"What a surprise! It's been so long since I've heard your voice. How are you, honey?"

Christina Campo's voice was filled with a welcoming delight. It had been at least 3 weeks since Genevieve had last spoken to her mother, and that had once been a long time. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy the conversations, but Christina had an uncanny insight into her daughter's life and thoughts.

Although her mother would gently offer words of advice or help, Genevieve found these conversations far too confronting to accept, and ended up cutting her mother short; she didn't like letting loose on her mother, but sometimes she just couldn't avoid it. Her anger was an unfortunate coping mechanism.

"I'm good mama. Just trucking along. How is all up your end of town?"

She heard her mother sigh. Although they only lived 45 minutes apart, between the demands of her job and trying to avoid her family, she didn't get up to see them often.

"Same as always. Your father and I are probably going to take a holiday in a few weeks, because business has been going so well. The shop is hectic as always - John has been off work for a few weeks because Kathy just had her baby, so things have been a bit busier. Unfortunately we had to let Carla's nephew go. We caught him stealing petty cash from the till.'

She could hear the disappointment in her mother's voice through the phone, although she tried not to show it. Her mum was a woman who always tried to see the good in people, and when she couldn't, she did everything in her power to help.

What she failed to accept, something that Genevieve had realized long ago, was that people were always going to let you down, one way or another. However, if she told her mother this harsh fact, she knew her mother would jumping  into her car in a heartbeat to check on her.

"I'm so sorry mama. I knew you were trying to help him out. Poor Carla." She paused, "But hey, at least this you'll get a holiday for your anniversary!"

Her mother laughed, "I'm trying to get your father to take more than a week off. It's not easy." Her mother stopped for a moment, "Has work gotten any better?"

"Yes mum, it's fine," she exclaimed nonchalantly. "Speaking of pregnancies, how is Jillie going?"

Her mother laughed again, "Oh you know how your sister is. Jillian is fine one minute, then losing her marbles the next. I don't know how Brad is going to take another 4 months of this."

Genevieve nodded to herself silently. Jillian was four years her junior, and had been with her partner since they were 19. Though the baby was a surprise, they had happily accepted the news, and were still a perfect match in every way. She sighed.

"And what about you honey? Are you really ok?" Her mother continued. "I've been worried about you, all alone over there. I've had a bad feeling."

"I'm fine mum. I promise. Same as always."

"I know honey, that worries me though. You're stuck in this rut, all by yourself, and you won't come to see us or let us visit. I'm worried you're excluding yourself because of Jillie and the baby, and just letting it all boil up..."

'Mum!" She interrupted, voice brimming with frustration. "I'm fine!"

"Well," she heard sigh disbelievingly. "I've had a feeling you're going to be meeting someone soon. I feel like this is your time Gennie."

"I'm sorry mama, Amanda just messaged me. I've got to go. Love you." Genevieve abruptly hung up the phone, and dropped her head into her hands.

--------------------------------------

Matt locked the door at 7.40 and shoved his hands into his pockets to hide them from the wind that was carrying in a storm. He was in the early stages of a bad mood - Charlie, a long time client, had been having wife troubles and had unintentionally taken it out on him. The snide remarks, questions, critiquing and constant movement had caused him to lose focus multiple times, and being the detail-focus artist that he was, had frustrated him immensely.

It had taken longer to finish the outline then anticipated, and therefore longer to get out. He hoped Genevieve was still there. Actually, he hoped that she had decided to come.

Genevieve. That girl. She intrigued him. There was something about her - she was a walking contradiction. He could see the sadness in her, but she seemed like such a bright person. She was full of restraint, but she had so many thought out opinions and insights.

He had thought about her for the past two hours and was interested to hear more on the subject. Deep down, he was really just interested to see her again. He hadn't really been captivated by someone like this before, and he wasn't sure if he was keen on her, or just interesting conversation. God knew he wasn't looking to get caught up in a relationship, and she certainly wasn't his usual type.

As he pulled open the door to the café, he saw her sitting down in a corner booth, talking with a barista who was passing by. He walked up and pulled out a chair, smiling at her, then up at the man. "A coffee for you tonight man? We have a new single origin Guatemalan blend that is amazing."

"That would be great. And two of the doughnuts on the bar please." He pointed to the counter, filled with a variety of sweet treats. The barista nodded as headed back to the bar, and he turned to Genevieve, who was playing with her hands.

"I didn't think you would come," he said with a grin.

She looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, and took in a deep breath. "Truthfully, I wasn't going to,"

"But I'm glad you did." He said, giving her a casual smile as the barista returned with two plates.

She looked down, a brilliant red hue filling her cheeks, but then looked up, avoiding his eyesight and looking around. "This place is fabulous. I would never have known it was here!"

"Yeah, it's a hole in the wall, but they have some great imported coffee. My ex used to go crazy over one of their specialty house blends. Wouldn't drink anything else."

She nodded, as if listening but not knowing why she was sitting here listening to stories about an old girlfriend. Nevertheless, she continued to look around in awe.

"My sister would love it here. Not that she can drink coffee, but she loves the atmosphere at places like this"

He looked taken aback. "Why can't she drink coffee? That's terrible!"

She laughed, "She's pregnant. I don't know if it's the hormones or the caffeine withdrawals, but she's making everyone suffer as much as she is. We know, because she never lets us forget it."

Genevieve paused, and he saw her inhale and lose her smile. "I'm sorry. That was a terrible thing to say. She's not horrible. She's just going through a bit of a rough time."

Matt said nothing, not knowing what to contribute, as he had never really known a pregnant woman before. He cleared his throat, suddenly uncomfortable sitting here in silence. Not a familiar sensation to him, he looked at the woman sitting in front of him, and tried to figure it out.

"Is everything ok?" She asked, looking intimidated.

He frowned. "I'm just trying to figure you out, is all."

"Oh." Genevieve suddenly became transfixed with her cup, and started pushing it back and forth between her hands. "I'm honestly a pretty simple person. Nothing special."

Matt began studying her features. Chestnut hair, hazel eyes, a full bottom lip and a heart shaped face; whilst she wasn't what many would call 'hot' or instantly attractive, he realized he found her beautiful in a different way. There was a maturity and stillness to her air and attitude that he wasn't used to seeing, and her reservation made him want to learn more about her.

He leaned forward onto the table, "I don't think that's true. I think there is a lot going on in there. You obviously need to talk. I think you slipped up before, but there's more to that."

She cocked her head, narrowing her eyes. "Why would you say that?"

"Why are you getting so defensive?" He asked, surprised.

She looked back down at her hands that were now intertwined on the table. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so rude. I'm just not fan of talking about my feelings. It's not easy, and I certainly don't enjoy it."

He sighed, feeling that in the short time they had been sitting here, they had already begun going in circles. "Why not?"

She sat back in her chair, crossing her arms and slightly narrowing her eyes questioningly, "Why should I have to?"

He'd had enough of this. After the day he'd had, all he had wanted to do was have a relaxed evening and have an interesting conversation with this girl. Obviously that was no longer an option. He crossed his own arms and leaned back into his chair, staring at her with annoyance filling his face.

"Are you always like this?"

She looked started, as if she'd just been slapped. "Like what?"

He looked directly at her, face pulled together in frustration. "This standoffish. You're so abrasive. Half the time you're apologizing for being human, and the other half you're brushing off any remarks or questions that sound like they're going to have to make you feel something!"

Her jaw dropped, but she didn't say anything. Matt couldn't help himself, and his frustration was just spilling out, a mixture of the strenuous day and this woman's aversion to openness weighing on him. And yet, found himself dying to get to know what was hiding underneath. Exasperated, he asked, "What is wrong with you?"

Genevieve's mouth had remained open in surprise this whole time. He saw tears rim her eyes, and he instantly felt a chill run through him. He hadn't meant for this. He thought she'd been cold with a tough interior, but she was obviously a lot more damaged inside. He should have realized she would feel a lot more.

As he instantly went to apologize, she looked up quietly. She had a confusing look on her face, one mixed between anger, sorrow and betrayal, and Matt felt his stomach drop.

"Why does that even concern you?" She asked quietly, voice tinged with an icy sadness.

Without waiting for a reply, she left the table. He wasn't sure whether he should, but as he got up to apologize, he saw her paying the waiter for everything with a small smile, and walk out the door, with nothing showing the emotion she had just felt aside from her glossy eyes.

Matt looked ahead at the wall, and ran his hands through his hair. He couldn't understand why he was so concerned with this, obviously emotional unavailable, person.  They were obviously on two different levels.

All he knew was that he was going to find a way to see her again.

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Once again, I'm having a blast writing this! It's only going to get better from here :) Thanks to anyone who has read it so far! I really appreciate it!

Let me know any feedback or suggestions

G xx