Lines We Forget Read Free Page B

work wasn’t too bad today.”
    When he gives her a small wave and smile she winks back and plants a kiss on his cheek. “All the better for seeing you, of course.”
    Anna almost lets out a loud chuckle, taken aback by the girl’s flirty delivery, her hungry Cheshire cat grin, and how she’s got balls made of steel to give him such a seductive peck.
    The sense of history between them is obvious and it spurs on the feeling of disappoint in her stomach. Which she knows she’s certainly not entitled to but can’t help but feel nonetheless.
    “Lola lives down the street, above one of the Thai restaurants, so I always see her come up from the Tube,” Guitar Guy, or Charlie as she’s become aware is his name, explains. “She’s really friendly, which helps in a place like this—a city where everyone’s usually too busy to just stop and breathe or interact for just a minute.”
    “Uh, huh. Yeah,” Anna replies, now lost in a downwards spiral of comparing herself to such a wonderfully named girl with high cheekbones and silky hair. She knows it’s an exhaustingly bad habit to keep up but it’s one she just can’t quit either.
    As the rain continues to pour, soaking the ground between them, Charlie says, “I can play another song if you’d like?”
    She starts to worry, wonders if he’s maybe getting impatient with the pauses and gaps in conversation. If he’s actually a bit bored.
    “Oh no. It’s okay. It’s damn cold and miserable out here. You probably just want to get home,” she sighs before worrying that maybe he doesn’t have a home to get back to. If he busks and lives on these streets, like many others do.
    “I’ve nowhere urgent to be,” he says. “Although home is a lot drier and warmer with a TV and food and clean clothes, so it’s kind of tempting.”
    “Sounds more than tempting to get out of this crap weather.” Anna peers down at his clothes, which are soaking, but she feels better now knowing he’s got somewhere to call home, even though she suspects he might just be crashing with friends.
    The irrational side of her brain, however, eventually ends up deciding he more than likely lives with a beautiful, well-educated, and achingly cool, guitar playing, and bohemian girlfriend—probably a Lola-esque clone.
    Which is the very opposite of how Anna sees herself. Memories of nights spent mostly alone come flooding back. How her routine consists of trudging home from an uninspiring day at work to change into slippers and fall asleep watching trashy reality shows. Weekends spent in comfy cat-adorned pyjamas and junk food comas. Not cool at all.
    But even though cool isn’t a familiar term or constant in her life, she knows she at least has courage to fall back on. Not one for shying away easily, she’ll try anything once and she’s done it for a lot less than the handsome guy before her.
    So with a deep breath, and some quick mental rehearsal, Anna tilts her gaze and smiles warmly up at him. Brushing her hair away from getting caught in her lip-gloss, she slowly exhales.
    “Still, it is pretty cold out. I don’t have a TV or dry set of clothes to hand, but do you want to come and get some coffee with me?”
     
    ***
     
    Charlie
     
    As the bright lights of the generic-looking coffee shop come into focus, Charlie can’t quite believe he’s walking with her—the girl from across the street—the one with the big dark eyes and choppy, cute fringe.
    He still feels unprepared for just how great a smile she has, which is warm and inviting. How her laugh is infectious and loud. He’s also pretty taken by how she was the one to make the first move. Bold enough to stop and drop money into his case and actually talk. It scares and amazes him in equal measure—a girl who appeared sad at first, but who’s actually quite electric, with the balls to ask him out for a drink.
    With his guitar case slung over one rain-sodden shoulder, Charlie’s careful not to hit her with it as they navigate