Café | s.m (✔️)

twenty

Shawn was leaving tomorrow.

No matter how many times I told myself anything different, I knew the truth. Shawn was leaving tomorrow, and probably wouldn't be back in a while. Of course I knew he would come for tour, because New York is such a popular place, so it's kind of hard to just skip us. But that was just a day or two of visiting.

No more nights at Tim Hortons, or surprise dates, or having a simple conversation, face to face. I hadn't even told him about the recording studio, which if I wasn't with Shawn, I was there. I guess I wanted it to be a surprise, but there's no more time for that.

Nora saw me leave with Shawn yesterday. Of course, with his hood up she couldn't tell that it was him, but when she asked who I kissed and walked away with, my answer was simple.

"Shawn Mendes."

I wasn't lying, but the truth was so unrealistic Nora thought I was just plain out joking. However she never pushed, dying to know the truth about the guy I was always with.

The day after our beach visit, Shawn never came to Tim Hortons, which is very strange, because he usually came every day and despite whether he ordered or not, Shawn sat at the counter and spoke to me as I worked.

He never answered my texts either, which is stranger. Of course I tried to think for the better, and tell myself that hey, he was probably just packing, getting all his stuff so he's prepared to leave tomorrow.

But how much can one guy pack?

I tried to forget about him for the time being, and instead called Amber up to go to the salon. I had been dying to dye my hair for forever now, and today would finally be the day I got it done. I didn't change it too drastically, or dyed it electric green with purple feathers attached. I just had it a lighter shade, so it was light brown.

A lot of things happened on the day before he left. Besides changing my physical appearance, my parents surprised me with a car. Not a Ferrari, but still, it was a car and I finally had one.

It was that day, the day before he left, that everything had changed.

After getting my hair done I told Amber I had to work, so I would see her later. She asked what time I would be at the recording studio, because shockingly, I was actually releasing a single. I was told that since my follower count was so large it was about time I got them talking about something. So now that I had already recorded it, I had to go and work out the details for the single before I could release it.

I walked into the café and noticed it was actually pretty crowded for today, so I smiled to myself. I got behind the counter and put on my apron and name tag. I greeted the customer that came up to me, and gave them there order. My shift was getting slightly boring after I had helped the customers there and the number of people had dialed down. I look around the room in accomplishment, and that's when I see it.

There was a camera outside, pointed directly at me.

I walk out the door and go to the side of the café, where a man was sitting down, a professional camera in his hand.

"Excuse me, sir? You aren't allowed to take pictures of this building or any of the people in it without both the person and the owner's permission." I say, and he turns with a gasp, startled by me. If this man wasn't a pedophile, I don't know who would be.

"You're the girl." He says, completely ignoring my statement. I raise an eyebrow and look at him in confusion.

"Excuse me?" I say, and he goes into his duffle bag, then pulling out photographs.

He hands them to me, and my eyes scan the photos in utter horror. They were pictures of Shawn and I, from the top of the building that day, from Tim Hortons, and from the beach. My heart had been racing out of my chest, and I searched each picture to see if my face was in any of them. Thankfully, my back was turned in all the pictures, so it would be impossible to identify. I mask my expression with a dumb smile, and I gasp.

"Oh my God, is that Shawn Mendes?! He's literally my favorite person in the entire world, I'm such a fan. Stitches is such a good song! I saw him in concert, you know, and let me tell you, it was the best experience of my life."

"Wait, so you're not this girl?" He asks, confused.

I shake my head no. "Nope, but I wish I was, they look pretty comfortable if you ask me. Why would you think it was me?"

"Well, and this is between you and me, Shawn's manager got all the pictures except for the beach ones, and told us it was you. You are Olivia, right?"

"Yeah, but as much as I hate to admit it, that girl isn't me. And who's 'us' anyways?" I say, holding myself from crying.

"The paps, tv shows like Extra and ET. Those kind of people. There's kind of this app that we use to get our information. I'll go post that it isn't you now though, before they come, because believe me when I say it won't be pretty when they come."

"Well, thank you. It was nice meeting you, and I hope Shawn remembers my name after this!" I give him a fake smile and rush into the café, tell Alice to take my shift because I had an emergency, and sprint home.

The moment I get into my house, I notice something off. I walk to the living room, and find Nora sitting down, watching Extra. My heart stops when the tv screen displays my face on it, and Nora finally speaks.

"So, you weren't joking after all."