A Year of Fragile Hearts

Chapter 1 | Wonderful Surprise

Chapter 1 | Wonderful Surprise

"But innovation comes from people meeting up in the hallways or calling each other at 10:30 at night with a new idea, or because they realized something that shoots holes in how we've been thinking about a problem." - Steve Jobs

Listen to Start of Something Good by Daughtry

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"Mabelle, look!"

Not moving the book positioned in my hands away from its proximity to me, I spare Beth a quick glance as I shrug my shoulders slightly as if to ask 'what is it? '. She nods towards the entrance door of Frost Bite - the coffee\ice cream shop we've been working at for a year now.

It was something that we have decided on doing to help our parents with the money. Plus, the shop is quite beautiful; its caramel painted walls with a few paintings here and there, and the book shelves consisting of all kinds of books like school ones or coloring ones, etc, all of them combined with the warm smell of coffee and freshly made food and the laughs of children, made this place sound and feel like home to everyone.

At the moment, there aren't many customers in. There is only a group of quiet teenagers who look younger than me and Beth, sitting in one corner eating away their late breakfast of omelet and pancakes. Every now and then, someone comes in and orders a go-to cup of coffee or tea, then they make their way out of the shop and into this very wide and beautifully dangerous world.

I squint my eyes in the direction of the entrance door, trying to take sight of whatever got Beth so enthusiastic, but to no avail. She seems to notice my confusion, so she huffs out a breath of mock irritation and playfully glares at me. "Why do you always have to be so unaware of your surroundings?" she asks, not really waiting for a reply as she continues, "There's a really hot guy outside, you moron. Put your book away and see the boy - we might never see him again." she says with a sadistic tone. "In case you don't know, Beth, you already have a boyfriend." I say, giving her a light swat on her shoulder. "Oh, whatever." she replies with a chuckle.

I turn my gaze to the said guy she mentioned. He stands right behind the clear glass of the shop, wearing a gray t-shirt and jeans. I can only make out the black strands of hair messily framing his face and a hardly set defined jaw. It seems like he's extremely enraged from the way he speaks into his phone. The sight, surprising me, triggers my interest, but that feeling is soon gone when he turns to look through the glass door, his eyes immediately catching mine. I flit my sight away from his and back to the book at hand, cursing myself internally for doing it so abruptly, making it clear obvious that I was looking at him. Gosh, this is awkward.

A lovely early afternoon August breeze comes sneaking into the shop through the opening door, the sound of traditionally ringing bells echoing in the ambience. I feel the breeze kissing the crook of my neck, cold and slightly salty with the touch of the sea from across the shop. A shudder runs down my spine through the thin fabric of the white blouse I'm wearing, and before I register anything, Beth gasps, stopping the trance of enjoyment I was having.

I look at her and see that her eyes are glued to the entrance door with her lips pursed into a tight thin line. Confused (like I always am), I wander my eyes to where she's looking, and, in a cliche kind of way, Mystery Guy (yes that is what I am calling him) comes strolling into the shop and straight towards the not-so-far counter. He reaches his destination and looks between me and Beth who, after regaining her confidence and posture, chirps up in a sing-song voice asking him what his order will be. Seeing that my friend decided to take his order, unknowingly saving me from having to deal with him after the tiny awkward eye contact we had a few seconds ago, I avert my attention back to the book in my hands for what seemed like the millionth time today.