rêverie (h.s.)

The Prelude

You were hurriedly stepping out of your apartment, stomach empty and hair settling into its usual place onto your shoulders, the hand of the clock outrunning you for the fourth time this week. Umbrella in hand to shield yourself from the much too gloomy weather, your necessity for coffee has seemed to dissipate as the image of your disappointed boss pops up into your head.

You made it on time, a cheering soundtrack spinning round and round as you enter your modern looking and stylish office and greet your friend a giddy good morning "Good morning Sophie! Another day of sun, isn't it?" while settling your jacket neatly on the hanger and desperately wishing for something to have already made its way into your stomach "You really should find something to hate like most of us normal people, you know that? I got you a bagel, it's on your desk". The gods must have heard you and are thanking you for not spending the usual amount of money on your fuel this morning, the newly halo on top of your new breakfast shining too bright to hear the voice of your boss sounding seemingly upset over the amount of work you are not doing.

You decide to rain check your food, and follow Nancy -the striking image of your average Miranda Priestly- into the fabrics room, truly wondering if your life is really based off of a 2000' movie which is making you ponder when the extreme makeover is coming your way. "Vivienne, all of these must be sewn today, what have you been doing, staring at the walls? Hurry up!". Maybe that movie was indeed made after your life.
You surprisingly finish the items at a dreamlike speed and are relieved when you see the clock hit twelve. "God, overpriced coffee has never sounded so good."

Ground up coffee aroma. Rustic wooden chairs lined up. The oh so familiar sign that points to the entrance of heaven. 'Cuppa Grounds'- the place where you have been spending your hour long breaks that has refrained you from decomposing after a long half-day at work.

Walking in you greet Joe, your oldest friend since moving up to this city, who is already preparing your order to enjoy in your designated space, a cozy table in the corner you have accommodated and made your own. Joe has a habit of letting his closest friends decorate and fill up any space in his coffee shop with different pieces of art or photographs of them, overall giving the space a very homey feel. You set down your laptop, sure to research the newest articles and gossip about your firm, not before taking a sip of the perfect brew your dearest barista has made. "Joe, I have bad news, you either are gonna lose this place because of your horrible coffee, or you reaally really hate me. For your sake, I hope it's the latter." He flips you off playfully while going back to serve his new customers, knowing deep down that his coffee is the best in town, otherwise you wouldn't be sitting where you were right then.

You start scrolling for an embarrassingly long time through the reviews the biggest critics in town have made, and you close the tab proudly knowing you are finally good at something in life. Your fashion designer intuition has saved you for this months' photo shoot styling in a lilly garden with a ridiculously beautiful model that honestly would not have needed any of the clothes you put on her to get this edition to the top.

While swimming through your thoughts, Joe comes along to your table for an unexpected visit and a more than unexpected coffee cup in his hand "Oh thank you, Joe but I really don't need another one, do I look that tired?" "As much as I would love to lie to you, this one is from the man over there, he said it's on him." He leaves, your confused and wandering eyes searching for the mysterious man before landing on a tall figure coming right towards you. Is that? No. Can't be. You straighten your back and hold the daring eye contact of the person standing in front of your table and remember you used to listen to their music and scroll through their instagram for hours on end a couple of lousy years ago. You now must keep your act in order for this moment to not get thrown into the pile of embarrassing moments you make sure to revisit every single night.

"It would have been too rude to disturb you from your work so I had your friend disturb you for me, am I interrupting?"

Your mind is already flooded, and you can't help but continuously study the face of the one looking down at you, being completely sure what was happening should be illegal, or at least too good to be true, "Well this coffee is my favorite interruption actually, so you get brownie points for that. Can I help you with anything?". You muster enough self control to utter a sentence without sounding either completely desperate or a few seconds away from fainting. Your whole life has been leading up to this moment, and you think you can hear a vague imaginary speaker playing the tune of the scene in a rom-com where the clumsy girl falls for the overly handsome and dreamy love interest.

"You're friends with Sophie, right? I was wondering if you could give me her number, I-