Emma's Story Part 2. Chapter 4. 

The girl at the counter was watching me as I started walking towards the counter and gave me a cordial smile as I was about to pay the bill. She said politely, "I buy the coffee and the toast for you sir. The bill is on me." I looked at her with a question mark. She said, " Emma and her aunt have been my friends . I have known them for a long time. They went to school rather early today. You just missed them>" To avoid any further embarrassment to me she clarified, "I was there at the counter when you last met them. Can I help sir?"

This filled me with confidence and I said, "It was a chance meeting. And I liked them. My stay in Vancouver will end shortly and I will go back to India where I come from. I would like to say hello to them before I go."

She said, " You will definitely see them if you come here again around five in the evening. That's the time when they drop by every evening."

When I reached the coffee shop Emma and Charles were waiting. Emma was sitting with her back towards the door. I found Charles looking fixedly at the road . He wasn't fidgety but rather calm which was unlike Charles.He nudged Emma but she did not look in my direction. I approached their table and she got up rather deferentially. That too was unlike Emma. Both had been silently brooding over the last meeting when Emma had suddenly withdrawn and walked away with Charles in tow. I could see the sense of misgiving writ large on Charles's face. He suddenly seemed to have changed over the last two days. A misgiving crossed my mind too. Did they regret that they had let me know them more intimately than they should have. 

Emma broke the ice." I am sorry you waited long expecting to see us in the morning." She said tentatively to start the conversation.