"Do you have time now?"
Camie got taken aback by the sudden question:
"Hum, yes.
-Great. Then if it's okay with you, we could go get that coffee that we promised. Last time we got interrupted."
Camie was scared about staying alone with Théa for some reason, but she didn't see any reason to refuse. Moreover, she did already say that she was free. At the beginning she only invited her to a coffee to get her far from the attack. Well, that didn't work but at the end she did succeed in giving Black Gold her first break. They deserved a coffee to celebrate:
"Sure.
-Great! I don't think we could go back to the same place. It closed for a few days after the attack. But I know a very nice place not far from the University.
-Okay, I trust you."
Théa started laughing for some reason, but Camie didn't dare ask why. Théa had told the truth and they only walked for ten minutes before they found themselves in front of a very cute coffee shop. It was hidden in a tiny road and had almost no signs outside. However inside it was full of plants and colorful lights. When Camie walked in, she forgot to close her mouth:
"Wow..."
Théa smiled, not looking away from Camie for a second:
"Do you like it?
-I do! It's adorable!
-I am so glad. I found this on a post about the best date ideas in the city."
Camie almost choked. Date? Had she heard it right? Date as in date with a friend or date as in date with someone you are romantically interested in? No, it couldn't be. She laughed awkwardly. How could she think for a second that Théa would ask her on a date? Impossible.
"You can sit down; I'll get the drinks."
Wanting to disappear for having weird thoughts, Camie quickly nodded and found the table the furthest away from other people. She sat there and waited for a few minutes before she remembered something: if she was here and Théa was ordering, then Théa would be the one to pay even for Camie's drink. Having realized that, Camie immediately jumped up, but it was too late. Théa was already walking towards the table with two drinks that she put down on the table:
"Here you go.
-Oh, thank you. How much do I owe you?
-What if you paid next time? This way it won't be a gift, it would just be a delayed payment. Does that sound good?"
Camie thought about it for a bit.
"Okay.
-Great. I am very happy that you agreed to come. I really like spending time with you."
Being suddenly shy, Camie quickly tasted her drink:
"Oh! This is very good!
-You wanted the caramel milkshake last time, so I got you something similar.
-You remembered?
-Of course."
Camie laughed:
"Sorry, I forgot that it was literally yesterday."
Théa shook her head:
"That's not the reason. I remember everything you say."
Camie frowned:
"Impossible."
Théa smirked before bending very close to Camie's face:
"Oh really? Do you want to quiz me?
-I...
-I am confident that I remember everything you ever told me."
She looked so serious that Camie couldn't help smiling:
"Okay. Whose dog was I walking yesterday?
-Your neighbor's. You agreed to walk it once because they would be away from home for too long. You didn't remember exactly where they were, but you remembered something about a Theatre.
-Okay... You got lucky. Then something harder... When we talked about genetics."
Théa shrugged:
"Easy. I asked what class you were having. You said genetics and I said it sounded hard, but you said it wasn't.
-What about the book I was reading under the tree?"
Théa snarled:
"Are you losing on purpose?"
Théa had no problem answering every question and slowly Camie was the one who was running out of questions. She realized that she remembered way less from their encounters than Théa and she started feeling bad. She didn't realize how attentive Théa was towards her, and Camie had been way too focused on the visions to really get to know Théa. The only thing that Théa herself had told her was that she liked brown. That was far from enough. She needed to do better.
"You really do remember everything.
-I even remember our first meeting."
Camie froze. No! No that!
"You almost fell and grabbed my hand to stabilize yourself before-
-Stop!"
Camie jumped up from her chair and covered Théa's mouth, her cheeks flushed. She jumped up so suddenly that the few eyes present turned to them, wondering what was going on. Camie realized what she just did and got even redder if that was possible:
"I'm sorry! I... I'm sorry... I..."
Théa gently grabbed Camie's hands before smiling:
"I am sorry. I didn't know that you felt shy about it. I really cherish our first meeting."
Camie frowned:
"Why?
-You were adorable.
-A-a-a-adorable? No, I was... It was..."
Camie had tried so hard to forget about it but talking about it suddenly made her lose her composure and she pulled her hands away from Théa before sitting back and hiding behind them.
"Ah... I'm so ashamed. Please let's forget about it forever.
-Camie, could you look at me?"
It took her a second, but she put her hands down.
"I won't talk about it anymore if you don't want me to, but I don't see why you should be ashamed.
-Seriously?
-Yes. It is one of my favorite memories."
Camie frowned:
"Why?"
Théa smiled, her head resting on her hand:
"Should I tell you?"
Her sentence sounded so weird that Camie didn't know if she should say yes.
"Anyway, does it mean that I won the bet?
-By far. Congratulations.
-What do I get for winning?"
Camie thought about it:
"I don't know. What do you want?
-May I ask for you to eat with me tomorrow?
-Is that all?
-Yes. And your friends are welcome too of course. I really like spending time with them.
-They really like you too.
-Really? I am glad. I tried my best to make a good impression.
-You don't have to worry about that. I think it's impossible for you to make a bad impression."
Théa went red so suddenly that Camie got shy too. Why did she have to say something so cringe?
"I mean... You didn't make a bad impression on anyone I know.
-I am glad to hear that. It is very important to me that those dear to you like me.
-Why?
-Because I want to get closer to you. I really want to."
Camie felt her heart squeeze again. All this time Théa did her best to get closer to her, but Camie didn't do anything to help. She agreed to hang out together and become friends, but she wasn't very proactive in the whole relationship. She felt way more ashamed about this than their meeting and she needed to right her wrongs.
"What are you drinking?
-An iced americano. I always drink iced americanos. Except in winter of course."
Camie already knew that, but it felt better hearing it from Théa directly for some reason:
"Do you like tea?
-Yes. A lot. I know a very good tea place in the city. We could go some day.
-Okay.
-Really?
-Yes. And what biscuits do you eat with your tea?"
Théa answered all of Camie's questions patiently and the more Camie asked, the happier Théa looked. They had never talked for so long and the owner had to come up to them to warn them that they would soon close.