Flirty

by Bella Wright

  But we were alerted when a voice spoke, rather rudely. “Excuse me, can I get a cappuccino?” said one of the new customers. I jumped up from the counter and forcibly removed my attention from the door, to face her. I recognized her as Jane, someone I went to school with.

  When we locked eyes her slightly annoyed expression turned into one of recognition. “Izzy? Is that you?”

  “Hi!” I beamed, she held out her arms wide for a hug and I leaned over the counter to reciprocate. “Here for the reunion?”

  “Can you believe it’s been ten years already?”

  Jane had only gotten more beautiful as the years had gone by, if she was anything to go by, I wouldn't have thought it had been ten years. I made a note to ask her what face-cream she was using. It was clearly magic.

  “It just flew by,” I said.

  “Are you going?”

  “Truthfully, I hadn’t thought about it. I’ll be working here that day.”

  “Well, there's a fair few hotties going, have you seen that mysterious stranger walking around? I spoke to him a few days ago, he said he'd be going.”

  My eyes widened. Fuck. he went to my school.

  “I don’t suppose you managed to get his name?”

  “I did, and you wouldn’t believe it.”

  I almost wanted to grab her and pull her over the counter. “Oh?” I said casually, in my most casual of casual tones.

  She leaned in close, almost whispering now. whilst Izzy slid her coffee to the side. “Here's your cappuccino.”

  “Thanks.” She said to Izzy, whilst returning her attention to me. This seemed like a big secret only her and I could know. Why was she being like this?

  “Remember that scrawny little kid, Matt? The one that left after the… you know. Well, that’s him.”

  My eyes widened, I leaned back and looked at her in disbelief. She nodded and smiled.

  “No way. That’s not little Matt, he’s so…”

  “Yea, he did some growing up didn't he?”

  “Did he get experimented on? He’s like a different person!”

  “He went to work on a farm, really made a man out of him wouldn’t you say?”

  “I’ll say.”

  Matt. Matt who I had secretly had a crush on, who left after there had been that tragic accident, a car crash killing both of his parents and leaving him alive in the back seat. I had forgotten all about him, pushed it out of my mind when he left until it was like he was never there at all.

  But when he entered my store, he had flirted with me, and then never returned.

  “Anyway, it's a shame you won’t be there. But I'll have my attention on Matt. I thought this reunion would be a waste of time, but.” and she leaned in real close again to whisper this. “I’m gonna take that man home with me. He's gonna be able to hang with the cool kids now.”

  And then, she gave me a look up and down, as if inspecting me, and her upper lip raised. A sign of disgust. “Shame we can’t say the same for everyone in this town.”

  I squinted, feeling like a blood vessel was about to burst in my eye. Choosing to ignore that insult and focus instead on what she said about taking him home. There was no way in hell I could let that happen. She left the counter and opened the door, making the bell ring, which made me twitch, it was far too chirpy of a sound right now.

  “See ya, great to see you!”

  Sally chirped up. “You know, you could go.”

  “I can’t, I have to run the shop.” I sighed.

  “I can run the shop. You’ve trained me pretty well.”

  I was about to say no, opening my mouth, but no words came out.

  Apart from that little throwing incident, she was a great barista. Her coffees were almost as good as mine, and I had been working in this store since before I was her age.

  If I went I could find out what the hell happened, for him to not return to my store. At least I could gauge that, and be done with it.

  If he really was just flirting with me for a bit of fun, before moving onto Jane, someone who was much more up to his standards.

  Then at least I would find that out.

  And what if he wasn't.

  I felt warm.

  I turned to Izzy. “ok, let me show you how to lock up tonight.”

  I had half an hour left to go, before I needed to walk to my old high school. It was going to be surreal, a bunch of adults hanging out where we used to study, bragging about all our achievements, and trying not to be the biggest loser.

  I looked in the mirror, doing a twirl to look at my short summer dress, and finding myself self-conscious about my curves.

  But I needed to wow him. And he had seemed interested in me before. As hard as it was to believe, he was checking me out. So I was gonna give him more to check out.

  I think I was being too hard on myself, after remembering the way his eyes slowly traveled up and down me, taking me in. I remembered it well now, especially the way it made me shiver, the goosebumps it sent up and down my body. That was real.

  No, the reason he never came back, maybe it was something I said. I would be able to find that out, and redeem myself.

  And snag him for myself.

  God, this was so exciting, I felt exhilarating. And nervous.

  I was damn nervous. I checked the time on my phone. Ten minutes to leave. I didn't want to be too early, to avoid looking like a keen bean.

  But I didn't want to get there too late either and let one of the many beautiful women that went to my school snag him for themselves.

  He was my high school crush, and both of us being back in high school meant far more to me than any of them, who ignored him in high school. They never even acknowledged his existence.

  Matt and I had that something to look back on, and that was going to be my edge over them.

  At least, I hoped it would.

  Boy, walking through the school was strange. As my heels clicked on the wooden floors. It brings back memories.

  Not many of them were good, school wasn’t the best time for me.

  But that didn't matter now, I was my own person and didn’t care about what the cool kids at school thought.

  I could hear, In the gymnasium, the sound of chatting and laughter. It was the reunion.

  The closer I got to it the more nervous I was, and as I approached the big doors. I reached to pull it open, but my hand just missed it, it was being pulled from the other direction.

  And as the lights in the hall blinded me a little, the silhouette of the impossibly tall man in front of me started to detail.

  And it took my breath away. He was wearing a nice shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. And his top collar undone. So casually handsome.

  I was a little speechless.

  He said something, the words were muffled and I couldn’t make them out.

  “What?” I goofed like a fool.

  “You’re standing in my way Izzy.”

  “Oh, sorry Matt.”

  I sped out of the way and he walked though, the sound from the gymnasium became more distant behind the doors.

  And he just stood there, looking down at me. I couldn't read his expression. Why wasn’t he pleased to see me?

  “So you found out who I was too!” I said, pleased. I took a step towards him but he took one step back. He crossed his arms.

  “Yea, I found out.”

  Why was he being so cold? Wasn’t he my friend at school? Was it because I never tried to contact him? But we diddn’t have mobiles or social media back then, and he had just left. I had no way of doing so.

  “Did I do something wrong? Why haven't you been in my shop again?” I asked.

  “Ha! Did you do something wrong? Not recently, no.” he said.

  “Well, then wha-”

  But he cut me off before I could finish. “I have to go, maybe I'll see you in there. I hope not.”

  I watched him leave. Standing there, completely dumbfounded.

  What did I do?

&nb
sp; Another person opened the door, I recognized him as Jim, someone I had gotten on well with and regularly saw in town. “Hey Izzy, you coming in?”

  “Yea ok.” I tried to hide back any emotion of what had just happened. I didn't want to be known as the woman that started drama at the school reunion.

  So I sucked it up, and decided to get a drink with my old friend Jim, he put out his arm for me to take, and I was grateful that I had an ally walking into the den of my old class. I felt very much like it was ten years ago.

  “Did you see Matt? Can’t believe what that guy turned into.”

  “Yea, I saw him.” I said, trying to hide my emotions, as we walked over to the table and got a glass of wine. I stood in front of it and surveyed the room.

  There was Jane, standing and chatting with the pretty popular girls. She glanced over to me, and gave me a snarling look, before returning to chat with them. A couple of the girls looked over and laughed.

  I pretended I didn’t see and continued to talk to Jim.

  After a while, he said, “I gotta take a leak.” and I was left alone there, sipping my wine.

  I had been so distracted by our conversation I hadn’t noticed what was transpiring over at the other end of the gym.

  Jane was flirting up close with Matt, they seemed to be getting on like a house on fire.

  And to him, I didn't exist.

  There was no other reason for me to be here, I didn't want to see how far this would go, I would only get more hurt.

  And more put in my place, as the school chubby girl. The kind that never got the guy.

  I was a fool to think I had grown into anything different.

  I left the gym. Trying to give myself tunnel vision so I wouldn’t have to see in my peripheral vision Jane stroking Matt's bicep, or hear what she was saying to him.

  5

  Matt

  The more I flirted with Jane, the less I wanted to.

  She seemed to be exactly the same kind of vapid, mean girl she was at school.

  And I knew that she was only paying attention to me because of what I had grown into.

  “Well farmboy, you seem to have grown quite a lot, enough for me to notice you.”

  I didn't like that she called me farmboy, it seemed patronizing. And the way she acknowledged that she wouldn't have ever noticed me before, only showed me she wasn’t the sort of person I wanted to be around.

  I was only here talking to her to get back at Izzy. But the more I glanced at Izzy, the more engrossed she was in her conversation with Jim. She didn’t look over once.

  And of course, she wouldn’t, I was so rude to her. She probably decided that I had grown into the male equivalent of Jane, and wouldn’t want anything to do with her.

  Did I just empathize with my school bully?

  “What's so funny?” Jane asked. I realized I haven't been listening to a word she said.

  And I didn't want to be here anymore.

  Especially now I looked, and Izzy was gone.

  “I gotta go,” I said.

  “Go back home with me?” she asked, shamelessly.

  “No, sorry.”

  I walked out of the gym and when the door shut behind me, I was glad it was over.

  Clearly, Izzy had gotten into my head. I guess that's what happens when someone torments you, you want to show them that you won.

  But when I was face to face with her before, I had to do everything in my power to stop myself getting hard. She looked so fucking unbelievably sexy in that outfit. I wanted to kiss her all over and grab every part of her I could.

  Even now she was playing games with me, trying to entice me, I bet she would return to her old persona any minute, people always did.

  As I walked down the hall, something on the notice board caught my eye, it was a picture of a muffin that looked seriously familiar.

  It was that delicious muffin she had made. Practically identical.

  I laughed, there was no way I could tell one muffin from another I ate a few days ago. That was just my wishful thinking. Still, I read the title above the photo. “Charity bake sale for cancer research.”

  It was in a couple of days. A bake sale for charity.

  It seemed like the perfect thing, I could come and donate money, directly helping people. If it was a charity led by the local folk, they would make sure the money was going to where it needed to be. It made way more sense to give money there than to some faceless company.

  I took a picture of the poster with my phone and left the hallway.

  I thought my reasoning was sound, and it had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that if there was a charity bake sale, Izzy would for sure be there with her amazing baking.

  Nothing to do with that at all.

  I whistled whilst leaving, my hands in my pockets as I left the school and walked back home. It was a beautiful night, and I was finding myself rather upbeat.

  Even though I had no idea what my plan would be, or if I even had one.

  What was it with this girl? Why did I care so much? I could have just moved on to any of the beautiful women in that gym, there were many of them, and Izzy wasn't the only one jealous that my time was being taken up by Jane.

  But I didn’t want to, the only woman on my mind that night was Izzy.

  Sexy Izzy, fuck, I wanted her badly. Thinking about those delicious smooth curves, the way that dress revealed her cleavage, I wanted to bury my face in it.

  And maybe between her legs too.

  I bet she tasted delicious.

  Damn, what was happening to me? Did I have feelings for her or something?

  6

  Izzy

  It had been a few days since the school reunion, but it was still the weekend, so people visiting were still around. They tended to stay until Sunday.

  I had forgotten all about Matt, in fact, I had made myself. I had to, as a kind of defense mechanism.

  It didn’t help that I was busy baking muffins for the charity bake sale. They were always the first to go, I could never make enough.

  But this time, I was sure I had.

  As I loaded up the car, I waved at my neighbor who tipped his hat at me.

  I loved living here. The little blip of the last few days was perhaps the most amount of drama I had ever experienced. Other than that, it was a beautiful, calm, fulfilling place to live.

  I just needed Matt and the rest of them to go back to wherever it was where they lived now. This place was only for happy positive people. It was nice that people like Jen left for the city. It would be even nicer when she left again.

  I shut the boot of my car with a satisfying thunk and climbed into the front seat. It was time for the charity bake sale and this year, I hoped we would raise more than ever before.

  Maybe enough so that some girl out there wouldn’t have to experience what I did, due to the awful disease that took my mom.

  I wouldn’t want that on my worst enemy, not even Jane, so I set up this bake sale every year to raise money to send to the good folks researching a cure. Hoping that one day they’d find one. They couldn't bring back my mom, but maybe they could stop somebody else's losing theirs.

  I parked up at the school and felt that twang of memory, the embarrassment I had felt before, but I brushed it aside, I diddn’t have time to be worrying about some dumb crush.

  As I picked the tray up and walked inside.

  There was a table ready for me, and I started setting up the muffins in an aesthetically pleasing way. It almost looked like a portable version of my coffee shop. All that was missing was my clumsy assistant, well, she’d be here soon.

  I was looking forward to seeing her, we were starting to become friends I thought. Another thing I liked about living here living here.

  Soon, people started flooding in, it was always really busy at the start, and then later it started to calm down, so with my work cut ahead of me, I had no time to think of anything else but work and watch as the box of donations started to fill up.
r />   “Hey, sorry I’m late!” she arrived, rushing in.

  “Oh don’t worry, you’re doing me a favor by being here, thank you!”

  “I don't mind, it's for a good cause.” Sally said, grinning at me.

  I grinned back, “Can you take over? I need a break.”

  “Sure.”

  I left the table and took a deep breath, wiping the sweat from my brow. I had chosen to wear a comfy tank top and denim shirt, with leggings underneath. It wasn’t my cutest outfit, but I didn't want to wear something too nice and get chocolate down it.

  As I walked to my car, I had a few more trays of muffins in there, I hoped nobody would see me. Which I thought was an odd thought to have, why did I care if somebody saw me wearing something less than cute?

  I knew who that someone was though. I hoped Matt wouldn’t see me.

  But as I unloaded the last few trays from the car, I didn't see him anywhere.

  And why would I? A guy like that, he wouldn’t be seen dead going to a charity bake sale.

  I left the parking lot, pushing the door with my back as my hands were full with the tray.

  I walked back over to the table, now Sally was there it would be much easier to manage the crowds. The queue had died down too, I could actually relax.

  Did I say relax? Because at that moment I had to grip onto the tray so I wouldn’t drop it, my arms fell a bit however and the muffins slid down to the edge of the tray.

  Thankfully they were wrapped in clingfilm, so none fell out.

  That was about all I had to be thankful for at that moment, I took a deep breath and tried to put on my best ‘I don't care what you think’ strut, as I walked to the table.

  And stood before Matt.

  “Didn't think this would be your kinda scene.” I said casually to him, trying to not meet his gaze in a way that said ‘i’m too cool to look at you.’ and not ‘I'm scared to look at you.’

  “You have no idea what my scene is Izzy.” I could feel his gaze burning into me, suddenly I felt like I was coming up in hot flashes, my body felt warm all over.

  I needed to counter quickly with something witty.