Psychic Paper

A Quick Stop-Juliet

My eyes scan quickly over the documents while I wait in the car. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Shawn jogging towards the car. The pounding of my heart becomes more noticeable the closer he gets. I close my eyes and pretend to ignore him as he slides into the car. Without saying a word, he leans over my shoulder to inspect the papers. His warm breath bounces off my skin.

To break the silence I say,
"So I guess we're headed to the Homeless shelter first," without missing a beat, he smoothly responds,
"Correction, we go to the shelter second, first we're gonna go to Del Taco" He raises an eyebrow as he waits for an answer. I sigh and take a breath before answering,
"Shawn, you know we're on a case, right?" He shrugs, and I decide to continue "and anyway, if we were to go anywhere, we would have to go to the Sunflower cafe..." I decide. He grins out of satisfaction. His eyes lock on mine as he holds my stare. I notice every detail of the situation at hand. His dark hair, styled up, stays perfectly still. Rough stubble sits on his chiseled chin. Green eyes reflect the light coming from outside, but the moment is brief. I blink and tear away from him without saying another word. His mindless humor echoes in my head while we cruise down the road.

The sun shines into my eyes as I pull up. Like a child, Shawn springs from the car. Once he rounds the car, with one grand motion, he pulls open my car door. His outstretched hand is waved in front of me, willing me to hurry. He leaves his hand perfectly still, in front of me, as he raises an eyebrow. I give in and lock my fingers into his. Grinning, he jerks my arm forward. My heels hit the pavement hard when I get lifted from the car. The heel beneath me decides to take a sharp turn to the right, causing me to stumble. In reaction, my hands fly to Shawn's arm. I regain balance in a matter of moments and realize Shawn's eyes riddled with concern. My face begins to turn red as I release his arm. I walk confidently away while he attempts to laugh it off.

I push any thoughts of what just happened to the back of my mind. The ground is now steady beneath me as I advance towards the café. A low key bell rings once I open the door. The sweet aroma of freshly brewed coffee hangs in the air. The memory of when I first visited here is still engraved in my mind. I'm the one who stole his seat. I shake my head a little and proceed to the breakfast bar at the front of the restaurant. Shawn slides into the seat next to me and leans in while mumbling
"I'm sorry but, that's my seat," I arch an eyebrow and smile as I turn to face him. My eyes studies his as we sit, just as we did all those years ago. The barista wanders over to us, and in a monotonous voice inquires,
"If I'm not interrupting something, I would like to take your order. Would you like anything to drink?" Shawn shakes his head as he pulls himself from my gaze and keenly responds,
"How 'bout an orange juice?"
"And you?" She says dryly. My eyes flit across the menu. Different drinks crowd my mind,g but I settle on a classic.
"Just some coffee please." I respond. Without saying a word, the waitress meanders away.

The atmosphere of the restaurant is just as it was the first time. Couples and families laughing. The sunlight pours through the open windows. For some reason though, I feel more nervous now, than I did on my first stakeout. It's a different type of nervous this time though. Instead of the adrenalin of a crime pumping through my vains, I have a pounding heart. I close my eyes and focus on staying calm. I manage to steady my breathing, but my heart only beats faster.

I open my eyes and notice Shawn. His head is slightly tilted to the side and his eyes are trained on me. His eyes trace my every moment, as if calculating the situation at hand. His face reddens as his lets out a laugh. Shawn lips slowly part, his mouth begins to form a word when the waitress pops up behind us.

She sloppily sets the cup of coffee onto the countertop. Steam curls out of the ceramic cup and wafts through the air. I wrap my finger tips delicately around the handle and the warmth radiates through my hand. Shawn takes a quick swig of his drink and launches into a full conversation, completely forgetting his previous thoughts.
"Honestly Jules, I don't know why you're so quiet right now. Every since I came in this morning, you haven't been your normal self, honestly are you okay?" His finishes while turning to face me.
"Nothing's wrong, and anyway aren't you supposed to be psychic, and know what I'm thinking? Read the situation, Shawn."
"Are you sure you want me to do that?" He inquires raising an eyebrow.
"Sure, take a shot." I respond smugly with a small grin upon my face. Shawn's eyes shut tight and he raise his fingers to his temple. With his free hand, he swiftly grabs mine. The pads of his fingers move across my palm as his mind works.

I can never figure out how he does it. I think I'm mad for believing it, but I think he might actually be psychic. Anyway, he's Shawn why would he lie to me?

His eyelids flicker open in an instant. He gently sets my hand down on the counter as he leans closer to me. The space between us is getting smaller by the moment. He stops roughly six inches away from my face and grins.
"The spirits of this cafe have told me that you're quite nervous Jules, but I could've guessed that one on my own." He pauses and takes a breath before continuing, "but there's more to it than simply nerves about a case, it's nerves about a person." I squeeze my eyes tight and clench my jaw.

The only way he could've know, is if I had shown him. I had to have shown him or the "spirits" somehow or another, whether it be through speech or body language. All I have to do for him not get any further, is stop telling him. To quickly recover, I bat my eyes open and lightly shake my head. The corners of my lips turn up into a small smile. I relax my back and rest on the counter leaning out slightly. He shifts in his stool to compensate. I let out a small laugh to ease the tension.

"Well someone's mood seems to have brighten quickly, not suspicious at all Jules." Shawn remarks. I attempt to keep my calm exterior, but my face begins to redden.
"I'd just like to remind you, that being nervous around a person doesn't improve the situation. Like in practically any romantic movie, there's always two characters, the guy and girl. They meet and mess around and eventually become friends. Everything is going great, and they don't realize anything's happening until one of them screws up. One of the them overthinks the situation and everything crumples. I mean one of them messes it up big time, Jules. They start making careless mistakes, they think to hard about every situation and every conversation, to the point that it's hard to watch. But the audience still watches for those moment that do work, that aren't overthought." He pauses and leans in a little. I can see his fingers drumming against the table, he's nervous, I know it. He gives a forced laugh and continues "There's also the possibility that they decide to just be friends, but that always angers the audience so no one likes those ones" he states with a crooked smile upon his face.

For an instant, I want to give in, I want to stop hiding it and close the space between us, but I don't. Instead, I keep the upper hand.
"That sounds like a great movie idea Shawn,"
I flash him a short smile and whip my head around. I easily count out the payment and leave it neatly on the counter as I rise to walk away.
"We really should get going Shawn, but we can talk about his later if it's so important to you" I say is slight mock tone.

The glass door on the way out acts as a mirror, I see a glimpse of Shawn's face. He sits slumped casually over the countertop with a blank expression on his face. His once calm and cool exterior has now melted away, his face red hot. I try to smile out of success, but I wonder, did I make the right choice?