I live alone

Part 3

When I had finally finished moving that God forsaken bookcase in my living room and looked at the clock, I was pretty shocked to see it display 4:30 am.

My shift was starting at 9am.

To say that I was fucked would be taking it lightly.

I put away the books I've taken off to move the bookcase and at around 5 am I was finally drifting off to sleep.

"For once, working here came in handy" I mumbled to myself while pouring the third espresso shot into my mug and drowning it in milk. I never quite liked the taste of coffee itself, way too bitter, yet after adding an obcsene amount of syrup, it became almost enjoyable. Like a socially accepted dessert you could have any time.

The downside was that since I was not used to such a killer dose of caffeine-it made me pretty uneasy, so when I heard a greeting, said in that voice, I jumped, my eyes shot open, I turned around, not able to control my speech and looking him right in the face, I whispered

"Hazelnut latte"

His mouth opened wide in shock just to open even wider in a matter of seconds and let out the most fairy-like laugh I've ever heard

"Is that what you call me? Guess I shouldn't be surprised though"he said, still giggling"Didn't mean to scare you, I'm sorry"

"N-no it's fine, don't worry"I replied weakly, dragging my hand across my face and walking up to the window"What can I get you today?"

As I came closer, his look became more concerned, forming a wrinkle between his eyebrows

"A hazelnut latte indeed but...Are you okay? You seem kinda tired"

"Yeah, no, I'm fine, I just had a little remodelling session last night that kinda dragged out 'til morning"I smiled faintly

"Are you new here too?"he asked excitedly

I really didn't feel like getting into that whole circus.

"I guess you could kinda say that"

"That's great. How about celebrating new beginnings then?"he leaned over the counter a bit

wait...

"Would you be so kind as to tell me what time do you get off..."

Is he...

"So we can have a toast to that? Do you have a fave bar by any chance?"

He is.

What the fuck was I supposed to do? Did I even want to risk getting into another thing when I still wasn't healed from the old one? What was the responsible decision?

I was buying myself precious seconds by vigorously stirring the syrup into the coffee and building up the courage to turn him down but as soon as I looked at him, how his eyes sparkled in the sun, I froze.

With his fringe softly falling over his face and the jean jacket that was clearly too big for his small frame he looked like everything that Josh wasn't.

"Six" I said handing him his cup.

"Great, I'll come pick you up. Have a good one" he said cheerfully, winked and left.

I am so gonna regret that.

A sharp pain tore through my ear as Hailey screeched through the phone after I told her what had happened earlier.

"I knew you could do it! I'm so proud of you! Did you wear something nice today at least?"her voice showing slight suspition at the last part

"I mean, I guess? Jeans and a black tee"

She sighed loudly.

"You're so lucky you have me"she said"Check my locker, on the top shelf there should be that shirt you gave me when I dropped that fucking cake last week"

I chuckled at the memory of Hailey hurrying to get the cake she had just finished frosting, back to the frigde before it melted, but slipping on a blob of said frosting, she somehow managed to get all over the floor, after ignoring my advice to clean it up first. Not only did she end up squishing the cake by falling directly on it, but also she performed the most cartoon-ish fall I have ever seen.

"Shut the fuck up, I'm helping you"she tried to sound angry, but couldn't hold her giggle back either"I told you, everything has a purpose. And apparently, the great fall of my gorgeous carrot cake happened to allow you to look presentable at your date, don't let it go to waste"

After thanking Hailey and closing the shop's window I reached for the silky material crumbled in the back of her locker. I looked in the mirror and tried to smooth the material out a bit.

"Still better than that tee I guess"I mumbled to myself while buttoning up my shirt. I fixed my hair a bit, and was happy to notice that my eye bags, caused by late-night renovations, became less visible.

I took a deep breath and grabbed my keys from the counter.

It's time to go