To Be Me

Piss Off

"One cup of coffee please. Black."

Rachel said and made her way to one of the empty tables.

Taking out her phone she, tried to distract herself but all that popped up immediately it had established contact with the internet were videos and news regarding the dating rumour. It seemed to have escalated much more than she or anyone would have expected.

"Rachel Day purchases hard drugs to fuel her addiction...."

"Rachel Day hurts stray animals who are unlucky to cross her path."

"Rachel Day, proven to be rude to all the staff of Star's..."

She slammed the phone on the table.

"No Shit."

They all sounded very ridiculous but now she was already in troubled waters...

Focusing her gaze on the floor, she fought the tears that threatened to fall.

This was all too much for her. Just when all her hard work over the years was starting to pay off and it was all his fault.

She tried taking deep breaths but was obstructed by the mask on her face.

Briefly scanning the area, she judged it safe to remove it as there weren't many people sitted. Most just come in to order and leave afterwards.

Taking off her mask, she tried to stabilize her uneven breathing pattern as she heard the door suddenly open and quickly snapped her head in the direction of the sound, a hand on her mask, hoping some reporter or curious passerby had not spotted her yet.

Two men walked in and headed straight for the counter where they placed their orders and started a conversation as they waited.

She stood simultaneously to go get her coffee as one of the men headed for the restroom leaving his friend alone.

Getting to the counter, she swiftly slipped the exact amount to the worker as she had been frequenting the shop so she knew how much to give.

Getting her coffee, she turned to leave when she saw something out the corner of her eye which caused her to grind to a sudden halt.

Her heart beat quickened as her grip tightened on the cup. She could feel her blood start to boil but tried taking deep breaths.

"Calm down Rachel. You might be wrong. Let's not blow things out of proportion."

Taking one last breath, she turned sideways to get a better look. Praying she was wrong as she turned and her sights landed on a guy, standing a little distance away, hands tucked into his pockets looking bored out of his mind.

The face of the guy she met at the park suddenly flashed before her eyes, the guy that got her into all this, the same person who got her off work for the next two weeks, the reason why all these baseless, stupid rumours started coming up, also the reason she had to keep an even lower profile.

Her grip on the cup tightened so much that she almost feared it would burst.

Him.

Closing her eyes briefly and taking in a deep shaky breath, she tried her humanly best to calm herself before walking towards him.

She stopped before him getting a good look at his face.

"Do I know you?" Matthew asked surprised and a little bit annoyed.

It's not everyday a lady wearing a mask glares at you in a coffee shop.

"What did you say? Not this again you asshole!" She cursed at him taking off her mask.

She was taken aback by her action as she wasn't usually like this.

A frown settled on Matthew's face as his brows furrowed in clear distaste and annoyance looking intently at her bare face.

He let out a sign as his features softened gently resting his back on the counter top.

"You."

"You?"

Did he really just address her as you?

Why was he was so dedicated to this act of his. Claiming to be oblivious of her whose life he had just made a mess out of.

"What do you want this time?"
He asked in a calm unbothered voice with a blank look on his face as she stood there almost fuming with rage.

"How long are you going to keep up this act? You can't tell me you still have no idea about all that's going on as I speak. That you caused."

Her voice rose slightly as she tried to control the overwhelming emotions that threatened to take over her.

She couldn't allow herself make a scene and not with Him of all people especially not now when she was to be keeping a very low profile.

"Then again, why would you? You did your job. Got your spare change so whatever happens afterwards isn't and shouldn't be any your business right?!" She spat out angrily as he turned to pick up his order from the counter seemingly paying her no attention slipping the server some bills.

"The least you could do is at least pretend to be sorry for it." She said with a shaky voice fighting back the tears she knew she could not contain for much longer.

Letting go of the cups, he turned to her but was rather stunned by what he saw.

She was crying.

She was definitely worked up about something but what exactly?

And why did she see it fit to put all the blame on him who was just as unlucky to meet her on that day.

She quickly wiped her face and quietly sniffed not wanting anyone to see her like that and definitely Not Him.

Matthew stood, clearly at a loss for words. This definitely was not what he envisioned for his first day of work.

Alisa would kill him if she knew he made a lady shed tears but what could he do. Apologizing now might not cut it as he still didn't know the details of all that was going on.

It may come out sounding more like mockery if he decided to say it as things were.

He looked at her as she quietly sniffed obviously holding herself back from bursting into more tears as he thought of the best way to remedy the situation.

"You know what?" He heard her finally speak after a brief moment of silence when she seemed to have gotten her emotions under some sort of control.

"Forget this ever happened." She said putting her mask back on.

"I was a fool for expecting more from the likes of you."

She glared at him distastefully before walking past.

"Wait!"

Matthew called out to get her to stop but she didn't.

Following after her, he called out again and was sucessful this time.

She stood still with one hand on the door and the other holding her drink and phone.

"Hey. Lady. I truthfully don't know who you are or what's happening right now. But you seem to be in a really bad place and from all you've said, you believe I'm the cause. Which I'm not." He made sure to put the much needed emphasis on the last part meanwhile doing his absolute best to try and pass along his sincerity lessening the distance between them as he spoke.

"I'm willing to talk all this out and try to find a solution but..."

He voice was calm at this point.

"I need you to believe me when I say if anything I did knowingly or not, hurt you in any way... I am absolutely sorry."

Rachel stood still not saying a word but he could hear her sobbing softly.

"Can we just talk about..." He gently resting his hand on her shoulder as he spoke.

Without any warning, she quickly turned, taking off the lid of her coffee cup in the process and threw the black liquid in his face.

"Piss Off!"