Against the Odds | DAERIN

Chapter: 11

h a e r i n

After Danielle had fallen asleep, I briefly woke her up and told her I had to go. Since then, we'd been texting every day, but hadn't seen each other because of work and other things keeping us busy.

It was now Friday and I sat in bed, not listening to the virtual lecture on my laptop screen.

ME:
Kinda fancy a coffee rn, mind if I come visit? :)

I messaged Danielle, knowing she was at work at the café just a few minutes away. A few minutes later my phone buzzed and a reply from her appeared.

DANIELLE:
You're sweet
I have a break in 20 :)

I smiled at my phone as my lecture ended. Closing my laptop and putting it back on my desk, I hurried into the bathroom to get ready.

After I showered and brushed my teeth, I got dressed, putting on a pair of light blue mom jeans and a white T-shirt. I put on my Vans and grabbed my North Face puffer.

It was slightly cold as I walked, but overall it was a pretty nice day for late October. Halloween was coming up and my friends and I were going to a Halloween party, dressing up. It's honestly one of the best times of the year.

I walked into the café where Danielle worked and spotted her behind the counter. She was serving an elderly man, smiling kindly and laughing at something he said. I smiled and made my way to the counter just as the old man left with his coffee.

I stood in front of the counter, inspecting the menu, thinking of what coffee I wanted.

"Good morning, what can I get for you today?" Danielle asked, a playful smile on her lips as she looked at me from the other side.

"I'm not sure, what do you recommend?" I asked, playing along, watching her think.

"I'd say the vanilla latte is probably my favorite," she said, looking at me again through her glasses.

"Alright, well I'll have a vanilla latte then, thank you."

"No problem, just give me one minute to make that for you."

I stepped back, waiting for my coffee to be made, watching as Danielle fiddled with the machines and started to make my coffee. After a minute, she came to where I was standing and passed me my latte as I handed her the money. She glanced at it unsurely but sighed when I pushed it forward again, making sure she took it. I wouldn't accept free coffees just yet, not until she's my actual girlfriend.

"My break's in 2 minutes," she said, smiling one more time at me before serving the next customer.

I sat down at a table in the corner of the shop, sipping my latte slowly. Danielle was right; the vanilla latte is good. I watched out the windows for a bit until I heard movement in front of me.

"Mind if I sit here?"

I looked up, expecting to see Danielle standing in front of me, but it wasn't. A girl stood there, not much older than me. She had blonde hair and was around the same height as Danielle.

"Oh, um, my friend's actually about to sit there, sorry," I said, smiling politely at the girl in front of me.

"Oh, that's okay," she said, stepping forward slightly. "You're cute though, here's my number." She added, putting a piece of paper on the table and walking away, giving me a wink before she left.

I looked down at the paper and opened it. The girl's number was written, just like she had said. Usually, I probably would have been kind of excited by this, but I didn't really care. Sure, the girl was pretty, but she wasn't Danielle.