This time for real.

The coffee place that Claire invited me to, turned out to be the same place I visited last Friday with Olivia and her motley crew of friends. A good choice indeed, both in ambiance and coffee quality wise as well.

"Welcome!" A voice greeted us, enthusiastically. "Oh, it's you, Claire. Where is your pretty friend?"

"Shut it, Jaime," Counter Girl replied, taking the jab in good spirit. "Weren't you rejected enough times already? How about just giving up already?"

"Never," the guy declared. "Well, your usual table?"

"Yep." Claire nodded.

I looked at the two in amusement, as their exchange was quite entertaining. On a side note, Claire had a 'pretty friend'... Considering how attractive the girl in question was, this should be someone of at least Bella's quality, then. I felt a tiny bit of curiosity sparked inside.

"Oh, welcome, sir," Meanwhile, the dude finally noticed me. "Would you like a table, or would you rather get your order to go?"

"Oh, we are together, Jaime." Just as I was thinking about the best way to tease Claire with my answer, she decided to drop a bomb by herself.

"I wouldn't quite put it like that. Yet," I couldn't help but bait on the opportunity. "But I will indeed join her table."

"Oh, our little Claire finally got herself a willing date?" A member of the staff joined in with my teasing. "Aw, and just a week ago she kept running after that blind wuss. How quickly they grow."

With a theatrical gesture, he wiped away a non-existent tear.

"Jaime!" Claire blamed the poor guy, willfully ignoring my words.

"My bad, my bad," he apologized. "Well, here goes my bet with Omar. Anyway, please enjoy your date."

Deciding not to pay the guy any more attention, Claire took my hand, how bold, and dragged me toward one of the tables. Sadly, it had two separate single seat armchairs, so I had no choice but to sit across from my date.

A waiter came over and took our orders a few minutes later. Claire decided to go for cocoa, while I opted for the cappuccino out of the same blend as last time. A bit later we got our drinks. I guess it's time to ask about the thing I had in mind since the moment of our meeting today.

"Hey, Claire," I called out. "So, what was your plan?"

"My plan?" She sounded genuinely confused. "What do you mean?"

"Huh? Do you think I would really believe in such a coincidence?" I questioned.

"Oh." From confusion, her expression went into one of realization. "Um, I, sorry, it's, um, yeah…"

Claire tried to say something, but kept stammering. I sighed.

"Claire." I called once more, getting her out of her failing loop. "Stop looking for an excuse, and just tell me straight. I already told you, my tolerance is very low for people who are trying to play stupid games with me."

"I don't…" the Counter Girl whispered. I kept waiting for her words. "I don't play any games! I-It was a complete coincidence, he came over to ask for my notes, just as I said to you already. I was about to send him away, but you arrived much too early."

"And that's all?" I couldn't help but ask, feeling a bit guilty.

"Well," Claire said, turning her gaze to the side. "For a moment, I had an idea. To see if he would have a reaction to me meeting with another guy. Something. Anything. But…"

She lowered her head, and muttered something under her breath, something I couldn't quite hear.

"But… Um…" Claire drawled. "After you um… kissed me… My mind went blank. And after the second one, I completely forgot Daniel even existed."

Not going to lie, her words caught me absolutely flatfooted here. And it was quite a pleasant surprise as well. Only years of experience, loss, and disappointment stopped me from feeling happy.

"And what would you have done if you got that reaction?" I continued my questioning.

"I didn't think this far…" Claire had enough conscience to look ashamed here. "Dunno. Maybe I would've asked you to pretend to be my boyfriend."

"Have you read a few too many romantic novels, Counter Girl?" I said, trying to hold back laughter. And failed. "Why would I do something like that?"

"Well, I thought…" She sounded lost. "That you will take it as a chance to spend more time with me…"

"And would you refuse to spend time with me now, since I refused?" I asked an important question.

Claire took her cup with both hands and took a long sip in an obvious attempt to stall for time. Since I was more interested in her well-thought-out answer than a rushed one, I decided to let her do so. And like that, more than five minutes went by.

"No." Counter Girl finally gave me her answer. "I don't think I will refuse."

I met her answer with a smile. And I knew which one it was this time.

***

The rest of the date went quite peacefully. We just chatted about coffee, books, anything, and everything. I also told her about the dreadful discovery during my date with Olivia. The one about four shitty movies, which were waiting to bore me out of my mind. She chuckled at my grimace, and said that she will hit Olivia up about the idea.

Time flew by, and it was almost the moment to say goodbye. Claire refused my offer to spend the evening at my place, since she had two lectures to attend later today. And a night shift at the store after that.

The Counter Girl offered to pay for the date, since it was her who invited me. But I laughed it off. I had no qualms about unimportant matters like that, but the bill was quite sizable, and I was undoubtedly less concerned with monetary issues. When Claire tried to protest, I offered to let her pay for the pizza for our next movie session, which she accepted with a content smile.

And, right now, we were waiting for the arrival of her taxi. Which she adamantly refused to let me pay for.

"Hey, Claire. Would you like to commence another test?" I asked.

"Um?" She raised her eyes from her phone's screen that showed her ride's whereabouts.

"How about we take a selfie together, and then you can send it to that dude?" I would obviously stack the results in my favor. But she didn't need to know that.

"Nah," she rejected. "I'm sure it's a part of your nefarious plan."

"Yep." I nodded with a shrug. She got me there.

"What were you planning to do?" Claire asked.

"Hm. I would either cop a feel. Or kiss you, this time for real," I told her a part of my scheme. "Maybe both at the same time."

"For real?" Counter Girl asked back. "What do you mean?"

Instead of telling her, I decided to demonstrate. This time with a bit of tongue. The kiss wasn't long by any sort of measure, and my partner wasn't skilled at all. But I thoroughly enjoyed it. Judging by the sloppy expression on my date's cute face, she enjoyed it quite a bit as well.

"Would you like another kiss?" I teased her.

"Um…" Claire drawled. "Yes…"