Free Remember Our Song by Emma South

Holt’s café.  It was a nice talk, I couldn’t help but think maybe I’d been overly harsh in my initial assessment of him.
    “It’s a nice area, and much more convenient for the hospital.  So, you’re all done there now?”
    “I’ve got a check-up in a month, but other than that it’s just a list of exercises that Ellie wants me to do, as well as just a lot of walking.”
    “What do you think about going to Seattle, then?”
    “I think it’s as good an idea as any.  When can we go?”
    “I’ll have my assistant clear my schedule, we can go tomorrow if you want.  Will you be OK with flying?”
    “Well, I don’t like it at the best of times but as long as it’s not a helicopter, I think I can make it.”
    “Great.  I’ll get it all organized this afternoon and text you to let you know when we’ll pick you up.  It’ll be sometime early-to-mid-morning, if that suits.”
    “Sure, I’ll have my assistant clear my schedule too.”
    Jeremy smiled, “Deal.  You want a coffee before we go tell our assistants the bad news?”
    “Uh… do I drink coffee?”
    “Sometimes.”
    “OK, well I don’t know how I take it.  Surprise me, I’ve got to go to the bathroom.”
    I struggled to my feet, still not one hundred percent steady, especially when standing up from a sitting position.  Jeremy raised a hand and got the attention of a waiter as I began to walk away, who approached with a smile that was pleasant enough but not even approaching fanatical, as Konrad’s had been.
    I noticed a group of three women sitting at a nearby table looking in Jeremy’s direction and giggling.  They appeared to be in their early twenties, which made it feel like they were older than me but I supposed since I was actually twenty-five now they were my juniors.  The clothes they wore looked expensive and as I watched I saw one of them remove a small jacket to display cleavage that must have cost even more than the rest of the ensemble combined, shooting Jeremy a look with a clear meaning.  ‘If you’re tired of hop-along over there, I’m ready to take her place.’
    Jeremy glanced over, gave them a polite smile and then turned his attention back to the waiter, who had arrived at the table by this time.  I pursed my lips and went inside, pausing near the doorway as my eyes adjusted to the comparative dark of the inside of the café while I looked for the signs indicating the bathroom.
    Spotting them at last I made my way through, passing a wall covered in pictures.  Most of them seemed to be of the owner, Konrad, with his arms over the shoulders of famous people who had presumably eaten there.  One picture drew my eye because of the associated artwork, a logo in a similar style to the way ‘Holt’s’ was written on the storefront visible from the street but incorporating a sombrero and saying ‘Hola’ instead.
    The picture was of Konrad, with his trademark smile, wearing a sombrero, his arms around Jeremy and I.  I paused, staring at it for a moment, trying to remember the girl in the photo, trying to reach out and touch the happiness I saw in that face, frozen in time.  I couldn’t do it, though, and my more immediate needs made me halt my efforts and go to the bathroom.
    When I returned, the three women/girls were still trying their best to get Jeremy’s attention, attempts which were toned down when they saw me coming back. Jeremy, to his credit, was doing his best to ignore them, busily tapping away at the screen on his smartphone.  I collapsed ungracefully into my seat and Jeremy smiled, putting away his phone and reaching across the table as if to hold my hand before pausing and pulling back.
    “The ball is rolling,” he said, “my assistant is going to be looking very sadly at a computer screen within the next few minutes.”
    “Mine too.  Coffee on the way?”
    “Yep.”
    It was only another few minutes until the coffee arrived.  Growing up I had always loved the smell but not liked the