“We — we instantly hit it off like a house on fire; laughing, chatting and felt like we had known each other for years, you know?”

I did know, all too well. Jesse has this vibe and when you connect on that level with him it’s instant.

“It was more a best friend, brother and sister vibe. There is honestly nothing wrong with him and I will happily join you in the recruitment process for potential women from now on.”

We both burst into laughter.

“Okay, okay,” she says, composing herself. “What about you and Tanner? That seems to be going well?”

I give her a run down on how things are progressing with Tanner and the fact he dropped the girlfriend bomb when introducing me to his sister, which I’m still yet to bring up with him. This conversation leads into me staying at Jesse’s for the past three nights and the reason why; someone has been following me.

“You’re telling me someone has been following you, taking photos and could potentially be the same person who broke into the bar?” Sophie stands, throwing her arms in the air. I quickly tug on her arm, urging her to sit. “— and you’re just walking around by yourself? Wait until I see those boys, I’ll give them a piece of my mind!”

“Soph, shh. You’re going to make a scene!” I whisper-shout, smiling over her shoulder and giving an awkward wave at the cafe owner who is opening up for the morning.

“I’m not letting you leave here alone, what are your plans from here — for the rest of today?”

“Again, I am fine. Thank you for caring but honestly, I can look after myself. I have an opening shift this afternoon. I was planning on leaving here after your lunch break and going home to change, before making my way into work.”

She drums her ruby red nails on the side of her coffee cup. “I will take you home on my lunch break. I need to know that you’re safe and no other surprises are waiting for you when you get there.”

I roll my eyes. What’s that saying, my wife wanted a cat, so we compromised and she got a cat? Yeah, well that’s about how I feel at this moment.

People begin to filter into the library and I take a cart of returned books, setting off to put them back on the shelves. I pick up one of the remaining books left on the cart and instantly recognise the cover — Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden — the first series I ever read as a pre-teen. Glancing between the beanbags at the end of the aisle and back to my returns cart, I decide that I’m not being paid for this anyway and if I want to sit and read, I can, right?