| Reckless |

Chapter 7: Talk over pancakes.

It's a Tuesday afternoon. I am sitting in a dimly lit and empty coffee shop. It's my rest time in between streaming, and I chose the Owl Cafe downtown to focus on the script that could make my upcoming stream.

I hear him before I see him. The door opens. The tiny bell hung above it rings, signaling his presence. I looked up from my cappuccino and laptop at the noise and the burst of cold air coming through. I freezed and stopped my work, almost spilling my drink all over myself in the process.

He hasn't changed a bit. He takes off his black beanie, and his dark hair is styled just the way she remembers. His hands, covered by black leather fingerless gloves, rub against each other for warmth before being rested in his equally fashionable gray pea coat. His lightly-rimmed sunglasses make him seem just a bit more mature than he really is. He has taken on the style of New York fashion. I hated it.

He was never really as kind as he seemed, and yes. I dated him. His name was Aaron and he was dreadful. Oh how he lashed out if you even stared at another person. He was entitled and protective. And not in that princey manner. It was horrid. His stupid stuck up posh accent.

He walks up to the barista and orders his coffee of choice. Or maybe it's tea. I can't hear him well enough to really decipher what he likes to drink. His eyes scan around the seemingly empty coffee shop, feeling as if someone is watching him. His gaze falls upon me, observing him from across the room. He stares at me for a second and then begins to smile. She returns the sentiment. He remembers me.

His name is suddenly called and their staring contest breaks. He walks around and picks up his order from the other side of the counter. He comes to her table, again with a warm smile and a friendly wave. It's all pleasantries — how are you doing? How has life treated you? What are you doing here?  How can he come up to me and say this after what he had done?

"Are you joking?" I scoff. He cocks and eyebrow and looks around with a sheepish smile. "Sorry? I dont follow." I sip my drink and giggle once more. "What has gotten into your rotten mind to treat me like rhat years ago, and come back as if I'm a childhood friend?" I said to him stiffly. The way he smiles more made me shiver.

"Can a man not retry to get the love of his life back?" His glasses seemed to reflect light as his rough hand rested atop of hers. But he squeezed, roughly. I winced lightly. "You already tried this, I dont love you anymore." I grunt at him, jerking my hand back.

He laughs with that manic smile once more before resting his jaw in his palm. "I can fix that, Dear." That stupid nickname. She hated it  now. Everytime he did.. what he did, He always ended it with ' Dear '  and thats what made it worse. ' Dont wear that, you look like a slut, Dear. ' or, ' What did I say about fucking staring, Dear? ' and oh boy did it get worse.

"Dont call me that." I snapped, closing my laptop, I was about to slap him across his stupid face and leave. But I couldnt.

"Fiesty~ I enjoy that. What happened to you, though? I miss my soft little baby who listened to her master." he growled, voice laced with one-sided love. His smile turned down as he watched my eyes wander around the shop, in any hope I could get out of here as fast as possible.

Suddenly, a tall Latina walks up to the man, upon noticing my discomfort offers to join me. "Hey again! Mind if I join you?" She offers in the kindest voice comfortable. It was Lucia! "Sure, I dont mind." I agree, scooting over so she can sit down.

"So, may I get your name, mystery man?" She gives him a fake smile and sticks her hand out. "Its.. Aaron.." He says, handing back a fake smile before shaking her hand. "Lucia." She responds, letting her hands fall into her pockets. I observed her outift. It was a light brown shirt with dark brown cargo pants, followed by black combat boots. She accessorised a golden chain around her neck and a black ring on her pointer finger.

I felt myself flush at her presence. I hid my face in my hands before staring back at the two having a very restricted staring contest. Lucia was the first to break, obviously to the shorter woman smiling sheepishly with a clipboard. She has light brown locks that reach to her lowered shoulders, she tapped her pencil lightly over the metal piece before speaking.

"Evening, may I get your orders or do you need more time?" Lucia waved before responding. "No, no, your fine. I'll just take a plate of pancakes with light syrup, along with thay I'll take a Black coffee." She smiled lightly. "Alright, 3 or 6?" She held up 3 fingers before yawning into her hand.

"And I'll just take a chicken sandwich, cut precisely into two with a lemonade, thanks." He shot a smirk and a wink at the girl. The jerk.

"Alright! It'll be out shortly." She announced before making her way behind the counter. My attention turned back to the conversation before me. It was very fake and unfriendly.

"So, how do you know Amelia?" Lucia gave a small grin staring into his soul. "Eh.. Shes my girlfriend.." He coughed. "EX-Girlfriend." I lashed.

Lucia's grin faded as she turned her attention back to the ex-boyfriend. "I don't appreciate you speaking about Amelia in that way," she said firmly. "She deserves respect, even if you two are no longer together." The ex-boyfriend looked taken aback by Lucia's sudden change in demeanor, but he quickly regained his composure and tried to brush off her comment.

As the conversation continued, I couldn't help but feel grateful for Lucia's presence. She had a way of standing up for what was right and making sure everyone felt safe and respected. It was clear that she had a strong sense of loyalty towards those she cared about, and I was lucky to be one of them.

"We'll be going now." Aaron attempted to grab me by the wrist but Lucia quickly stopped him. "No, we have plans. And I'm sure she wont want to back out on that." I nod beside her, he grunts before walking off. "Amelia, we both know we'll meet again." He smirks and walks off.

I feel shivers down my spine and pack my laptop into my bag. "Lets.. head out, yeah?" I said, Lucia staring at me with empathy. "Yeah. Sure."

And so, we continued along enjoying eachothers company.

(I tried a more descriptive writing style, tell me how you like it!)