three

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for the sake of the story let's pretend artemi can speak broken english ok

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It was now November, and I was trying to figure out what I was doing for Thanksgiving. I had classes the day before and the day after so I didn't think I would have time to fly home to Toronto, my home town.

I turned in my mid term about a week ago. Every morning I still went to that small, uncrowded Dunkin Donuts and sat at my usual table. There was something about early mornings that was relaxing to me.

I had also seen more of that one guy. He began coming in more often. First he would come in every other day. Then he would be gone for a few days before coming in again.

Every time he walked in, we exchanged smiles and blushes until he left. It became a habit now that every time someone entered the shop, my head snapped up to see if it was him.

Today was like any other day. I got up, got ready, and headed to Dunkin. I say at my usual table towards the back and got to work. Even though I had already turned my midterm in, I still had another, much longer paper due by the end of the month. It's times like these that I regret wanting to be a writer.

After a few minutes, the bell above the door jingled. I looked up and made eye contact with him. Except this time, he wasn't alone. His friend was tall and had dark brown hair, but that's all I could tell from my seat. Mystery Guy and his friend walked up to the counter to get their orders.

While his friend was ordering, Mystery Guy turned to look for me. His light eyes scanned over the few other people before landing on mine. I gave him a shy smile, which he returned.

His friend must have noticed us staring at each other because he looked between us for a few seconds before nudging his friend. The dark haired guy mumbled a few things to Mystery Guy and they exchanged a few words. His friend shook his head and grabbed their box of donuts before leaving the store. The curly haired guy smiled and gave me a small wave one last time before hurrying out after his friend.

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Thanksgiving passed, and I had to stay in my apartment all alone. Chaunette had gone home for the weekend to visit her family. I was stuck here in the Windy City eating leftover pasta from the night before.

Christmas was beginning to get closer, which also meant the end of the semester for me. After finals, I would be free to go home and celebrate Christmas with my family.

Until then, however, I was stuck stressing about finals. I found myself studying more in my apartment rather than getting out. I stayed up late and woke up late, which stressed me out even more.

I finally got up on time and went to the coffee shop. I didn't even order a coffee, I just needed to be in the familiar atmosphere to calm my nerves and help me focus.

However, I still had trouble focusing. I was practically falling asleep at my table and kept thinking about what I had to do. I hadn't done laundry lately so I needed to get on that, right after I go grocery shopping, but I still had to make time to do my school work-

My thoughts were interrupted by a light haired employee standing over me. "Excuse me miss," he said. "That man over there wants you to have this." He placed a cup of coffee that I didn't know he he was holding on the table.

"Oh um, thank you," I replied. I looked to where the worker had pointed earlier and noticed the guy. It was him.

I decided I should go introduce myself, or at least thank him. I took a sip of my drink for some quick energy before packing up my laptop and papers. I had to head to class soon anyways and it wouldn't hurt to be early.

I slung my bag over my shoulder and took a deep breath before making my way over to him. The walk felt longer than it was, maybe because I was nervous.

I finally stood in front of the table where he was sitting, playing a game on his phone. He looked up when he noticed me, smiling instantly.

"Hi," I said softly. "I just wanted to uh, thank you for the coffee." I held up the cup in my right hand.

"It no problem," he said. "I notice you look sad."

His voice intrigued me. It wasn't deep, but it wasn't high pitched either. He was definitely foreign but I couldn't recognize his accent. Maybe German?

I laughed a bit. "Yeah, just stressed with school." I checked the time on my phone. "Speaking of school, I should get going. Thanks again..." I trailed off, not knowing his name.

"Artemi," he said.

"Artemi," I repeated. I liked that name. "I'm Claire. I'll see you around Artemi."

"Bye," he said quietly. I turned around and left the coffee shop.

I couldn't believe I had actually talked to him. I had been smiling and waving at this guy for two months now and I finally talked to him. And now I at least know his name- Artemi.

I smiled as I walked down the sidewalk, thinking of him. He was cute; I liked his curly hair and blue eyes. He had a cute nose too. I snapped myself out of my little daydream and focused on getting to class, Artemi slipping into my thoughts every now and then.

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aw i find this so cute

im so pumped for the pens and caps series like ovi vs crosby???? heck yeah!!! kinda hoping the Penguins win but it would be a shame if the caps lose after the amazing season they've had ugh I'm so torn

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