Once the morning rush had faded, and there was a lull in customers, Debbie looked over to David with a cheerful expression.

Her smile faded and she knitted her brows as she took in his subdued demeanour, so at odds with what expression she had expected to find.

"What's wrong honey?"

"Hmm?" Asked David, orientating himself to look at her as he surfaced from his thoughts and her words registered, "No, nothing's wrong. Thanks though Debbie."

She just stared at him, before crossing her arms, "Well that's the biggest bit of baloney I've ever heard in my life!"

David winced, "Deb, please..."

"Don't you 'Deb, please...' me, David! It's clear as day something is the matter." She sighed, shaking her head as she half-muttered, "I thought having more time to talk to Eleanor would've made you happier. Not whatever this..." she gestured to him, "mopeyness is!"

"I'm not moping." David weakly protested, but Debbie was having none of it.

"Yes you are." She leant against the counter, "Now spill, what's happened to make you all moody?"

David frowned, casting his eyes and thoughts around before giving a defeated sigh, "Fine." Debbie remained quiet, gesturing kindly for him to go on. He figured there was no point beating around the bush, "Eleanor has a boyfriend."

Debbie's eyebrows shot up.

"Yeah." He shook his head, "I should have known, someone like her was bound to already... you know."

Debbie looked thoughtful for a few moments before answering, her voice a mixture of curiousity and caution, "Oh really? Did she tell you this?"

He looked uncomfortable, "Not... exactly."

As David's coworker tilted her head, he hastened to explain.

"It was just after I'd finished making her mocha. She said she had to go cause someone called Jasper was waiting for her, and when I looked at the window, there he was, some guy looking inside the shop."

"Huh." Deb said, "I just remember seeing that cute little fella outside. Reminded me of my Trixie." She appeared lost in thought for a few seconds, her expression wistful, before turning back to the despondent David, "But surely, I'm struggling to believe it. Don't get me wrong, she's pretty and sweet enough, but I don't think she'd talk to you the way she does if she was already dating someone else." She looked at him suspiciously, though there was a slight twinkle in her eyes, "You don't offer her any freebies or 'special discounts' or anything, do you?"

"Deb!" David exclaimed, shocked, "Of course not! What do you take me for? Besides, she always insists on paying every last penny, even for her extra coffee shot today today."

To David's surprise, Debbie started laughing, "You're truly too easy to tease sometimes David, of course I know that's not the case." Her voice turned serious again, "But honestly, have you considered that you may be mistaken? Maybe this 'Jasper' is just a friend or a colleague of hers? I know you're nervous about it all, but don't go jumping to conclusions now."

"I don't know Deb, she sounded pretty happy when she mentioned him..."

"Well, you won't know until you ask her, now will you?" Debbie rolled her eyes, "Good Lord, it's like love makes people forget all about how to communicate properly."

Pretending not to hear her last sentence, David couldn't quite hide how flustered he felt as he said, "I can't just ask her that!"

"Sure you can." Debbie shrugged.