Dementophobia

~Chapter One~

Chapter One

"One medium, hazelnut mocha with extra whipped cream and..." the barista checked the receipt in his hand. "A dash of cinnamon on top."

Nevaeh beamed as she reached for the cup. "That's the one. Thank you very much."

The barista gave her another wide smile, but Nevaeh politely ignored him as she popped the lid off her cup and carefully took a bite out of the mount of whipped cream.

Perfect.

Nevaeh stepped away from the counter, eyes scanning the room. She had seen her drop contact the minute she stepped into the cafe, but now she was seeking a table—and hopefully a cover—somewhere in the midst of the dining room.

Her eyes landed on a small table set by the window; the round kind, meant to be just too small for two people to sit comfortably together. One chair was occupied, and the other side of table lacked a second chair where someone had pulled it away to another table.

She studied the occupant of the lone chair while taking another bite of her whipped cream. He stared out the window, giving her a good view of the back of his head. He seemed tall, legs awkwardly crossed beneath the table, and long arms not seeming to fit right anywhere.

He would do just fine.

Nevaeh wove her way through the room toward his table until she was close enough to speak to him.

"Excuse me... sir?" she leaned to the side and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Do you mind if I sit with you?" she pointed to the obviously empty side of the table, using nearly every shy-and-awkward trick she had in her box to look like a normal girl who maybe had a crush on him at first sight.

He turned sharply, surprised by her presence, and stared at her for a moment. "Uhh, sure. Yeah." He uncrossed his legs and shifted to make more room at the tiny table.

Nevaeh grabbed an unused chair and spun it to face their table, plopping into it and adjusting the lock of hair behind her ear again. "I just saw you sitting alone and thought I would come say hi..." she sipped her mocha and realized she still held the lid in her other hand. Hastily she set her cup on the table and popped the lid back on.

He shrugged, making an 'okay' face in reply, and took a drink of his coffee. Nevaeh tried to see the name written on his cup, but his thumb obscured it. The only thing she could make out was an 'ie' at the end.

"What kind of coffee did you get?" she asked, hoping to start a conversation. She could feel her contact's gaze watching her, waiting for her to show her hand.

"Black." Her friend answered.

"Oh." Not what she had expected.

His eyes belied his amusement at her reaction. "You don't think I'm a black coffee kind of guy?"

She gave a nervous laugh. "Well...I guess you kind of are."

He definitely was. Now that she had time to study him, she decided that if black coffee were a human, it would be him. Half-combed black hair fell over his ears and curled at the base of his neck. Nevaeh knew black eyes weren't actually a thing, but his eyes were so dark she decided they were as close to black as was possible. Black eyebrows shadowed his eyes, making his skin looking whiter than it really was.

"Yeah, you're definitely a black coffee kind of guy." She agreed.

He grinned. "Regillion. You can call me Reggie."

"Nevvy." She replied. "You are free to call me whatever variation of that that you can come up with."

Regillion laughed and took another drink of his black coffee. Nevaeh pulled her purse onto her lap and popped open the main snap, digging around for her wallet to put her receipt away.

"Oohhh..." she said, pausing and staring into the depths of her bag.

"What's that?" he asked.

"I, uh," slowly she reached in and half pulled out a paper bag from ElisaBakery, cringing as hard as she could. "I have this donut bag in here from last week... I think there's still a donut in it too."

His eyebrows flew up.

"This is disgusting."

"And a waste of a good donut." He said.

She glanced up at him and nodded. "Maybe I should clean out my purse more often."

"Maybe."

Nevaeh put her receipt away and shoved her wallet and the paper bag back into her purse. "I'm not going to think about that."

Reggie grinned. "I'm suddenly glad I don't carry a purse."

She stopped mid sip and stared at him. "Umm, I'm glad too??"

He laughed and rose, finishing off his coffee in a long draught. "Nice meeting you, Nevvy. Maybe I'll see you around."

She smiled up at him, propping her chin on one hand. "Maybe you will."

He left and she glanced around the room to see the status of her contact.

Still waiting. Of course.

She sighed and picked up her purse and cup, pulling out the paper bag on her way to the trashcan. As she reached out to drop them in, she stumbled and let the paper bag fall to the floor.

"Oh!" she gasped, pausing to bend over.

"I got it." A voice said behind her.

She turned, giving a surprised smile. "Oh, thank you, sir! These shoes; this is the third time I tripped today."

Without waiting for a reply she walked out the door, tossing her cup into the outside trashcan. Reggie was already gone, nowhere to be seen on the sidewalk or nearby parking lot.

Oh well.