LEARN ENGLISH FAST through Short Stories | The Cafe Reunion | English Listening Skills

in this English lesson you're going to listen to  a short story called The Cafe Reunion this is a  

great way to practice your English listening  skills by listening to comprehensible input  

be sure to turn on subtitles and at the end  of the story we're going to have 10 phrasal  

verbs from the story and also some idioms  so that you can learn new words and phrases  

let's start with the story The Cafe Reunion  Rachel pushed open the glass door of Oliver’s  

Café. The smell of coffee filled the air,  mixed with the sound of milk frothing  

and quiet chatter. She closed her umbrella,  shaking off the raindrops, and looked around.

The café had a cozy feel. There were  wooden tables, shelves lined with books,  

and a small chalkboard on the wall with  today’s specials written in chalk. She  

spotted an empty table near the  back and headed straight for it.

Rachel pulled out her notepad and phone,  ready to start. Her editor had sent her here  

to write about hidden cafés in London.  She didn’t know much about this place,  

just that it had been getting a lot of attention  lately for its charm and friendly atmosphere.

She glanced toward the counter, trying to  catch the owner’s eye. That’s when she froze.

Behind the counter, wiping  down a tray, was Oliver.

Oliver looked up and saw her. For a moment,  his face was blank, but then he smiled.

“Rachel?” he said, walking around the counter.

Rachel stood, unsure of what to say.  “Oliver? What are you doing here?”

He laughed. “I could ask you the same thing.”

“I’m here for work,” she said, holding up her  notepad. “I’m writing about cafés in London.  

I had no idea this was your place.”

“It’s mine,” Oliver said.  “Welcome to Oliver’s Café.”

Rachel laughed nervously. “Well, I guess  I don’t need to ask who the owner is.”

He pulled out a chair for her.  “Sit down. Let’s catch up.”

Rachel sat down, still feeling a bit  shocked. She hadn’t seen Oliver in almost  

a decade. They’d been close at university—best  friends who did everything together. She’d  

always thought they’d stay in touch, but one  day he disappeared. No explanation, no goodbye.

“So,” Rachel began, trying to sound casual.  “How long have you been running this place?”

“About five years,” Oliver said.  “It started as a small project,  

but it’s grown. What about you? Still writing?”

“Always,” Rachel said. “Though I didn’t  expect to find you as part of the story.”

Oliver chuckled. “Life’s funny like that.”

The conversation turned to old times. They  laughed about late-night study sessions and  

cheap takeaway dinners. For a moment,  it felt like nothing had changed. But  

the unanswered question hung in the  air, making Rachel’s chest tighten.

Finally, she spoke up. “Why did you  disappear, Oliver? You just… left.”

Oliver sighed and leaned back in his chair. “I’ve  wanted to explain, but it’s hard to talk about.”

“I think I deserve to know,”  Rachel said, her voice softer now.

Oliver nodded. “You’re right. During our  final year, my dad got really sick. I had  

to go home and help. It all happened  so fast. I thought I’d come back,  

but I couldn’t. Then time passed, and…  I didn’t know how to reach out again.”

Rachel felt a lump in her throat. “You  could’ve told me. I would’ve understood.”

“I know,” Oliver said. “But back then,  I was just trying to keep it together.”

For a moment, neither of them spoke. The sound  

of cups clinking and soft music  filled the space between them.

Finally, Oliver smiled. “Enough about  the past. Let me get you something.”

He went behind the counter and came back with two  steaming cups of tea and a small plate of cookies.

“For old times’ sake,” he said, setting them down.

Rachel smiled. “You always knew  how to make things better.”

They sat together, drinking tea and sharing  stories about their lives since university.  

Oliver told her about his dad’s recovery,  the ups and downs of running a café,  

and how much he loved creating a  space where people felt welcome.

Rachel shared her adventures as a journalist,  

from covering big events to  chasing leads in small towns.

“It feels like no time has passed,”  Oliver said, leaning back in his chair.

“Except we’re not living on instant noodles  anymore,” Rachel joked, making them both laugh.

When it was time to leave, Rachel stood up and  reached for her bag. Oliver handed her a receipt,  

but instead of a total, there was  a handwritten note at the bottom:  

“Let’s catch up properly. Dinner soon?”

Rachel looked at him and smiled. “I’d like that.”

Walking out into the cool evening air, Rachel  felt lighter, as if she’d left something  

heavy behind. The rain had stopped, and the  city lights reflected on the wet pavement.

As she walked home, she thought  about how strange life could be—how  

one assignment had brought her back to  someone she thought she’d lost forever.

In this story we use 10 commonly used phrasal  verbs and three natural idioms what we're going  

to do now and stay until the end is to  go through these phrasal verbs understand  

their meanings and how to use them in everyday  conversations and then once you've done this  

go back and listen to the story again the first  phrasal verb is push open to push open means to  

open something like a door by pushing it and in  the story Rachel pushed open the cafe door to  

step inside other examples are he pushed open the  door to the classroom and walked in quietly and  

I pushed open the window to let some fresh air  in number two is shake off which is close to a  

very popular Taylor Swift song and to shake off  means to remove something by shaking or moving  

and it can also mean to get rid of something like  feelings or problems in the story when she entered  

a cafe she shook off the rain from her umbrella  other examples are she shook off the sand from  

her shoes after the beach trip which sounds like  a tongue twister she shook off the sand from her  

shoes and it took her a while to shake off his  nervousness before the speech the next one is  

look around to look around means to observe your  surroundings or explore a place in the story she  

looked around the cafe to take it all in other  examples are we looked around the park to find a  

good spot for a picnic and she looked around  the shop but didn't find anything she liked  

the next one is pull out to pull out means to  take something out of a bag pocket or container  

in the story Rachel pulled out her notebook and  phone to prepare for the interview other examples  

are he pulled out his wallet to pay for the meal  which is very nice of him and she pulled out her  

phone to check the time the next one is catch  up to catch up means to reconnect with someone  

and talk about what's happened in their lives it  can also mean to reach the same level as someone  

which we'll see soon in the story Oliver invited  her to catch up on their lives another example is  

let's catch up over coffee this weekend and  I need to catch up on the work I miss while  

I was sick the next one is bring back to bring  back means to make someone remember something  

or feel a certain way again and in the story the  conversation brought back memories of University  

other examples are that song always brings  back memories of my childhood and seeing her  

old house brought back a lot of emotions the next  one is speak up to speak up means to say something  

especially when it's important or difficult to  say in the story Rachel finally spoke up to ask  

why Oliver had disappeared other examples are if  you don't agree you should speak up during the  

meeting and she was too shy to speak up about  her concerns the next one is keep it together  

to keep it together means to stay calm and  composed during a stressful situation in the story  

Oliver explained he was trying to keep it together  during a tough time of examples are she kept it  

together during the presentation even though she  was nervous and it's hard to keep it together when  

everything feels overwhelming the next one is come  back to come back means to return to a place or  

situation in the story he thought he'd come back  to University but things didn't work out other  

examples are I can't wait to come back to this  restaurant it's amazing and after taking a break  

she decided to come back to her art classes the  last phrase of verb before we talk about idioms  

is leave behind to leave behind means to move on  from something or let go of it it can also mean  

to forget or not take something with you in the  story Rachel felt like she'd Left Behind years  

of unanswered questions other examples are when he  moved to the city he left behind his old life and  

don't leave behind your phone it's still on the  table now the first idiom is life's funny like  

that this idiom is used to describe unexpected  or surprising events in life in the story life's  

funny like that Oliver said referring to their  unexpected reunion another example is I bumped  

into my old teacher today life's funny like that  the second idiom is For Old Times sake this idiom  

means doing something to remember or celebrate  the past in the story Oliver brought the tea and  

cookies for Old Time sake another example is let's  watch that movie again for Old Time sake and the  

last idiom is a lump in her throat and this idiom  describes feeling emotional or close to tears  

in the story it said Rachel felt a lump in her  throat as Oliver explained why he disappeared  

another example is the speech was so moving that  everyone had a lump in their throat so those are  

the phrasal verbs and idioms like I mentioned  before what to do now is go back to the story  

and listen to this again so that you can get  more practice and more repetition and then  

in the description be sure to click  the link so you can listen to more  

short stories in English on this channel  one last thing if you enjoyed this lesson  

then please share it with a friend thank you  for listening and speak you soon bye for now