Love with strings detached

Chapter 55

"I'm going for a very brief coffee with Caleb, okay? I'll be like 20 minutes tops," I say, putting on my black faux leather puffer jacket.

"Okay babe, text me the place as always," Theo says, laying on my bed reading a book.

I turn my attention from him to myself in the mirror quickly checking my outfit. I'm wearing a plain black high-neck top and black straight leg jeans with chunky black trainers.

"I will, I love you," I say, going to him to give him a quick kiss.

"I love you," he whispers against my lips, making me smile and give him another kiss.

I pull my bag over my shoulder as I close the door behind me. The coffee shop we're going to is only a five-minute walk from here so thankfully, I don't have to be in the cold for long.

Once I reach the shop, I pull out my phone and text the place's name to Theo. He always likes to know where I am just in case anything happens.

"Okay, take care babe."

I smile reading his text before sighing and walking in. I look around for a second before spotting him close to the window, already with two cups ready.

"Hi," he says as I slide in across him.

"Hi," I say as he pushes one cup towards me.

"Vanilla latte right?" He asks, looking at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah," I say, surprised that he remembers that.

"Come on, don't be so shocked please, I was paying attention to what you were saying to me," he says, shaking his head.

"Sure, sometimes you did," I say, shrugging.

I lift the mug to my lips, taking a small sip of the hot beverage.

"Most times you mean?" He asks with a small smile.

"What do you want George?" I ask him, wanting to get right into it.

"I want to start by apologizing to you about a couple of things," he says, dropping the smile.

"Go on," I say, cupping my cup with both hands, observing its heat.

"I'm sorry for how I behaved the last couple of months of our relationship. I'm sorry for what I said and how our last conversation went. I'm sorry for not fully accepting my responsibility. I guess I just wanted to feel a bit better about myself, you know, feel less of an asshole if I wasn't the only one to blame for our break-up," he says, wetting his lips before taking another sip of his drink.

"Evidently, I knew I was to blame for the majority of things so, I'm sorry," he says, looking at me with sincerity.

"Apology accepted," I say, taking another sip before leaning back on my seat.

"We were each other's first love and I don't want us to walk away from it as like enemies but I know we can't be friends either, " he says, sighing.

"So, what do you want us to walk away from that chapter as?" I ask him, squinting my eyes slightly, looking at him.

"Old friends maybe...would be nice," he says, giving me a tight lip smile.

"Old friends it is then," I say, lifting my cup and clinking it with his, making him chuckle.

"So, did you find someone else? I've seen a couple of posts on your Instagram," he says.

"Yeah, I'm with someone else now," I say, smiling at just the mental picture of Theo.

"You look happy," he says smiling.

"I'm extremely happy," I say, unable to contain my wide smile.

"I'm happy for you Daisy," he says.