Love next door

CHAPTER SIX

ANNE

Saturdays were usually my day off from the coffee shop but Miranda took the day off to tend to her sick mum at home. And I definitely couldn't leave Leah to everything by herself.

The day started off smoothly as usual.
Twilight was fast approaching and customers began pouring into the cafe.

" Two hot chocolate for table 6" mark screams from the other end off the room, where he was busy taking orders.

" Two hot chocolates coming up" I say immediately busying myself with the order that was placed. Filling the two bowls with hot chocolate, I place them on a tray and hand it over to Leah.

Just then a young man walks up to the counter, probably to pack an order.

" Two cups of coffee to go" he says placing his wrist adorned with a Rolex on the counter, probably trying to flaunt it's worth.

We had these kind of customers everyday, showing off their wealth at the slightest opportunity they've got. And I knew just how to handle them.

Putting up a smile I say "Good evening sir, thanks for dropping by. What would you like to order?"

"Two iced coffee to go. And you can call me Jasper", he says whilst adjusting his suit jacket."

" Your order will be ready in two minutes sir. You can have a seat while you wait, I say pointing to one of the bar stools directly in front of the counter, totally ignoring his last statement.

I pack his order quietly and carefully while he sat there staring.
When I'm done, he brings out a couple of dollar bills and hands them over to me.

He takes his packed order from me, his fingers brush mine during the exchange and he winks, making it all the more obvious that it was a deliberate act. I give him a 'thank you for coming smile' before he turns around to leave.

I place the money among the stacked cash and tuck some of my hair that had fallen from the behind my ear for the umpteenth time today. It's been a really hectic day and my legs would give way any moment from now.

I'm about turning when I see him. High check bones, a perfectly sculptured jawline and the perfect shade of Prussian blue eyes. He was staring at me too. And then realization hit me. He was in my cafe.

I give a short smile and he replies with a curt one. I'd spent enough time in the café to know some faces that came and went. Especially because our town wasn't so over populated .Though there's been some new faces, I'd never seen him around the cafe before.
 
My phone's screen lights up with a text from rolly, followed immediately by a call from her, distracting me from my thoughts.

"Hey babes" I say.

"A-annie" she replies, her voice caught in between sobs.

"Are you okay?" I ask, immediately feeling worried.

"It's Sam. He. He's... " she continues, sniffling"

I didn't need to hear the rest of what she had to say to know what had happed

"Hang on rolly, I'll be there before you know it. With that being said I end the call.

"I'll be clocking off now" I say to leah as she busied herself with the old couple that walked in few minutes ago.

She gives a thumb's up, whilst trying to focus on the order she was taking.
I rush out through the back door, picking my jacket on my way out.

I hurry into my half sane Audi, praying the engine didn't bail on me. Luck was on my side as it picked up on the first try. I already had plans on changing my car. I knew i had to let my old buddy go but at the moment I had other things to worry about.

I got to Rolly's place as fast as I could. Turning off my car's engine I dash out, almost forgetting to lock the door behind me.

I get into her apartment with a spare key she gave me weeks back, finding her on her couch with an almost empty cup with drink in her hands.

"Rollyy" I call out as I walked closer to where she sat, collecting cup from her and placing it close to the empty bottle of... Whisky probably.

" Tell me you didn't just finish a whole bottle of whisky".

"I didn't" she says quickly.

" What did we say about drinking?" I ask throwing my hands up in the air.

"I caught him Annie, I saw him with my own eyes. He was with h-her". She says.

I didn't need to be told twice to know that the person she was referring to was his ex. She caught Sam, her boyfriend cheating on her with his ex girlfriend.

I had seen them on several occasions hanging around, but I didn't want to break it to rolly until I was sure. I never trusted the guy. He always looked sneaky.

"Oh my girl, you know better than crying over a guy like him. He's definitely not worth it at all". I say pulling her close to me in a tight hug.
Between the both of us Rolly was the stronger one. She never cried over boys.

Back in highschool, she'd mess up lockers, hide notebooks and pull crazy stunts on boys that tried to be bullies, calling them cowards. She wasn't scared of standing up to them, unlike me. Back then I'd hide in the locker room till the fight was over.

I never liked violence. Growing up with an alcoholic father that always came home to vent on me and my mom didn't make it any better.

"Now what you're gonna do is forget about that douche bag. He just fumbled the hottest girl I know and when he realizes that it would be too late" I say trying to cheer her up. It seemed to have worked because I earned a little smile in return.

"What would I do without you" She says pulling me in for a little hug.

"Nothing" I say back to her and we laugh hysterically.

We watched some rom-com movies, ending the night with laughs until we both decided to let sleep take over.