ALL I NEED

Chapter 11.

"You're doing great, thanks so much for coming in early to train!" Anne, Ashton's mom smiles at me as she shows me how to print a receipt.

It was my second day of work and everything was going well so far. I was getting the hang of everything rather quickly and Anne was lovely.

I think I'm really going to enjoy working here.

"Do you think you'll be fine on your own for a little bit?" She asks me.

"Yeah, no problem!" I tell her, excited to finally start to working by myself.

Nobody was in the shop except an older gentleman who already ordered and sitting in the back reading the newspaper.

I didn't want to just stand there not doing anything so I started stacking the cups and filling the creamers trying to keep myself busy.

My attention turns to the front when I hear the door ding, signaling someone was here. My stomach drops a little when I see Calum casually walk in. I hated how I tensed up whenever I was around him. He was the most confusing person I've ever known. I never knew which Calum I would get, the mean, arrogant one, or the nice, sweet one. It was beyond frustrating.

'Hi, What can I get for you?" I force a smile and try to act as professional as possible.

"Black coffee, please....Ashton get you a job here?" He asks seeming to be in a decent mood from what I can tell.

"2.75, and yeah, thank god." I tell him taking the five dollar bill from his hand.

"You like it so far? Isn't Anne great?" His lips forming a faint smile.

"Yeah, I like it a lot." I hand him his change. Was he really engaging in a conversation with me right now?

I pour some fresh made coffee into a medium sized plastic cup and grab a lid.

"Here ya go." I slide his drink across the counter to him.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

I watch as he moves over to a vacant booth and sits down. He pulls out a small black notebook and starts writing, intensely staring at the pages as he brings the pen to the paper. I wonder what he's writing. Maybe a diary? No he definitely doesn't seem like the diary type. Perhaps a song, yeah that seems more reasonable.

"Mm, hello?" A teenage girl snaps me out of my daydream.

"I'm sorry, what can I get for you?" I apologize and get back to taking orders.

"You're excused." She rudely rolls her eyes. "But I'll take a large vanilla latte with a pump of extra caramel and a splash of creamer."

"4.95, please." I tell her as I try and block out the annoying sound of her chomping obnoxiously on her gum.

I quickly make the cliche basic white girl drink, doing my best to smile as I hand it over to her.

Once she's out of the shop, I sweep until I feel a presence looking at me.

"So I was wondering if you wanted a ride home, I know you don't have a car so if you want I could stick around so you don't have to walk." Calum scratches the back of his neck as he asks me.

"No, its okay, I'll be fine." I say, shocked that he offered.

"No, I insist, its about to rain, you'll catch a cold or something."

"I don't want to be any trouble..."

"You're not, or I wouldn't have asked." He tells me.

"Fine, but only if you promise not to yell at me again." I playfully grin as I finally give in.

"Deal." He surprisingly laughs.

"I'm off in 10 minutes so just let me clock out and I'll be right out." I tell him going back behind the counter.

I finish up the last of what I was doing before finding Anne to tell her I was done for the day.

"Ready?" His dark eyes stare into mine as I nod a quick yes.

Once we got into the car and started driving I debated on asking him what he was writing earlier but decided against it at the last second. I didn't wanna risk putting him in a bad mood.

"Good song." I mumble as "Best of you." Blares through the radio, not realizing I was talking out loud.

"You like the Foo Fighters?" Calum turns his head to look at me.

"Yeah, one of my favorite bands." I grin.

"Mine too." He says clearly shocked by my answer.

"My nephew loves you by the way." He adds after a few moments pass by.

"The feelings mutual, he's so adorable." A smile coming across my face.

The rest of the ride is silent as we continue listening to the Foo Fighters. Its not awkward though, it's a comfortable silence, both of us just enjoying good music.

"Thanks for the ride." I say unbuckling my seatbelt.

"Anytime."

Before I get out I feel him grip my arm, stopping me dead in my tracks.

"Wait... I wanted to say I'm sorry." His voice is quiet, almost like a whisper.

"For?" I ask not understanding what what going on.

"Being a major dick to you since you got here." He looks down at his feet.

This apology was...different. More genuine. Last time he apologized, it seemed forced, but this time I could sense he was actually sorry. Remorseful.

"It's okay." I tell him getting out of the car, my mind starting to race.

"I guess I'll see you later."

"Yeah, later." I wave as he drives off.

All I could think about for the rest of the night was how bizarre this was. Just the other day he was acting like he hated me, and now he was being the perfect gentleman. What changed?

Its like Calum was two completely different people, and I can't figure out which is the real him.