estranged family members calling, first it was your mum, now my brother, it feels weird."

   Anna shrugged it off, not finding anything to say to that when Nicole asked Bianca about her family.

   Bianca looked almost nostalgic when she spoke. "I don't have much, only uncle Fred, but you already know him."

   The girls could be nosy, especially Nicole, but they knew when to give someone space.

    "My mom died while having me, but it wasn't so bad, you know? I had aunt Marie, who treated me like her own daughter. Unfortunately, she died during childbirth a few years ago, shortly after I lost my dad in a plane crash. I was seventeen then." She stopped talking once she noticed the pity on their faces, but none of them attempted to talk.

     "You guys should stop looking at me like that, that was a long time ago and I've gotten over it," Bianca said, her attempt at setting a lighthearted tone failing miserably.

    "A loss is a loss, and although time could heal many things, death isn't one of them." She picked up one of Bianca's hands.

    "Anna is right, death is tragic, but it gets better. Now you have two more people to add to your list of family," Nicole stated, picking up her other hand.

    At that moment, Bianca felt part of a family, something she has craved for but had never gotten. She held on to that feeling and even as they parted ways, later on, the smile on her face never faded. She felt at home, something she hadn't experienced in a long, long time.