A Circadian Phenomenon - Another everyday love story

Chapter 2

 Mae was restless. She had taken a shower, cleaned her small apartment, prepared herself a boxed lunch for the first time since starting her job, even thought up some dishes for dinner, had a proper English breakfast, paced about, did some yoga, roasted some green coffee beans, taken another long shower, and yet the restlessness refused to leave. She was at her wits end. Then, like a ghost refusing to leave, her thoughts went back to the man from the stop.

Perhaps, showing her gratitude in some way might help? It was still seven in the morning, after all. She only left for work at eight. At last, she decided to take a morning walk. Soon, however, with the sound of the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 blasting at max volume in her ears, she was sprinting. The view didn't seem as intimidating bright red and yellow, but rather, the gentle blue-grey sky seemed to absorb the brightness and left something gentler. She was bathed in sweat and the cold wind fought against her, but she found it absolutely exhilarating.

Soon enough, as a part of her suspected, she found the man from the bus stop. She jogged over to him, He was taking yet another picture. This time, it was of a hollow of a tree. She stopped some ways from him and waited for the telltale sound of the camera before speaking.

"Fancy seeing you again," she said. He turned, and smiled. He wasn't exactly a 'hunk' but his smile certainly gave her butterflies.

"Am I being stalked?" he teased.

"I should be the one asking you that! But I haven't really seen you in the area before. Are you new here?" She hoped with all her might that he was new, because, in truth, she never paid attention to the people in the area, at all.

"Something like that. I work as a freelance photographer. Right now I'm photographing for a collection themed autumn. It's pretty easy, since, at any given time, one part of the world basically does have autumn. So I've basically had a world tour over the past year," he explained.

She felt a little down. "So you'll be leaving here soon, too?"

He glanced at her. "No, this is the last place. By the end of this winter, I'll be done with the editing, so it should come out in spring. So, until summer, I'll be here."

"Ah, is that so?" That certainly brightened up her mood. "I'm Mae. A bit late, but..."

"Right! I'm Jay. Not short for anything."

"Rhymes," she muttered without thinking and flushed immediately.

Jay simply chuckled. "It does." She smiled. A beep sounded. Her time was up.

"I have to get ready for work... Hey, do you like coffee? I could get you some while I'm coming. As thanks, for earlier."

"Coffee sounds great. Yeah. I'll see you, then, at the stop."

Just as he looked like he was about to leave, though, she called out to him again. "Wait! How do you like your coffee? Just in case."

He paused and smiled. "A frothy mocha with a tablespoon of sugar."

"See? I would have messed up otherwise. Then, I'll see you."

With that, she almost skipped back to her apartment. She had roasted some beans just earlier, and with quick preparations made for the coffee, she rushed to freshen up and change. Her third shower and the day had barely begun. As she changed, she stared at her reflection. She worried over her clothes. She worried over her hair. For the first time in a long while, she worried over whether she should wear any makeup, after all, only to realize that she owned nothing but mascara and plain lip gloss.