Java

Anxious.Him

Well, this is it. He thought to himself as he adjusted the hat perched on the top of his head for the fifth time. The apron hanging from his neck spelled out his name and the logo of his grandmother's coffee shop.

Usually he would work in the back, moving boxes and keeping everything stocked for his dear old grandmother. He chuckled to himself. If the 70-year-old woman heard him use the word "old" he would be on the floor in a second. She practically raised him while his mom wasted away.

Mom. His heart dropped to the pit of his stomach at the thought of her.

Maybe if he hadn't hurt her, maybe if he hadn't laughed in her face, she would be right beside him, slapping him on the back of the head and telling him to get back to work.

During his junior year of high school, she sat him down and told him that she had depression.

A bell rang him out of his memories, signaling a new customer. A customer that didn't make his heart beat race. He sighed as he wiped down a few tables, before heading back behind the cash register, and to his thoughts.

After his mom told him about her diagnosis, he could recall the air of amusement that had only surrounded him, with a grin spread wide across his face. The feeling of the tears that poured out of his eyes that came with his booming laughter.

He knew she was serious, but why? She could easily get over the sad feelings, right? His mom was strong; she could get through anything. She would be fine.

Wrong.

That was the last year he saw his mom with a smile on her face. The last time they had ever talked about it. Not long after that, his grandma moved in.

His last memory of his mother was her sitting in the darkest corner of their house, surrounded by beer bottles.

Two years later, he watched with solemn eyes as the cherry-wood box that contained what was left of the strongest woman he had ever known was lowered into the box, along with the last bit of his happiness.

He regretted that he wasn't there for his mother.To make things worse, the loss of his mother threw him into his own depression, and if it weren’t for his determined grandmother, he would also be in a cherry-wood box. His grandmother pushed him to work as a stock room worker in her tiny coffee shop.

Within a month of working there, he noticed her.

The curly haired girl that came in every week and took over an entire table in the back of the shop.

He smiled to himself when he thought of the unruly, curly hair that she often hid with a hat. From what his grandmother had told him, she was shy and always came alone.

He noticed the way her lips would purse out as she read her story to herself. He would at times daydream as he worked, if they were together, would she read those papers to him, and giggle when he wrapped his finger gently around one of her stubborn curls?

This was how he ended up in the front today.

Two weeks ago, while he was daydreaming of what her laugh would sound like, his grandmother pulled him out of his happy place.

“Ask her out sweetie, but don't you dare treat her like that hussy you brought in here last time you had that look on your face.” She told him.

He laughed aloud as he remembered the look his grandmother gave him when he introduced her to his ex-girlfriend.

Then, he thought about the all too serious face his grandmother had as she told him everything she knew about his shy, curly haired girl.

As if on cue, the bell on the coffee shop door rang out, and she stepped in.

A smile spread across his face as his eyes took in her unruly curls and the scuffed boots that he knew she always wore. His smile quickly faded as her eyes darted around the room cautiously, before she quickly made her way to the cash register with her head down.

He remembered how his grandmother shed a tear when she told him about the bottle of medicine she keeps in her purse, and how much she shakes when she gets too close to people or when her favorite table was taken.

He knew why.

And this time, he wasn't going to let someone he loved go through something like that alone.

Not again. She would…no, they would be just fine. He gazed softly at her small form as he took a deep breath.

This was it.

"Hello, how can I help you?"

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Hey guys!

Hope you enjoy this part as well, I am currently working on the next part. I do plan on uploading a new story sometime soon, so get excited ! :D

Best wishes, 

Lynn. (^o^)/