Chapter Thirty-Three

“Again?” Lila’s Dad sighed once she buckled herself into the car the next morning at around 7am. Lila nodded with a yawn, putting Asher’s address in the Nav. She felt as though she had hardly slept, though this time she wasn’t rudely awoken by an image of Asher as an Elizabethan aristocrat. She’d been rifling through her bookshelf, trying to pick out books that might interest Asher. Although, that meant her messenger bag couldn’t be closed due to the number of books she was taking, which her Dad eyed as they set off down the street.

“You guys starting a book club or something?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Sure, Dad,” Lila said listlessly, looking out the window.

“I guess books are pretty good protec-”

“Dad, the joke’s old now,” Lila interrupted. “Besides, I already told you, he’s got a girlfriend. I’m not into being a homewrecker.”

“I know you wouldn’t dare,” Lila’s Dad replied, his tone quite serious. “Just trying to lighten the mood. Plus, your face is so funny every time I joke about it.”

Lila rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything. Her Dad seemed to have gotten the hint, however, as he didn’t say anything else for the rest of the car ride. They arrived at Asher’s house slightly earlier than yesterday – 7.20am.

“Thanks, Dad,” Lila said quietly, unbuckling her seatbelt. “Love you.”

“Love you too, Lila,” her Dad replied just as quietly. “Let me know if you need me to pick you up.”

Lila gently shut the door and he drove off with a subdued wave. There seemed to be more joggers and dogwalkers about than there was yesterday. Lila texted Asher that she was outside and slowly made her way up to the front doors. She had barely reached the porch before the door opened, leaving an energetic Asher in its wake, unbridled excitement in his eyes. He was wearing a cream button-up linen shirt and dark grey shorts, but she barely had time to register that there was something odd about this fit before he urged her to step inside.

“Gabriel’s just decluttering the kitchen,” Asher said as Lila removed her shoes. “He’s pretty into it right now, so if you come up quick, he won’t notice you.”

Sure enough, there was a good deal of clattering and banging coming from down the hall. Lila and Asher silently moved past the kitchen, glancing every so often in its direction. Gabriel didn’t emerge from whatever he was doing, so they took the stairs up to Asher’s rumpus room at a half-jog.

“Sorry, I wasn’t done getting ready,” Asher said, closing the door as Lila flopped onto the couch. “Let me just finish up.”

Lila looked up at him as he crossed the rumpus room to his bedroom. He didn’t close his bedroom door and Lila could hear him rustling about in there. Staring at the coffee table, she narrowed her eyes as she recalled the details of Asher’s outfit. It looked like he’d ironed the hell out of his clothes.

“Ow!” Asher’s voice called from the depths of his bedroom.

“You good?” Lila asked, sitting up and peering towards that direction. She couldn’t see anything.

“Y-Yeah,” Asher’s shaky voice replied. “Just cut myself shaving.”

“Do you need like a band-aid or something?”

“Yeah, nah, I’m good.”

Lila fell silent. Was Asher taking on her ‘Asher the Impeccable’ suggestion from yesterday seriously? Not that she was unserious about it…

“Lila, can you actually keep an eye on the window?” Asher suddenly called after a few minutes of sustained silence.

“S-Sure,” Lila replied, tentatively getting up from the couch and walking into his bedroom. It was much the same as yesterday, though he had an ironing board and iron in here by the back wall today. One of the internal doors was ever so slightly ajar, with cool-white light highlighting a small section of the carpet in his bedroom. She could hear movement beyond this door but turned her attention to the blinds.

She raised them slightly and couldn’t see anyone outside. The atmosphere inside Asher’s bedroom felt almost suffocating. Her heart felt like it was struggling to maintain a reliable rhythm, her eyes darting to various objects in Asher’s pristine room. Why was she feeling like this? It wasn’t as if she hadn’t been in a guy’s room before… though did Daniel really count as a guy?

Lila’s eyes drifted to the desk and chair under the windowsill, and she slowly lowered herself into the chair. Lila rolled the blinds up even higher. She tried to focus on observing the goings-on of the outside world from this window, but aside from people who looked way too delighted to be out and about at this time, there was no movement by the house.

Lila heard the door behind her open and she spun around in the desk chair. Asher appeared in the doorway, a waft of steam billowing out behind him. Lila was right – it was a bathroom. He turned the light off in the bathroom. Sure enough, his face was smooth and freshly shaven. The sharp angularity of his undercut hairstyle was incredibly pronounced due to the artful, gelled arrangement of his hair. There was not a hair out of place, though he was lightly brushing the edge where his hair begun at the top of his head with his fingers. Lila couldn’t place exactly why, but he seemed more mature with this hairstyle. Her heart seemed to skip several beats as her wide eyes met his golden-brown ones. There seemed to be an uncertainty, or perhaps insecurity, swimming in his irises. He grinned tentatively.

“Is it… a bit much?” he asked, tugging at the collar of his button-up shirt.

“No,” Lila said quickly, looking back out the window.

“Good,” he said, sounding relieved. “It’s been a while since I’ve put this much effort in, I’d almost forgotten how.”

“I didn’t realise that your hair was cut in a particular style,” Lila said quietly.

“Oh,” Asher said with a laugh. “Yeah, I got this done a few weeks ago. I thought I’d try something new, but it’s a lot of work to style. I could feel my neat freak tendencies acting up, so I stopped trying to do something with it.”

“I-It looks good,” Lila murmured, still looking out the window. “But you should probably unbutton your top button.”

She could see in the window’s reflection Asher obediently doing so and smoothing out his collar, before standing beside Lila. He checked the time on his phone.

“It’s 8.10,” he said with a sigh. “I was hoping to take even longer to get ready so we wouldn’t have to wait around.”

“I brought some books,” Lila said quietly. “I can grab them and you can see if you’re interested in some.”

“Colour me intrigued,” Asher said, leaning on his desk with one arm, facing Lila with an enthusiastic gaze. She quickly spun around in the chair and dashed out of the room. He was way too close.

She dug around for a few books in her bag before returning. Asher was still looking out the window. She gave brief summaries, ensuring that they were spoiler-free, of each book and he selected a couple that he wanted to read today.

“Are you taking a laptop?” he asked her.

“Yeah,” she said with a nod.

“I’ll take mine then, too,” he said thoughtfully, placing the books he’d selected on his desk. “I might leave these here in that case. I don’t want to mess them up.”

“I’ll sort out my bag since don’t have much time left,” Lila said, carefully backing out of his bedroom. After Lila zipped up her bag, she still remained in the rumpus room, engaging in her deep breathing exercises. She had to focus on Marlene. They needed to know more information about her.

“Marlene’s leaving,” Asher said urgently, hurriedly walking out of his room, wearing a cross-body laptop bag. Lila lifted her own bag onto her shoulder and they proceeded downstairs. Gabriel was still deconstructing the kitchen and paid them no mind. Lila did try and look for him, but he was nowhere in sight. She could hear him humming to himself, though.

After exiting the house, they saw Marlene turning down a side street to the right. Quickening their pace, they caught up just enough to be able to keep her in their line of sight. It didn’t take long for Lila to realise that Marlene was following the exact same route as she had yesterday. Lila glanced at Asher, who looked intently back at her. Also just like yesterday, Marlene didn’t seem to have noticed that Asher and Lila were just behind her.

They slowed down upon entering the shopping area and Marlene entered ‘Beans & Biscuits’ without a backwards look. Lila checked the time on her phone. It was 8.54am.

“So, what’s the plan, boss?” Asher asked, leaning sideways into Lila.

“We should sit outside again, though this time we can sit at ‘Beans & Biscuits’,” Lila replied, tucking a few strands of hair behind her ear.

“Righto,” Asher nodded, strolling towards ‘Beans & Biscuits’. They couldn’t see Marlene yet. Lila supposed that Marlene would be in the back room, clocking on and otherwise getting ready.

“Table for two?” a waitress asked politely once they entered the café. Unlike the poor waitress at ‘Mrs Glade’s’, the apron she was wearing was thankfully black, adorned only by the café’s logo. The barista section sat underneath a chalkboard menu. The café itself seemed to have nailed the rustic vintage look, with an appropriate amount of plants arranged around the café. It was decidedly much more aesthetically pleasing than ‘Mrs Glade’s’, at least.

‘Probably why it’s so popular,’ Lila thought bleakly.

“Yes, please. Outside if you can,” Asher responded to the waitress. After leading them outside, Asher pointed to a spot under a large industrial umbrella and she set them up with menus. From here, they could look into the café towards the barista’s section. It wasn’t by any means a perfect way to look at what Marlene was doing, particularly since it seemed to be facing the back of the coffee station, but it was good enough. They could also see a couple of patrons enjoying their food and drinks from the inside of the café from this angle. There seemed to be enough patrons to provide them with sufficient cover, too.

The waitress noted the QR code for ordering and the requirement to check out at the counter if they’d already checked in. Lila and Asher thanked the waitress, who swiftly disappeared into the café again. Lila and Asher barely had time to open their laptops before the waitress returned with a jug of ice water. She poured glasses for Lila and Asher before departing again.

Lila and Asher independently scanned the QR code and ordered their food and drinks. Today, Lila wanted to try the triple-stacked strawberry pancakes with a mango and kiwi fruit smoothie. Asher ordered the big breakfast option and an orange juice. As soon as he put his order through, however, Asher expressed his instant regret.

“I dunno if I’ll be able to eat all that,” he said sadly, staring at his phone. A notification buzzed – his order had been received by the kitchen.

“Too late now,” Lila replied with a shrug. “If you’re really struggling, I might be able to help, but no guarantees.”

Asher laughed but shook his head. “No need to worry, I’ll be able to smash it,” he said confidently.

“If you say so,” she said in a sing-song voice. Lila managed to connect to the café’s Wi-Fi system on her laptop and began to watch some YouTube videos. Lila’s eyes flickered every so often upwards to see where Marlene was located. Marlene didn’t take long to get situated within the barista’s section. Her hair was braided as it was yesterday, and she also wore the same glasses.

Asher was facing away from Marlene just as Lila had suggested, so only Lila had a line of sight of Marlene. Asher and Lila got to talking about several different topics, as usual, laughing every so often at what the other had said. Before long, the food and drinks arrived and they dug in eagerly. Lila maintained an eye on Marlene, who seemed to have not yet noticed Lila or Asher. Though, from this angle, Lila didn’t think Marlene would be able to see them from the barista’s section anyway. After checking the time, Lila made sure to eat her breakfast particularly slowly.

As she observed the interior section of the café, Lila saw that most people dressed in active gear seemed to only be drinking small coffees and eating scones with jam and cream on them, or other light breakfasts. Due to the surrounding area, about 75% of the customers fit into this category. This resulted in a high turnover of café patrons, but the foot traffic only increased as the morning wore on. The waitstaff were flying through orders, ensuring no customer was left waiting too long. Looking around at the flurry of activity, Lila wasn’t too sure whether they had been forgotten, or if the workers were wishing they’d get up and leave. Lila pushed aside her plate of mostly finished food to the middle of the table to give her laptop more room. This effectively signalled to one worker that her plate needed to be collected. Asher was still bravely tackling his meal when the waitstaff took away Lila’s plate.

“Lila, I need help,” he eventually groaned, pushing his plate towards her. He still had some sausages, one piece of bacon and half of the baked beans left on his plate.

“What would you do without me?” Lila chuckled, picking a clean fork from their cutlery caddy. The sausages themselves were delicious – they seemed to be infused with some kind of herbs, adding to their magnificent flavour.

“Dunno,” Asher said, clutching his stomach forlornly. “Probably stare at this real sadly for the next few hours.”

“You might make it shy if you do that,” Lila chortled, spearing the last sausage with her fork. Her eyes flitted to Asher, who was looking beyond Lila’s shoulder, seeming lost in thought. She wiggled the sausage in the air for a moment.

“Did you want this one?” she asked, pointing it at him. His eyes snapped to hers before he leaned back in his chair, patting his stomach.

“I think my stomach will unseam itself if I eat it,” he replied, shaking his head.

“Didn’t know your stomach had a seam,” Lila said conversationally, taking a bite of the sausage. Asher chuckled and they continued to watch the people around them.

Now that an hour and a half had passed, Lila could confirm that all of the patrons around them had already been replaced several times. On average, it seemed that people spent about half an hour here, owing to the light breakfasts the majority of customers seemed to be enjoying. Those that had larger meals like Lila and Asher spent no longer than an hour here.

Yet, despite the almost constantly rotating door of the café, Lila could still see a man who had been seated inside before Lila and Asher had walked in. He was dressed casually in a light-weight zip-up hoodie, his back facing the window Lila was looking into. He seemed to be browsing through various forums on his laptop, though occasionally he would open and close what seemed to be Word documents. Lila was too far away to see what was on the documents themselves, but if she had to guess, he seemed like a Uni student. There was just something so hopeless in his demeanour that mirrored Clare’s whenever assignments and exams were coming up. Lila briefly wondered if Clare might know him.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Just beyond the man, Lila could see the back of Marlene bustling about the barista section. It still seemed that Marlene hadn’t noticed Lila or Asher yet, which didn’t surprise Lila. Marlene looked almost run off her feet, with the amount of orders she was pumping out. Lila watched as a waiter replaced the coffee cup next to the Uni student with a fresh one within two seconds of Marlene dinging a small silver bell.

“Y’know, that guy has been here the whole time we’ve been here,” Lila murmured to Asher. He began to look wildly about him before Lila grabbed his shirt sleeve.

“What the hell are you doing?” she hissed. “If you’re going to look, don’t do it so frantically. You look like you’re a drowning victim.”

“Sorry,” Asher muttered, looking back down at his now empty plate.

“It’s fine,” Lila said softly. “But remember, out of the two of us, it’s more important that you’re unnoticed. Just play it cool. He’s inside the café, behind you and to the left.”

Asher slowly turned his head around to glance into the café window before turning back to Lila.

“He’s probably just studying,” Asher shrugged.

“Aren’t the libraries at Unis usually better than a busy café?” Lila asked, pushing Asher’s plate to the middle of the table.

“Sometimes studying is just as much about the atmosphere as it is the environment,” Asher replied.

“Aren’t those the same thing?” Lila asked.

“Well, kinda, but also not,” Asher said, bringing a finger to his lips and narrowing his eyes. “I guess… the environment is about the décor, or use of the space. The atmosphere is the kind of mood that’s brought about in that space by people. Kinda like how if you’re having a good time with friends, the atmosphere feels airy and joyful. But then, when they leave and you stay, the atmosphere goes with them. The furniture and all that stays the same, but the vibes are all different. Depending on how you work, too, you might be able to drown out the noise of a café or you just need background noise in general.”

“I see,” Lila replied, glancing at the Uni student. “If it works for him, then I guess it works.”

Asher smiled and pulled out a book from his bag. It was the first in the series Lila had recommended.

“I thought you were leaving it behind?” Lila asked, a playful spark in her eye.

“I brought it just in case,” Asher replied, opening the front cover. “You looked kinda sad when I said I wasn’t taking it.”

“Nah, that doesn’t sound like me,” Lila said, looking down at her closed laptop. Asher smirked but diverted his attention to the book in his hands. Lila curiously observed Asher’s face as he read. He was very expressive normally with Lila but reading definitely seemed to kick it up a notch. As a bonus, the expressions Asher was portraying were rather transparent – there was no mystery as to what he was thinking as his hungry eyes fluttered down the pages. With each small twitch of his mouth, raised eyebrow, or shake of laughter, Lila was brought back to when she’d first read the series. She smiled to herself before opening her laptop again.

After about half an hour of sustained silence, Lila suggested ordering some drinks again. Asher didn’t respond, so she lightly tapped his arm. He looked up, blinking rapidly.

“S-Sorry, what’s up?” he asked, placing a clean napkin between the pages he’d been reading.

“I was just thinking we should order something else, before we get kicked out,” Lila said, pulling out her phone.

“Oh, good idea,” Asher replied, pulling out his phone as well. Lila ordered another smoothie, which arrived pretty quickly. She sipped through the paper straw, observing the window again. The Uni student was still sitting inside the café, though it looked like he’d now put his laptop away and was working on some notebooks. Lila thought she could see the corner of a dense textbook to the right of him, but she couldn’t be sure. Another waitress replaced his coffee cup as she watched.

“How many coffees does this guy drink?” Lila said rhetorically in a low voice. This seemed to catch Asher’s attention as he looked up at Lila, his own coffee cup halfway to his lips.

“Are you still going on about that Uni student?” he asked, taking a careful sip.

“Yeah,” Lila sighed. “I feel like he’s had about six coffees in the two hours we’ve been sitting here.”

“Maybe he’s getting tea?” Asher suggested, putting the cup down and turning to a new page in the book.

“If he is, he’d still be jacked on caffeine,” Lila observed before taking a swig of her smoothie. Asher shrugged, his fingers smoothly tracing their way down the page he was reading. Lila and Asher sat like this for another hour and a half, ordering another drink in between.

“I think we should get ready to move quickly,” Lila said, readjusting her posture. Though the chair she was sitting on had originally been comfortable, she could feel metal components beginning to dig into her. Three and a half hours in these café chairs was just way too much. Asher looked up at Lila with an expression of sorrow, but he quickly looked over his items to make sure he had everything besides the book tucked in his bag.

“I’m going to keep reading until you say it’s time to head,” Asher said, shaking the book slightly in his hands.

“I’m not going to stop you,” Lila laughed. “Where are you up to, though?”

“They’re getting ready for their expedition to the Surface,” he said, his eyes lighting up. “What the hell happened to Colten’s eyes? Why are they all… weird now?”

Lila smirked. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Ugh, you’ve read the whole series, haven’t you!” he cried in feigned disgust. “Don’t tell me any spoilers.”

“You literally just asked for one.”

“Must’ve been the wind.”

They shared another laugh before sitting in silence again. Lila shut down her laptop and checked her own belongings to make sure she had everything. She proceeded to play a couple of games on her phone, ensuring she checked Marlene was still busy in the café every so often. Eventually, Marlene disappeared from Lila’s line of sight, and Lila urgently tapped Asher on the hand.

“She’s on the move,” she whispered. “She must be clocking off. She hasn’t left just yet.”

Asher gingerly placed the napkin in the book as a bookmark and put it back in his bag. No sooner had he done so did the café bell tingle, announcing the departure of Marlene. Lila and Asher looked at each other quickly before getting up and meandering out of the back of the café themselves. Lila glanced at the Uni student on their way out. Asher opened the door for Lila, and just before they exited, she heard a phone ringing. She quickly looked behind her – it was the Uni student’s phone, which he picked up with a long-suffering sigh.

“Dude, why is Chem so fucked,” he complained, packing away his things. “I’m on my way. I’ll meet you on campus, yeah? I’ll be, like, an hour.”

Lila glanced meaningfully at Asher before exiting. The door shut behind them with a tingle, and they slowly wandered down the street. They could still see Marlene walking down the road at a brisk pace. They slowed their pace so that she was only just in view of them and followed her path. She was going in exactly the same way as yesterday, so they were less concerned with figuring out where she was going.

Lila couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being watched, however. Every so often, she looked behind her but saw no one who looked like they were watching them.

“Do you think someone’s following us?” she muttered to Asher after a few minutes after the feeling still didn’t dissipate.

“Sure do,” Asher replied nonchalantly. “That’s Martina, in the blue sports bra, and Doug, the guy next to her, a few hundred metres or so behind us. They live across the road.”

“Oh,” Lila said softly, feeling silly. “That makes sense.”

“Their kid goes to Forestglade College too, but I think he’d be about Daniel’s age.”

“Why are they wandering around at this time of day?”

“Eh, they run a semi-successful business. Don’t know what they sell, but I don’t even think they do any real work for it anymore.”

“Do you know all your neighbours?” Lila asked curiously.

“Just about. Every once in a while, we have a neighbourhood barbecue, or another social event, but it’s more a dick-measuring contest for the adults than a neighbourly hangout. I go just to be polite and eat the food.”

Lila smirked, but then a thought occurred to her.

“Is it a problem that your neighbours have seen us?” she asked. Asher shook his head.

“Nah, they keep to themselves. Plus, they’d obviously know it’s school holidays. I don’t even think they’ve realised I’m out here yet.”

“Fair enough,” Lila replied softly. They continued following Marlene, again letting her enter Asher’s street a minute or so before they did, as they had yesterday. In that time, Martina and Doug approached them.

“Asher!” Martina said with a bright smile. She looked like a stereotypical housewife for someone living in this area – bleach-blonde, tall, tanned and clearly taking immense pride in her appearance. “Who’s your little friend?” she continued, slowing down as they came closer.

“This is Lila. She’s a classmate of mine,” Asher said, gesturing to Lila who gave a polite little wave.

“A classmate or a girlfriend?” Martina cooed, clasping her hands together.

“Definitely not a girlfriend,” Lila cut in before Asher could reply, shaking her head.

“Don’t embarrass them, honey,” chided Doug, grinning widely. He was also tall, with greying hair and an imposing stature. “Let them enjoy their afternoon walk.”

“Sorry,” giggled Martina, waving at Lila and Asher. They continued on their way up the street where Asher’s house was.

“I see they’re friendly,” Lila said in a slightly strained voice.

“They’ve always tried to play matchmaker with me at those get-togethers,” Asher said with a sigh. “Holly’s been over a few times, but I don’t think she’s ever met them. Sorry if that was awkward.”

Lila waved a hand dismissively. “It’s fine. They didn’t know, plus they didn’t seem to have bad intentions.”

Asher checked his phone and slipped it back into his pocket. “Should be good to go, now,” he said. “Shall we?”

Upon entering his house, Lila caught a strong whiff of the scent of cookies. Lila and Asher took their shoes off before walking somewhat cautiously towards the kitchen. Evidently, Gabriel had finished doing whatever he was doing before they left and he looked up as they approached.

“Lila!” Gabriel said happily. “Glad you could join us.”

“Glad to be here,” she said with a grin. “Are those cookies I smell?”

“I was trying my hand at some red velvet cookies,” Gabriel replied with a wide smile. “They’re not quite done yet. I’ll bring some up when they’re ready, assuming you’re heading upstairs?”

Asher nodded. “Yeah. Thanks, Gabriel.”

“Asher!” Gabriel exclaimed, doing an exaggerated double-take. “I see you look mighty put together. Anything special happening today?”

Gabriel’s eyes darted between Asher and Lila, who uncomfortably avoided his gaze.

“Nah,” Asher replied confidently. “Just trying a new look. Decided I hate it.”

“No, no, don’t hate it,” Gabriel said hastily. “You look good.”

Asher shook his head. “Thanks, but no thanks. I reckon my normal style suits me better.”

Gabriel pouted at Asher, but then nodded, waving them away from the kitchen. Lila gave Gabriel a small wave as she and Asher headed upstairs.

“I’m gonna get changed,” Asher said with a sigh after closing the door to the rumpus room.

“Do you actually hate this look?” Lila asked inquisitively.

“Nah, just pulling Gabriel’s leg. He always gets so flustered when I shut his compliments down,” smirked Asher. “Though, I probably wouldn’t make this a regular look. Man, this shirt is itchy!”

He disappeared into his bedroom again, and Lila began repacking her bag after sitting on the couch. He reappeared in a light grey singlet and matching grey tracksuit shorts, his hair a tousled mess again. He was carrying the book he’d borrowed from Lila with an expression of glee and flopped onto the couch.

“Feel free to watch something, or play some games. You can also have a look at the books in my room if you wanna do a book swap,” he said casually, settling in to start reading again.

“Thanks,” Lila replied. She wasn’t going to go into his room again, so she began to browse his Switch games.

“You can also play on the PS5, too,” he said, eyeing her over the top of the book.

“I prefer Switch, generally,” Lila replied. “But I’ll take a look if I can’t find anything.”

They whiled the rest of the day away in each other’s company without saying much. There was no air of awkwardness between them this afternoon. In fact, it felt incredibly comfortable, being here, watching Asher’s TV whilst he sat beside her, reading a book Lila had brought for him. Eventually, Gabriel knocked on the rumpus room door, handed them cookies and checked whether Lila was staying for dinner. She accepted the invitation to Gabriel’s delight, and Lila and Asher resumed their activities for the rest of the afternoon.

About half an hour before Marlene was to begin working at Asher’s, Lila turned to Asher.

“So, we didn’t learn anything different about Marlene than we did yesterday,” she said, pausing her video. Asher jumped slightly, before laying the book face down on his chest.

“Sorry, fight scene,” he said sheepishly. “It’s the second time the Beast has come out.”

“Understandable,” Lila nodded. “Sorry for disturbing you.”

“It’s all good,” Asher said, stretching. “Should probably take a break, actually. What’s up about Marlene?”

“Well, we’ve followed her again, but I feel like we haven’t learnt much,” Lila said.

“I guess not,” Asher said thoughtfully. “How about we visit tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow?” Lila asked, blinking blankly at Asher. “But isn’t she here all day tomorrow?”

“Exactly,” Asher said, grinning. “So, we can go sit right by the barista station. Maybe they’ll talk about Marlene.”

“I see,” Lila said slowly. She pulled out her phone and checked her calendar. “I could probably come by, but I don’t think I’ll stay for the whole day…”

“That’s fine,” Asher said, sitting up and reaching for a red velvet cookie. “Kinda surprised you’re still here, to be honest.”

Lila blushed, grabbing her own red velvet cookie. “’Course I am. Were you planning on eating all of these by yourself?”

Asher chuckled, shaking his head as he bit into his cookie. Crumbs fell onto Lila’s book and he jumped up, brushing them off the pages.

“Sorry, Lila,” he said in a panicked voice, putting his half-eaten cookie down on a napkin that was sitting on the coffee table. He then began shaking the book vigorously.

“Eh, don’t worry about it,” Lila said lazily. “There’s probably crumbs of mine embedded in the pages somewhere.”

Asher seemed to relax, sitting back down, his face pink. His phone started to buzz violently on the coffee table, and he placed a proper bookmark between the pages of the book as he put it down.

“It’s Holly,” he said, his face lighting up. “I’ll be back in a few.”

He started walking towards his room, picking up the call. “Hey, babe,” he said jovially as he closed the bedroom door behind him.

Lila had almost forgotten about Holly today. She looked down at the book and, ensuring she didn’t lose Asher’s place, began to leaf through its pages. He’d gotten a fair way through today. Lila briefly wondered why he hadn’t read it before, if Holly was into it, and placed it back down on the table. Maybe Holly hadn’t spoken to Asher about the series.

Asher continued to be on the phone for quite some time – enough time, actually, for Marlene to have started her shift. Lila curiously opened the door to the landing and sure enough, there was Marlene, washing basket in her hands.

“Hello, Lila,” Marlene said, turning towards her. “Where’s Mr Wagner today?”

“He’s talking to Holly on the phone,” Lila said, unable to keep her voice from wavering.

“Ah,” Marlene replied, resting the washing basket on her hip, her expression instantly seeming to frost over. “His girlfriend.”

Lila nodded. She couldn’t think of anything to say to Marlene. Marlene’s lips pressed together tightly as her eyes seemed to pierce into Lila’s soul. Lila couldn’t begin to determine what Marlene could glean from her stare, but the awkwardness she was feeling only increased tenfold.

“Do you have plans for ANZAC Day?” Marlene asked suddenly. Lila looked at Marlene in surprise and shook her head.

“I heard from Mr Wagner that his girlfriend will be performing at a Memorial Service in the morning,” Marlene said. “He hasn’t been invited, as it’s for veterans and their families, but he might be a bit lonely, sitting at home on a public holiday so early in the school term.”

Lila scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. “I think he’ll be fine,” she said. Marlene shrugged.

“Perhaps. Anyway, I know that the rules about ANZAC Day can be a bit confusing, but while most shops are closed or can’t open until after 1-1.30pm, cafés and restaurants are open. It’s always nice to have a breakfast outing.”

Marlene began to turn around and head back downstairs as Lila’s heart beat furiously in her chest. Marlene’s convenient references to cafés lately gave Lila pause. She wanted to ask Marlene if she knew Lila and Asher had been following her. Though… Lila could concede that perhaps cafés were on Marlene’s mind as she was working at one just a few hours ago.

“Um, Marlene,” Lila uttered. Marlene paused on the second-to-top step and turned to look at Lila.

“Yes, Lila?”

“U-Uh, wh-”

The door to the rumpus room burst open as Asher just about barrelled into Lila.

“There you are!” he said, sucking in a deep breath. “Thought something happened to you, you didn’t say anything about leaving.”

“Hello, Mr Wagner,” Marlene said coolly from the stairs. “I take it you’ve finished your conversation with Ms Reid?”

It took Lila a second to realise that Marlene was referring to Holly as Ms Reid. Asher looked shocked for a moment before replying through gritted teeth.

“Yes, I have. She’s excited to come back and see me.”

“Excellent,” Marlene said, swiftly turning back around and walking down the stairs.

“What was all that about?” Asher asked Lila in a low voice. Lila shook her head to indicate she didn’t want to say anything here, and returned to the rumpus room, Asher following behind.

“I went out to check if Marlene was there since you were still on the phone. Sorry for not saying something,” Lila said quietly.

“That’s alright. It seemed like you were in a conversation, though,” Asher said, heading back over to the couch.

“Well, she suggested that we go to a café on ANZAC Day for a breakfast outing. I almost asked what she meant by all her references to cafés. Thanks for stopping me.”

“Oh,” Asher replied, seeming surprised. “Hm… I hadn’t considered what I wanted to do for ANZAC Day.”

“Neither,” Lila said, stretching her shoulders as she joined him in her usual spot on the couch. “What did you end up talking to Holly about?”

“Ah,” Asher blushed as he spoke. “J-Just a couple things, y’know. She said she’s excited to see me again, and I told her I’d started the series. She said to tell you ‘Hi’, too.”

“She knows I’m here?” Lila asked, astonished.

“’Course she does,” Asher said casually. “I might not tell her everything, but not telling her when you come over is a breach of trust, in my eyes. She should know. Especially after the whole cheating rumours.”

“That makes sense,” Lila replied, looking down at her lap. “I’m glad you tell her.”

“She’s pretty happy that I’m reading this series, too,” he said, picking up the book again. “She told me that it’s my homework for the rest of the holidays.”

Lila gave a half-hearted laugh and pressed ‘Play’ on the video she had been watching. The rest of the evening proceeded as usual and Lila observed that Marlene kept tightly to her schedule again. Lila requested that her Dad pick her up after dinner, which consisted of a chicken and prawn paella. Dessert was a small helping of handmade tiramisu that seemed to have just a little bit more alcohol in it than Lila was used to.

“Delicious again, Gabriel,” Lila beamed, standing up from the table. Asher followed suit, nodding.

“Thank you, Lila, I’m so glad you enjoy my food,” Gabriel replied heartily.

“I don’t think I’d ever be able to not enjoy your food Gabriel, it’s always wonderful,” Lila replied with a laugh. She headed upstairs with Asher, waiting for her Dad to come and pick her up.

“So… tomorrow?” Asher asked quietly as he sat down, holding Lila’s book close.

“Yeah,” Lila said with a nod. “I’ll come by again. Probably later, this time – like, maybe 10? I’ll get Clare to drop me off and I won’t stay for long.”

“Sounds good,” Asher replied, opening the book again. “I’m guessing we won’t be at the café for long, either.”

“Probably not,” Lila said, pressing ‘Play’ on another video. “Just long enough to scope out the place without Marlene there.”

“Gotcha.”