His Little Amelia

|03| • Everest

I had two choices.

Follow the urge in my heart and enter the bakery to talk to her, or drive away and continue longing to see her again. The latter wasn't much of a choice. I did say I wanted to see her again and I was going to do just that.

Opening my car, I grabbed a few spare changes before locking it back. Deep breaths brought my heartbeat back to its normal pace. Admittedly, I was feeling nervous, was she even going to remember me? A random older man she saw sprawled up on his ass after tumbling down?

I huffed. Embarrassed.

Was it weird to admit that the nervous tingles I felt reverberated through my entire body? My mind was lost for words, the only woman I'd spoken to was in the camp. Sure they were pretty women there but most of them were engaged or had just gotten divorced. The single ones always clicked with me. But never in a romantic way. Hence, I was never really dumbfounded about what to talk about.

Realizing I was still grounded, I kiss my teeth. This was ridiculous. Amelia wasn't hard to talk to, from my last encounter, I could testify to how sweet she was. Innocent too. So with the last huff, I walked into the cafe.

The scent of baked treats and coffee was the aroma of the shop, the place wasn't filled with people, the sound of murmuring and a soft tune placed in the background. The shop was exactly how I'd imagined it to be, no wonder Amelia was so excited to come here.

It didn't take long to see her, she was at the counter, alone. I watched as she pointed out some pastries, saying something to the person up front who looked amused. As I got closer, I heard a bit of their conversation.

"You could add marshmallows to your coffee every once in a while, you'll thank me later."

"Okay, Amelia. I'll keep that in mind." The man takings her orders said with a small smile. On reaching where they were, the man looked up at me with an eyebrow raised. I didn't see her with the boy she came with, where had he gone to?

"Amelia." I breathed out, her name rolling off my tongue sounding strange, yet I liked it. The girl twirled around, shocked at her name being called. Seeing how close I was to her, I backed away.

"Hey, mister! It's you." She beamed, her cheeks pushing in the air with that smile of hers. Amelia put up a hand, waving at me. "I didn't think I'd see you again. I'm glad." This made me chuckle, so I wasn't the only one happy to see her.

"I mean..." She began, holding her mouth in what seemed to be an embarrassment. "I'm glad that you're okay." She corrected with a nervous chuckle, robotically turning around to the counter. The man looked over at her once more, giving her the treats on a plate.

"Thank you." She walked to an empty seat, not looking back at me.

"Can I sit?"

Amelia looked up, her cheeks puffing up. "Of course...but, uh, Darrick will soon be back." Perhaps that was the boy who escorted her, not wanting to conclude on anything, I nodded. "Who's Darrick?" To be honest, I was a bit nervous to hear the answer. She could be dating that kid and I'd seem like the intruder trying to get closer to her.

Oblivious, she took a bit out of her croissant, the flakes falling to her plate. Satisfied, she hummed, closing her eyes. "Oh. He's my best friend." Amelia answered in a rush after realizing she hadn't answered my question. Quiet, I nodded. She continued to much on her croissant, her cheeks full.

"Mister...do you want some?"

"It's Everest..." I trailed off, keeping my eyes on her. She peaked up from her plate, still munching.

"Alright, mister. Nice to meet you." She said again, making me chuckle. Was I going to be called mister for a while? I wanted to hear her say my name so after clearing my throat, I spoke up once more.

"You know you could just call me by my name."

She fiddled with her fingers, looking up at me from her long lashes. "I don't want to be rude." The last part was muttered almost inaudibly. My hands almost go over her nervous ones, instead, I clench them in a fist. "You're good, sweetheart." The endearment slipped out before I could stop it.

Unsure if she was comfortable with it, I saw her eyes narrow, her cheeks puffing up. Was she blushing? She looked even more adorable when she blushed. "Alright...Everest." If I explained how her name made me feel, I'd sound like a pervert. So I'd settle with saying I loved the way my name flowed from her tongue.

She remained quiet, something she'd done before. "Uh...how did you find me?" Amelia popped out of nowhere, her eyes wondering. "Not like I'm insinuating that you were looking for me, how silly would that be? I just mean...what brought you to this bakery? Do you like the treats here?" She rambled on, her hands gesticulating.

"Which do you want me to answer first, hm?" I tease, smirking at the girl.

Amelia bit her lips, rolling her bouncy curls at the apex of her finger. "Anyone." She mumbled after fighting to look me in the eye.

"I actually stopped here because, well— I had a breakdown." I hesitated before telling her, not sure if that was the kind of information I needed to let her be aware of. On hearing this she leaned in, pouting. "A breakdown? Are you okay now, Everest?" If I wasn't mistaken, I'd say she sounded concerned.

This made me chuckle.

Whenever I revealed something like this, I sounded weak. What was a military man doing with breakdowns? He should be happy he didn't lose a limb or his life.

"I am."

"Whenever I'm having a bad day, I get chocolate." Her words made me chuckle. Did she just slip in information about herself when she saw fit? I didn't mind it, I wanted to know more about this girl. Absentmindedly, I look at her plate to see a fudge chocolate cake, my eyebrows knit.

"Were you having a bad day today?"

With the fork midway in the air, Amelia widened her eyes, "Uh..." She began, breaking eye contact with me. "You haven't finished answering my questions." Oh?

"Will you answer mine right after?"

She cleaned the once fudge-covered fork with her mouth, munching it in satisfaction. "Uh-huh." Still curious, I decide to continue.

"So, I parked here. I didn't think to come in but I saw you go in." She pursed her lips, trying to hide her smile. "I wasn't sure if you'd remember me, but I decided to come to say hi." Amelia nodded shyly, playing with her hands.

"Hi." She waved.

This made me laugh, throwing my head back. "How do you do?" I played along, leaning towards her. She didn't back away, she just took a piece of her cake to stuff her face. "I'm very well, thank you, mister." This made me smirk. The boost of confidence I got wasn't from here. Being with her made me feel...I really didn't have the words for it.

It just made me feel.

"So that means I have to answer your question, huh?" She said, staring at me with her glossy eyes. "I mean, only if you want to." Of course, I wanted to hear what she had to say, but I didn't want her to feel forced.

Amelia nodded softly, "I wasn't really. But Darrick made me feel super okay right after." The mention of this same Darrick guy. I nod, waiting for her to continue.

"Amelia! Sorry, I took so long— who are you?"

The same slender, honey-skinned boy interrupted, his hand combing through his curly hair, his breath rushed.

Amelia looked up her smile brightening.

"Darrick! You're back."

I guess my time was up. The boy hadn't looked away from me, his face was strong, eyes squinted in a challenging manner. Perhaps I looked much older than her for his liking. Leaning away from Amelia, I get up, a few inches over him.

Darrick's jaw clenched.

"I said, who are you?"