"There's only so many times I can put my heart back together"
"Why are you so sure I'll break it again?"
🖤🤍🖤
Andrew had a perfect life. Or so others would think.
Living under his father's control was a nightmare. Having his dreams ignored and bei...
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The Bookmark was a famous place for students to study during their free hours in the comfort of food and warmth. As time passed, with the internet to research everything in seconds, books became obsolete and The Bookmark became just another library.
Few study groups, the older ones, as the new kids didn't know of its existence, still used it as a space to study in peace when their homes lacked the quiet to do so. Yet, at certain hours, a crowd entered through the doors demanding drinks and snacks, and the staff had a hard time serving them all. As they walked in, they also walked out, without ever acknowledging the true essence of the cafe.
It always smelled like coffee and sweets, and even when the chilly wind and constant rains of December and January arrived, it was always warm. The fireplace was only for decoration. The central heating kept the two-story shop pleasant, and the waiters treated costumers like family.
Perhaps it was that joyous spirit that made Andrew like it so much, or that he didn't want to be in his cold and hollow home; either way, he ended up spending his free afternoons sitting by the large window staring at the people in the street with his laptop in front of him.
He had learned the name of every single waiter and waitress working the afternoon and what exact time they came. The very last shift was taken solo by the one person who had threatened him in case he did exactly what he had done, yet there was no tension between them.
"Eliza! Get down!" Nicole yelled after the tiny girl climbing a bookshelf.
The sky had turned several shades of yellows and reds. There was a rush of people going home from work, but the biggest commotion in the cafe had already passed. At that moment, he didn't expect more people to join them.
"You're boring! You hear me? B-O-R-I-N-G! Boring!"
It was only him and Nicole most days, yet this time she was babysitting her boss's six-year-old. The kid was restless, but he liked it. Being alone with Nicole always ended up with both of them in their corners, pretending not to see each other.
"What's your name?" The black-haired girl stared at him from his side, two big obsidian eyes filled with the eagerness and curiosity of any child.
He smiled, ignoring Nicole's protests to get the girl to stop arousing the clients. "I'm Andrew."
She blinked. "You have a weird name."
"Eliza!"
"You think so? What's your name then?" He knew it already. Nicole had spent the last hour screaming it, but he asked anyway.
"The name is Eliza Vasconcelos, but you will call me Liz." She told him. "You're very handsome, date Nicole. She's dying to get a boyfriend."
A boyfriend was the last thing Nicole wanted, yet Liz loved to match her with every single male that entered through that door.
