Not A Love Story

Meet-Ups

So. We have been meeting up for the past 3 days and have gotten quite some work done, surprisingly. Usually, our whole routine goes a bit like this: I go in and try to get us a table, he has already beat me to it, I say hi, he says hi, we work in silence for around 3 hours, with four cups of coffee each, he leaves, I leave. Our routine could not have been more monotonous, but it gets the work done, so no point in being mad at it. Today was a bit different though.

I was sat at a table near the window facing the water fountain at the middle of town, watching birds drink from the clear water. I was early for once and was giving myself mental assurance that I was so proud of myself. Rome showed up a whole five minutes late, wearing a blue floral button-up with beige chinos. Who knew someone could look so good in floral? Anyways, he walked up to our table and sat down across me. "Sorry I'm late, got caught up in some work." he actually apologised. "Huh! Who knew Mr. Anderson was capable of apologies?" I acknowledged. "Very funny, Smith. Should we get to work now?" I nodded slightly and we carried on with our daily assigned work that we had organised so very intricately.

We were two cups of coffee in, when I sensed him looking at me. I looked up, and sure enough, a very familiar pair of perfectly hazel eyes were gazing at me. "What?" I asked. "Hmm? Oh, Nothing." "What, Anderson? What are you thinking?" I don't know why, but I was intrigued."No, I was just listening to you hum 'Dial Drunk' while working. I really like that song." I didn't even realise when I was humming songs, but it shocked me when I heard he liked it too. "Oh yeah, I guess I was. Didn't even realise it." I chuckled nervously, trying to brush it off. He sensed my tone, grunted in agreement and went back to work.

We didn't talk much the rest of the time there, even though we shared a few glances at each other time-to-time. This was new, but I liked it. Maybe we were going into acquaintances territory?

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After around two weeks of working in mutual understanding, I was yet again, standing in front of the coffee shop we had agreed to meet up at. We reached there almost exactly at the same time. Except... there was no coffee shop. The shop was closed, with a huge write-up on the front gate saying "New shop under renovation."

"No, wait. Is this actually a joke?" I asked. "Don't know. So what do we do now?" Rome asked me. "Don't you think we should go and ask Mrs. Laughlin why she closed the shop all of a sudden?"
"What's the point? Either way, we need a new place to study at. So let's go find that right now" Rome said and started walking down the street. I followed him, "Where are you going?" I called behind him. "Home." He told me. For a second, I assumed that he meant he was going home, alone, so I started towards my own. With my back to him, I was walking down the street the other way, when I felt a breath near my ear. "You coming?" Rome almost whispered into me. A shiver went down my spine.

Why Caly, why? Why do you like how close Rome was to you right now?

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You would think Rome wasn't capable of any more surprises. Well, I guess we both assumed wrong. His room, as I walked into it, was sort of like heaven. No, I am not overreacting. He had a huge wooden bookshelf along a whole wall, containing all hardcover literature classics, with their titles beautifully adorned onto them. His ceiling had a skylight, allowing sunlight to reflect onto his bed. His study table, his bed, his bedside table -- everything was so neatly organised. Turns out, me and Rome had way more in common than we thought we did. He must've noticed the shock on my face because he said, "Yeah, that seems about right. Everyone gets shocked seeing I'm such a literature junkie. Go ahead, make fun of me." I would have most definitely made fun of him, but for once, I was genuinely mesmerised by him.

I swear, this was the last time.

"Mr. Rome, I think you have officially left me speechless." I told him. I don't know know why, but I didn't want to be mean to him. He chuckled at my response and changed the topic. "Thanks. Shall we get to work now, Miss?"