Brewed to Perfection

Part 15

Present day -

Adrenaline and pure anger was running through my veins due to Karen and her outright rudeness. So as I kept my gaze on Benjamin awaiting his response to her previous question of whether he agreed with "my dummy decision to kick her out" I found myself physically shaking.

I was annoyed at the woman. Mainly for her awful attitude but I also was angry because she thought that my coworker (little did she know we weren't very close but that's neither here nor there) would agree with her offensive comments.

If I was a dummy and a minimum wage bum, surely Benjamin was too? Or was that particular title only specific to me?

Karen remained glaring at Benjamin with her arms crossed over her chest. Like she was the one being mistreated.

Maybe it was because I was so angry or just fed up but I let myself really look at Benjamin. I never let myself look at any part of Benjamin but his feet. It was all I ever needed. I could tell if he was near me or when he eventually walked away... that was all I cared about.

But I never ever looked at his face.

When I forced myself to really look at him I suddenly felt an overwhelming feeling of indifference. Which wasn't what I was expecting at all. His Jaw was tense, probably because he was uncomfortable with the situation he was being pulled into.

There was some colour on his cheeks and nose too. A slight pink blush on the tips of her ears. Maybe Benjamin didn't like confrontation either.

His hair had always been objectively ridiculously stylish. He didn't have that receding hairline some guys get in their twenties. His hair had more defined stylish curls than when I knew him ten years ago. A few of his dark curls had fallen across his face just shy of touching his eyelids.

He wasn't looking back at me. It was probably why I continued staring. His stare was locked on Karen who was also staring at him right back with a pissy look on her face.

She looked angrier than before, but that was probably because neither of us had replied to her for over a minute of pure silence.

Benjamin's lips pulled into a tight line, before he cleared his throat. "You can wait for our manager, he will be back anytime soon."

What the fuck. I was about to slap someone. It was almost as though he was trying to antagonise me...

I moved closer to Benjamin and pushed his right shoulder with my hands. "The hell she will Benjamin" I called out before turning my sight back on the annoying woman who had been here far too long for my liking. "You... you're out of here now. Not five minutes, not ten seconds. Now" I spoke clearly and maybe a little too loudly.

Other customers who were sitting in the shop didn't even seem to notice this woman and my outburst.

What the hell was Benjamin thinking telling her to stay and wait.

I slid out from behind the counter and literally shooed her out of the door. Karen scoffed and let me know her "lawyer will be in touch" before her arse was fully kicked out of the shop.

I'm sure her lawyer would love to take this to court.... Not.

It was only as I headed back to stand behind the counter did I notice Benjamin was standing like a statue in the same place I had knocked his shoulder. That was also when i noticed his left arm was almost cradling the right shoulder i had hit

That was when reality hit me.

I touched him. I actually hit Benjamin Lovat. Sure it wasn't hard or anything but i always kept a minimum of a 10m distance from him.

I don't know who was more shocked.

I suddenly felt a wave of courage flow through me. Maybe it was the remaining adrenaline or maybe it was the fact I was deciding to finally act my age and call out people who were in the wrong.

I turned to face him again and looked him dead in the eyes.

His eyes were what I used to be most worried about looking at. When I was at school and had accidentally caught a glimpse, it was like a vortex to his soul. Looking at his eyes was a horrible experience.

I was so drawn to them because I knew they were beautiful. One of the first times I saw Benjamin, before I even knew his name I only knew him as the beautiful boy waiting at the bus stop.

In the first year of highschool he stood alone at the bus stop with his legs crossed, while leaning against a small brick wall. His backpack was almost as big as him. He was always polite and let the little old ladies on first before him, and always greeted and thanked the bus driver. Thinking back, it seems like a different person.

One of the first times I noticed how beautiful his eyes were was an evening in October when the sun was setting early in the afternoon while we were waiting at the bus stop.

I wasn't standing anywhere near him, but I always preferred looking at him than at my phone. It was golden hour, and the sun decided its favourite spot was Benjamin's caramel eyes. I had never seen anything as perfect in my life and neither had my heart. I had fallen in love with the boy at the bus stop with the caramel eyes.

It was also why it was so hard to not look at him when he started terrorising me. Like Medusa, I knew of his beauty but knew it was deadly too. So I avoided it. But now I don't care if Benjamin turned me to stone because I already felt stone cold.

i

It took a moment for my brain to look into his eyes and not relate it to the innocent boy at the bus stop, but rather the asshole who had ruined most of my teenage years and hadn't taken my side when a Karen had thrown a temper tantrum and offended basically every minimum wage worker in the world.

"Benjamin, What the hell was that?" I spat. "Why didn't you tell her to fuck off?" I questioned while throwing out my arms in an irritated gesture.

Benjamin scanned my entire face with his eyes, like he was trying to compute the entire last ten minutes. Before his eyes darkened and he pursed his lips.

He cracked his knuckles before letting out a small chuckle. It sounded familiar. It was his evil laugh I used to hear in my nightmares.

He was back again.

"I just wanted to see if you had the guts to fight back yourself this time." Benjamin glared into my eyes, while his lips formed into a smirk.

I laughed.

"There YOU are. I was wondering where you had gone to, looks like you were just beneath the surface" I snarled.

Two can play this game. Because that was what this was. A game. And unlike before, this time I was playing for the win.

If he thought for one second I bought into any of his innocent "call me Benny" bullshite and his shitty attempt to pretend he was tiptoeing around my feelings, he must have confused me with someone who doesn't know him.

Benjamin looked almost surprised that I hadn't curled up into a ball or ran away. I was too old to be scared of a little boy. That's what he truly was.

I took a step closer to him. Keeping my gaze locked into his muddy soulless eyes.

I smiled. "I had somewhat expected the true Benjamin to appear, but probably not this early. I think you're losing your touch" I goaded.

Benjamin's head tilted to the side before he raised his index finger and thumb moved to pinch his chin. "Oooh" "I've only seen this version of Maeve once before. I like this version the most." Benjamin paused for a second before taking a step closer towards me.

We were almost toe to toe.

"It's much more satisfying when this version breaks" He threatened with a whisper.