Closed Old Friends, New Stories

[Monty Pendleton]

Monty would sooner have shuffled his entire day around than decline an invitation for coffee with Matt - especially at their favourite bookshop café. An afternoon browsing paperbacks and catching up with his old friend sounded like the perfect end to an unexpectedly stressful week, and Monty had been meaning to suggest it himself anyway. Now more so than ever he appreciated the old friends who had kept in touch. Whether he saw them once a week, once a month, or once a year, he was grateful for the time and effort they made for him, and lately he had resolved to make more of an effort to reciprocate. Meaningful connections were too scarce to be allowed to slip away.

He had dressed casually, although casual meant different things to different people. To Monty, it meant a white shirt, nice trousers, and a grey waistcoat, but no tie. The two accessories he wore were gifts: a pair monogrammed cufflinks from Cyndi, and a handmade leather bracelet from his granddaughter, in Ravenclaw colours.

There was a good table in the corner, between a crammed bookshelf and the wide front window. Monty took it and ordered two coffees - one latte and one cappuccino. Since he had no preference, and he couldn't remember Matt's, he left both cups in the middle of the table untouched. They were still steaming when the door opened a few minutes later. Monty grinned automatically, getting up. He really had missed Matt.

 

[Professor Matt Alcott-Ward]

Matt had been in his role as headmaster for a few years now, and while he liked the job a lot, it did leave him with less free time than his old job had. So taking this break to get some coffee with an old coworker was wonderful and Matt had honestly looked forward to it quite a bit. He left the school to head over to the shop they had agreed to meet at. Matt loved bookstores and knew he'd probably come back with quite a few books. Unfortunately, he was running out of space on his shelves.

Matt worried he was running late, a worry that seemed to be realized when he headed into the café and saw Monty sitting there with two cups in front of him already. Matt gave him a quick, apologetic smile before rushing over to him. "Apologies, I'm not late, am I?" He said, glancing around to see if he could see a clock anywhere.