FALLING IN LOVE AT A COFFEE SHOP | D.H [✓]

Fourteen

(Aria's POV)

As I'm walking through the rain, it takes everything in me to not start jumping for joy and giggling. Giggling. I didn't giggle. Except for when it came to him. He was changing me and so far he was changing me for the better. Rain usually dampened my spirits, as well as my clothes, but today it felt nice. Despite the occasional icy sleet that slipped past my hood and down my back, it felt refreshing. To be honest, I don't think anything could ruin my mood at the moment.

Instead of dodging puddles, I splashed in them. Thankfully I put on my red rain boots with grey polka dots or else I'd have to suffer through my shift with damp feet. I hoped it would stop raining soon, for Dan's sake, he really should have checked the weather before coming out today.

I soon arrive at The Nook and I'm greeted by the familiar warmth and smell of the hardwood mingled with the scent of the book's pages as soon as I step into the shop. With Dan on my mind I decide to send him a text to let him know I got to work without catching pneumonia. Maybe I'd mention meeting up for coffee again soon since it was about time I asked him.

*made it to work safe, thanks for being so concerned. I hope to see you soon for another coffee date xo*

Date? Did I really call it a date? Maybe he wouldn't read into it too much.

C'mon, you know you want him to read into it. Stop lying to yourself.

Curse my subconscious for being right, another point to her. I know I needed to let more people in, and I hope that letting Dan and Phil sit with me this morning was a step in the right direction.

I'm surprised to see Dorothy behind the front desk with another girl who looked a few years younger than me.

"Good morning." I say warmly to both Dorothy and the girl who looked slightly terrified.

"Ah Aria! Good morning! This is Bianca, she's here to help you out part time."

"Oh! Well, it's nice to meet you." I say as kindly as I can while reaching out to shake her hand.

She slowly reaches out to meet me and I try my best to ignore how clammy her hand is, "It's nice to meet you too." I can barely hear what she says, but I understand that she's shy. I can definitely relate to that.

"Since business is starting to pick up, I thought it would be a good idea to have someone else around to do any odd jobs and cleaning."

"It'll be nice to have somebody to keep me company too." I jokingly remark.

"Well, I'll leave you two be. It's pretty quiet right now so you two can just relax and start to learn the basics. I'll come check in a little later. Have fun!"

I can already tell this is going to take awhile to break the ice, but I was going to make it my mission to make her feel comfortable by the end of the day. Not being an expert in making friends however, may make this a little difficult. I was improving though, so I had some hope.

"So Bianca, did you just move here or have you always lived in Manchester?"

"Always lived here."

"That's nice, do you enjoy living in the UK?"

"It's alright."

"That's cool."

"Yup."

And then silence. This was going to be harder than I thought. I guess this is how people who tried to talk to me felt like. Panic was starting to sink in, how was I going to spend a full day with this girl? Usually I'm the one relying on the other person to keep the conversation going. What could I talk about that she may want to say more than fiver words to? I could ask her about her hobbies, or music she liked, everybody likes music, right?