Coming back to the end [COMPLETED]

Part 12

 I walked out of the car and looked around. It was late and there were few people on the street. The small café was lighted with the modest signboard and some lanterns on the side. The town itself counted less than 1000 people with only one Bed&Breakfast where I have been staying for the last five days. But people here were friendly and chatty. Not that I like the second one. I had to be charming and friendly to avoid suspicious looks.

 All these five days I was observing. A one-bedroom ancient wooden house with a porch swing and some flower bushes. The same morning routine every day. Coffee to-go at the place called "Molly's" than helping some old man to unload flower arrangements at his shop and then a waitress shift till midnight at the café. There were two people always around. A girl looked like a best friend and a guy I assumed was a boyfriend.

 I was postponing the meeting to better understand what her life looked like now. Thank God people in this town were blabbering all they knew. That helped me to gather the info that her new name was Ella and she came here from New York after a hard breakup to start over. It wasn't surprise that she made up some shitty story, she was good and knew no one will push her to know more.

 I looked at my watch. 10 PM. Her shift ends in two hours.

 Entering the café I looked around and then sat at the far-end table. She was talking to some guys that clearly knew her and made her laugh like a little girl. Her hair was short and blonde now. I liked it. She looked sexier and more mature but in the same way, more careless. Somehow.

 I missed her smile. She always made me laugh and only she could break through my stone walls. Her way of saying something with her hands flying in the air helping her to communicate was a bad habit for polite people but I found it adorable.

 "What can I get you, sir?" a waiter asked me taking me off-guard. He smiled brightly showing me his white teeth.

 "Just a cup of coffee please," I answered not averting my gaze from Emily. I just couldn't. It felt like all the time I haven't seen her subsided into this urge to look at her for the rest of my life.

 "She ends her shift soon but believe me, that girl shrugs off every man here. So you can try your luck," the young boy said nudging his head in the direction of Emily.

 Was I that obvious?

  After some time, I was finishing my coffee when Emily gave a check to the table next to mine and was cleaning it with a cloth. A normal waitress would bring a tray to clean all the dirty dishes. But of course, not her. She stuffed empty glasses in her hands and one even ended up on her breasts and pinned to her chin. She tried to clean the table with the cloth but lost balance and one glass fell out of her grasp, making a mess. She slipped on the spilled liquid and was about to fall when I jumped to my feet and caught her almost near the floor.

 "Careful there, Princess," I choked the words out of me. I wasn't prepared for this but now I had to improvise. My heart was drumming in my chest as I silently helped her up and took all the dirty dishes out of her, putting everything on the table. Was she happy to see me? Was she mad?

 Her shocked expression said it all.

 "T-tony?" her sweet voice reached my ears and I couldn't be happier. It was like medicine to my broken soul.

 "Is there anybody else calling you Princess?" I smirked at her. It was agonizingly hard to control my urge to crash her into my body and hug her tightly.

 Emily looked at me like I was a ghost. Her delicate hands reached my face and she caressed my cheeks moving her hands down along my jaw.

 "It's really you," she whispered, her eyes became glossy but she didn't let one tear drop down.