Chapter Text
They had waited a while to leave, relaxing for a few hours, finally enjoying the fact they actually had a bit of time together. It was drizzling when they left the house hours later, dreary, cold, and grey. Sasha had to practically order Tim into actually wearing his heavier coat so he’d be warm enough, instead of saying it was ‘nice enough out,’ and then secretly being miserable as soon as they had actually been out of the apartment for more than ten minutes.
It was quite a trip down to the coffee shop Gerry had chosen, close to his own apartment. Sasha had half been expecting him to pick one closer to her, or more in between them, and then remembered that he luckily didn’t have her address, and then got the creeping worry that he could’ve, and that the way things were looking right now, random people having her address should probably be a worry. She had looked up the place he’d chosen online, and it looked like a charming little place, lgbtq+ friendly, the sort of place that was a bit overpriced (even for London coffee) but guaranteed ethically sourced beans. She didn’t have enough places like that near their actual apartment.
The tube was crowded and grimy, stinking of piss in the usual London fashion. Tim got his wallet stolen while pushing through the crowd. That was the first unlucky thing to happen for the day, not that Sasha normally kept count. It didn’t have any cash in it and they were able to call the credit card company and get his cards cancelled, but it was still bad luck, and put them both in a bit of a snappy mood. Once they were finally out of the station it was properly pouring now, but Sasha’s umbrella had broken last week, so they ran for it, pushing through the brightly painted door into the little coffee shop.
It was bright, warm, and artsy, a few college students working on various projects at the little tables. It smelled like scones in here, and Tim wasted no time ordering coffee and a couple muffins for them, using the twenty pound note Sasha was lucky enough to have in her pocket. If he was gonna be unhappy and overprotective of her for this whole meeting, he might as well get a snack out of it.
They waited two hours. Sure, they had arrived a bit late themselves, but two hours with no word was simply rude. That was the second unlucky thing to happen. She’d texted Gerry about a dozen times, and had no responses, until finally he got the brains to text back.
‘I got held up, sorry I couldn’t make it.’
“Fucker,” Tim scoffed, reading the text over Sasha’s shoulder.
“Let’s just go home,” Sasha heard herself snap, and took a deep breath, in order to calm herself down. “I’m sorry this was a waste of time. I really thought he’d show,” she sighed, leaning back in her chair, and rubbing her eyes.
Tim’s expression softened a bit, “Not your fault Sash, it’s him who didn’t bother to follow through.” He stood up, and pulled his coat back on, it was still raining out, and the wind had picked up substantially, “come on then, no use sitting here for no reason,” he grumbled. “Next time you see that guy I’m getting a punch in,” he grumbled.
That did make Sasha chuckle, “oh yeah? I won’t stop you then, I’m flattered you’d defend my honor like that,” she teased, trying to brighten the mood a bit.
He smirked and ruffled her hair, messing it up as the left the cafe and went back out to brave the rain, “of course I would, what else would I be here for?”
“Chauffeuring me around to random coffee shops? Most of the time you’re a nuisance though, not worth the trouble,” her smirk grew, trying to get a little rise out of him.
“Naaah, you love me,” he pulled her closer.
Sasha allowed herself to just be glad she could cheer things up, make Tim forget his anger towards Gerry for a moment, “fine, I do,” she said like it made her disappointed.
The walk was comfortable, both of them having calmed down a good bit, though the fact Sash’s shoes were soaked through wasn’t helping.
“Could we actually stop at that tea shop we saw on the way down?” She asked.
“Really? You barely drink the stuff anymore.”
“Yeah but I still like it better than coffee, and it was such a cute place! I’d love to find some new teas.” They were nearing the said store now.
“Yeah yeah, I might just run over to that shop over there, while you’re doing that?”
“The tourist one?” She quirked a brow.
“I’ve been meaning to send a postcard to Danny,” he shrugged.
“Alright then,” she leaned up to give him a quick peck on the cheek, before beelining for that little tea shop. She stepped up the rickety steps, and turned around for a quick wave to him. Then she opened the little yellow door of the tea shop, and stepped inside.
This was not a tea shop.