The Cascading Waves of Caden Lee

33

SCARLETT PARKER

When I see Caden next, he's behind the counter and serving a latte to a blonde-haired girl. I wait till she grabs the paper cup and slide up towards him, saying "Hey!" when he looks my way.

I don't expect him to notice my haircut, but he does. It's cut a few inches shorter, down to my mid-back and curled into loose ringlets. "Your hair looks good."

"Thanks! I was scared she'd cut more than I asked," I step to the side when a woman behind me clears her throat, and watch as Caden dispenses black coffee with a packet of sugar into a mug and hands it to the woman. "It's happened before."

"I need a haircut," he does, but honestly I sorta like it messy. "bad." he adds on, making a point of shaking his hair out of his eyes and running his fingers through the brown thick locks.

"When's your break?"

"Uhm," he pulls his phone out of his pocket and checks the time, "In half an hour."

"I'll be at the table in the back-right corner, come find me when you're done." I say, mostly just because our conversation is getting interrupted every few seconds when Cade has to serve a customer.

I make my way towards the wooden, semi-modern square booth, throwing myself onto the cushioned seat and leaning back against the wall. Unlocking my phone, a text from Katie catches my eye.

Katie!!

Bitch im so bored
And leah isn't respondinggg
Hello??
I hate that you guys have lives
God

A snort bubbles from my nose, gross and weird sounding, but I type back a response nonetheless.

im with caden rn
we can hang after if ur free??

Caden you say?

shut up

Rolling my eyes, I swipe up and out of the app before scrolling through Snapchat. There's nothing interesting, turns out Leah is out with her family based off the photo on her story. She must've posted that after Katie sent me the text message.

Eventually, I hear a thump from across me and look up to find Caden leaning onto the table by his elbows.

"Finished?" I ask.

"I'm all yours," he says, and then, "I got yelled at by this dad earlier."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. 'Gave him a blueberry muffin instead of a pumpkin one."

"Oh, the horror." I joke, and he rolls his eyes before leaning back in the seat. "You're lucky you don't have to deal with these people."

"Is the pay worth it?" I ask.

"Not at all. But it's money."

"Accompanied with your blood, sweat and tears."

"It's just an added bonus." He pushes his hair out of his eyes once more. An idea bursts into my mind, and i'm rummaging through my tote bag for a hair clip before I can process my actions.

"Here," I push the clip in his direction, palm open and inviting, "I have this."

"I'll look stupid." He laughs.