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Adriana taps her heel against the elegant leg of the cafe’s table.

Every time the door opens, something in her jolts and she lifts her head to naturally give a broad winning smile to the man who just entered.

But it’s not Jacob, just some dude now trying to smile back at her.

She sighs and tosses her carefully conditioned hair, readjusts herself on the chair to reset.

It’s now two minutes to midday, so he could be here any second.

Jacob strikes her as someone who would be a stickler for being on time, so she made a concerted effort to arrive early.

She wonders if there’s an etiquette to arriving on time for a date, whether it’s better to look more casual by being late.

She doesn’t know – she hasn’t been on a ‘date’ since she was sixteen with her ex Dylan, and he was so insistent that they were ‘casual’ that it was only to go and make-out at the cinema.

She reminds herself it doesn’t matter, because this is not a date. It’s a business meeting.

It’s a shame, really. Only because this is a perfect date location.

Honey is a recently opened cafe which turns into a bar in the evening, and it’s a little off the beaten track in the city centre, so there’s no tourists or freelancers with laptops, only a few similarly clued-in couples sat on their high bar stools or soft low armchairs, sipping expertly brewed coffee from artisan hand-thrown ceramics.

It has an intimate and understated atmosphere, with exposed brick walls and warm lighting, an oasis of well-tended luscious plants, and a few chic design details which nod to the symbols of the city – artwork depicts anatomical illustrations of ‘worker bees’ and the tables each have little unique vases with single red roses, connected to the symbolic rose of Lancaster.

Adriana knows this all because she’s actually friends with the owner.

She went to school with the daughter of the head pastry chef, Emily d’Montford, and their families have stayed friends – as Adriana tends to do.

She came to their opening night with Maeve a few months ago and it had been such a fun evening.

She got to try a sample of all the different pastries and espresso martini, and she had even taken a hot chef home with her, who she’d insisted on calling The Bear even though he was nowhere as intense as Jeremy Allen White’s character in the TV show.

He’d had incredible forearms, she remembered.

He had been an ideal one-night stand. Hot, but she hadn’t felt anything romantic for him.

The door opens again, and this time, her stomach lurches for good reason. Jacob’s here.

Jacob’s wearing a light brown bomber jacket over a simple but box-fresh white t-shirt, straight-cut chinos, and a thin gold chain which makes her think of Connell from Normal People .

Adriana realises she’s not seen Jacob in casual clothes before.

But even though he’s not wearing his customary shirt or tie, his clothes are of the intentional design and expensive fabric which hardly makes it look ‘casual’ either.

He looks so good, Adriana forgets to do her cute smile and wave.

Instead, he casts his eyes round the room looking for her, attracting the curious looks of other women in the room.

Adriana feels just a little smug that it’s her that he’s meeting, and sits up straighter, tossing her hair.

His eyes find hers, and he smiles back. Adriana feels like she’s in a parallel universe, where the two of them are simply a new couple, meeting for a second date in a cafe, pleased to see each other.

He walks slowly over to their little corner table.

‘Hey!’ says Adriana, finding herself flustered. ‘You found it okay! Cute, right?’

She stands, not knowing whether they’ll go for a hug, kiss, or even handshake. Jacob doesn’t seem to know either. He stays standing, and pushes his glasses up his nose, his intense hazel eyes on her.

‘So, Adriana, what do you want?’

Adriana flushes and gawps at him.

‘Umm… Well… We can get straight to business then–’

‘I meant, to drink,’ he corrects her.

Adriana is mortified. She isn’t used to being flustered around a man.

‘Oh, it’s okay,’ she says. ‘I’ll– I can get my own.’

Jacob raises an eyebrow. ‘If you prefer.’

He turns on his heel towards the front.

‘Oh, but it’s actually table service,’ she calls.

‘Oh,’ he says.

He sits on one of the bar stools, though he’s so tall that it’s more like he’s just leaning against it. He fidgets, not looking at her but over towards the counter, perhaps trying to catch the tender’s eye as soon as possible. Well, this is awkward.

She looks over too.

The counter is piled with plump, flaky pain au chocolats, chunky cookies, and elegantly iced cupcakes.

They, too, have designs featuring the shapes and colours of bees and roses, and Adriana finds them to be a deadly combination of delicious and adorable.

Her favourite at the launch had been the honeycomb brownies, but she wonders if Jacob would judge her an inferior ‘product’ for the team if he saw her breaking her nutritional diet quite that emphatically.

Under Pappi, Adriana would sometimes defiantly ignore the nutritionist’s recommendations, probably consuming too much alcohol and cheese for someone whose body is her job.

Yet she’s blessed with a constitution and metabolism which, at least for now, in her early twenties, means she can enjoy her favourite treats without ever worrying it will affect her game.

Her view is that she plays better when she’s happy than if she were to start resenting her training for restricting her life outside of it.

Far better to be happy and keep things in balance, than miss out on a whole world of pleasure when she already gives so much for the game.

‘Well, well, well, if it isn’t my favourite customer!’

Adriana beams up at a welcome familiar face, who has bustled over to their table. ‘Emily, how are you? It’s looking so good in here! The dangling bee lamps are new, right?’

But Emily doesn’t seem to care about the elegant lighting in her own cafe-bar – she’s too busy ogling Jacob.

‘Well, and aren’t you a sight for sore eyes? Who is this handsome young man?’

Adriana is expecting Jacob to be standoffish, even snobby about Emily, but she’s surprised that he smiles at her – properly smiles – and introduces himself.

‘I’m Jacob. It’s a beautiful place you have here, I’m glad Adriana suggested meeting here.’

‘Oh my !’ says Emily, fanning herself with her rose-patterned apron.

‘Well, aren’t you a gorgeous couple!’ Emily steps back from them, forming edges with her fingers like they’re a frame she’s watching them both through.

‘You look like you should be on the front of Vogue! And what do you do for work, Jacob?’

Jacob coughs, about to reply, but Emily seems to then forget she’s asked a question.

‘Oh, but for heaven’s sake, you haven’t come to chat to little old me, have you? What can I get you both? Addy, I seem to remember you’re…’ Emily clicks her fingers. ‘A coconut milk mocha?’

‘Bingo,’ Addy smiles at her.

‘And at the opening I saw you sneak a second of the honeycomb brownies. Can I get you one of those too?’

‘Emily, you’re the best.’ She grins.

Adriana feels Jacob’s eyes on her, and she wonders if he’s judging her, just as she expected, for having such a sweet tooth. Defiantly, she decides she definitely will have the brownie. The sugar might take the edge off their awkwardness.

‘And what about you, handsome?’

‘A cortado, please.’

‘Uh huh ,’ says Emily, wiggling her eyebrows, as if Jacob’s order of coffee had been deeply euphemistic. ‘And are you too serious for a pastry?’

Jacob chuckles. Chuckles!

‘It would be rude not to. A croissant, please. For me, their simplicity is the best way to appreciate the skill of the baker. I have no doubt yours will be wonderful.’

‘Oooh, I can see why she likes you!’ Emily playfully nudges him with her elbow.

‘Well done. You have triumphed where hundreds of men have failed! I’ve been trying to set her up with my most eligible bachelor friends for years but she has this whole stupid ‘policy’ of not dating, which includes never seeing a man in the light of day, especially at a precious weekend. ’

‘No, Emily, we’re not–’ Adriana tries to cut in to correct her before it gets more awkward, but her friend is a real yapper, and she doesn’t seem to hear the warning in Adriana’s voice.

‘I mean, if you ask me, it’s all a defense mechanism,’ Emily carries on oblivious. ‘Tale as old as time. Someone gets their heart broken once at a formative age, of course they’re going to be wary of letting themselves fall in love again.’

‘ Emily –’ Adriana tries again, mortified.

‘And then of course, she has her work,’ Emily says to Jacob, ignoring Adriana.

‘It takes up so much of her life, her priorities, and that’s marvellous, I mean, I know that feeling!

’ Emily gestures around. ‘I respect a – what is it the kids are calling it? A “girl boss”? But it seems a shame, someone so overflowing full of love, holding herself back from romance.’

Adriana now realises it was the worst idea in the world to bring Jacob here.

Thankfully, an oven alarm starts beeping behind the counter, and Emily’s ears prick up.

‘I’ll bring that all right over,’ she says, and bustles off.

Adriana and Jacob are left alone. There’s a beat of silence between them, only the sounds of others talking and the speakers playing light jazz.

‘Oh God,’ Adriana mutters, hiding behind her hair.

‘Well, she seems nice,’ says Jacob, and there’s a lightness to his voice again, just like when they first met.

Adriana looks up at him, and they both start laughing. For a golden moment, Adriana feels her plan having worked . Here they are, ice thawed, and back to the ease between them.

They take each other in, finally relaxed.