One step at a time

Chapter 1

"Honey, do you want to take your break now?" said Eleanor as she poked her head around the corner.

"Sure, El, thanks." Betty replied, wiping her hands in a cloth and making her way towards one of the spare tables with a cup of coffee.

Betty had been working at Eleanor's for 5 years now. After moving to New York, Eleanor's had been the first place that she went, needing a caffeine boost after travelling. She was offered a job there the next day when, after unpacking her dorm room, she returned for a take out coffee for her first class of the semester.

Betty had immediately said yes, needing the money for her student finances and had been working there ever since. She was just 18 when she moved to New York alone and now at the age of 23, she had an English literature and Media studies degree under her belt. With 3 years in college and a year writing for an online magazine, Betty had realised that her true passion was education, pushing her to where she was now, in her first year of her Early Childhood Education course.

Managing to save enough with her tips, Betty managed to find her own place a year after she got her degree. She finally had the independence that she had been craving since she was a little girl. Most young girls in Betty's class dreamed of their prince charming to sweep them off their feet and take them to live in their castle. Betty, on the other hand, dreamed of being able to eat whatever she wanted from her own fridge in her own home without her mother's judgment.

Betty smiled as she took a bite into the muffin that, 5 years ago, she would have been terrified to let it touch her lips without a horrified reaction from her mother.

Her taste buds tingled as she let the delicate crumbs of the cake tumble down her throat, as she scrolled through instagram on her phone.

"Hi!" A chirpy voice cheered from beside her.

She looked down to see a young boy, his fluffy, midnight black hair and curious hazel eyes peering up at her.

"Oh." She replied, slightly startled as she searched the café for a frantic parent looking for their child.

"Hi sweetie, are you lost?" Betty asked, cautiously.

"Nope!" He declared, unbothered, scooting himself into the seat opposite her.

"Well, what's your name?" Betty questioned, trying to wrap her head around what was happening.

"Atticus. But my daddy calls me Attie." He confirmed.

"That's a lovely name. I'm Betty. Do you know where your daddy is?" She continued to investigate.

"Yep. Behind me." He smiled, his slightly limited vocabulary helping him answer her questions.

"Attie!" Betty heard, turning to face the door where the bell had just rung.

"How many times have I told you not to run away from me?" An out of breath, older Atticus said as he walked closer to the table.

It didn't go unnoticed by Betty that this guy was extremely good looking. His ruffled curls piled on his head and his crystal blue eyes added to his charm.

"Sorry, daddy." Atticus replied, giving him the puppy eyes.

He sighed.

"I'm going to have to learn to ignore that someday or you'll get away with everything." Atticus' father replied.

Atticus giggled, knowingly.

"I'm sorry about that." He apologised to Betty.

"Oh it's no problem at all. My sister has 4 year old twins so I know how hard it can be." Betty reassured him.

"I hope he didn't disturb you too much?" He cringed slightly.

"No, not at all." Betty smiled, politely.

"Daddy, Betty said that she liked my name!" Atticus yelled from his seat, snapping Betty out of her daze.

"I'm assuming your Betty?" The father replied, holding out his hand for her to shake.

"Betty Cooper." She smiled.

"It's nice to meet you, I'm Jughead Jones." He replied as he shook her hand.

"Daddy, sit next to me!" Atticus encouraged, patting the seat next to him.

"Oh, no, buddy, I don't think Betty wants us disturbing her on her break." Jughead told his son, inferring that she worked here from her uniform.

"I don't mind." Betty smiled. "Take a seat."

"Colouring!" The young boy yelled, as he scratched the seat back, hopped off and made his way over to the counter where there were crayons and sheets of paper that had caught his eye.

"I have no idea where that kid gets his energy from. Not from me, I can tell you that for a fact. I'm definitely past my peak of  physical fitness." Jughead chuckled.

"I don't know about that." She smirked slightly.

Was she flirting? She thought.

Jughead seemed to blush slightly, lowering his head with a chuckle.

"Thanks. He can be pretty tiring though." He replied.

Now that Betty looked closely, his eyes seemed tired and worn out.

"It must be even more tiring as a single parent." Betty said, not realising the assumption that she'd just made.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to assume." Betty stuttered.

"No, no, it's okay. I am a single parent." Jughead reassured her, clearly not willing to give any more information.

Betty smiled and nodded.

Jughead was grateful that he wasn't getting the whole 'Single parent? Wow, that's so selfless of you...' speech that he got almost every time.

"Well, I better get back to work but it was nice meeting you." Betty said, getting up and cleaning the table for him.

"It was nice meeting you too, Atticus." Betty spoke softly as she walked past him back to the counter.

For the next hour or so, Betty couldn't help but glance over at the father and son's table as they chatted happily with Atticus stopping occasionally to try and gather his thoughts as much as his vocabulary allowed him to.

Just as Jughead and Atticus walked past Betty to get to the front door, Atticus smiled and waved.

"Bye Betty!" Atticus yelled, trying to make his little voice heard.

"Bye sweetie." She smiled.

"I'll see you around?" Jughead said with a questioning tone as he grabbed his son's hand.

"See you around." Betty nodded.