The Definition of Me

Chapter 15: What Got Me Here.

I jolted my head up, looking at the speakers blaring the music in our infamous cafe. My right leg tapped on the floor in sync with the beat of the ukulele as I whispered the song lyrics, and one loud hindering cough from a stranger was all it took to disturb my only milliseconds of calmness in one of the many busy beehives inside New York coffeehouses. Gemma's included in that category ever since hers was added to the top 50 cafes to visit, scoring on the 49th place, of course. 

"Excuse me, young lady." He almost sounded like my imaginary dad. The one I never had as my real one was quite busy, to say the least.

"8.45 dollars, young man" He should have known that I bite back. He wasn't young at all, but that was the only comeback I could come up with that morning. Started on the wrong side of the bed, is how you can describe  my sleeping schedule disturbances lately. 

He then proceeded to pay the bill with his American Express credit card that I could tell was swiped a lot, and left it's scratch marks as an aftermath. Businessman of some sort. Maybe a layer. All this 'Lie to Me' binge watch on Netflix couldn't turn me into a detective, but I still acted like one in that man's presence. I have forgotten that by that point, I should have looked away not to make it seem like I wanted to know the code he was about to type. 

"You mind?" He lifted his eyes back at me, creating wrinkles on his forehead that became a beautiful contrast to his bald head. 

I looked away, and in the meantime put the latte on a tray full of other orders. 

"Need the receipt?" I asked him, taking the tray in my left hand.

"Spare the formalities, please." He grumpily answered, sneezing into an overly used napkin.

"You're welcome." I threw the bill in the trash and wondered off into the middle of the cafe to try and find the clients to whom the ordered food and drinks belonged. And just like that, as ironically the lyric "Oh I am a mess right now." from a song from Ed Sheeran, the clumsy me and the tall him hit each other and we both became soaked with caffeine and tuna salad. 

"Liam." I couldn't figure what I found more surprising, him or the mess or the people staring or the coincidence or the history repeating itself. It all at once screamed at me, like a wave and I felt a tap on the shoulder. 

"I think you two should go and get your night-owl-selves together. I'll clean." Gemma pointed at the exit door and started mopping the floors.

"I am so sorry Gems." I tried to apologize, mimicking my best puppy face which didn't fit the situation at all, and I was too 'adult' to do that anymore from the day I turned 18, and so it clearly didn't make the situation better.

"It's okay," she comforted me, "you're alright."

"Come on." Liam's hand crossed paths with mine and clung tight as if our hands were held together our whole lives. And it took only one minute before I felt that same tight grip within my whole body as he sprung his arms around me outside the coffeehouse. 

"Two smelling tunas hugging. I see the irony now." I giggled, wondering if the customers were staring at us outside the cafe's windows. I knew they did. I did not have to stare at them back to feel how some of them were staring at us. And the one who would be sitting in the first row, with his face glued to the window would be the 'young man'.  

"In an ocean full of people." He kissed my forehead. "But you're my favorite goldfish" he smiled. Being so cheesy and poetic. 

"More like a clown fish," I smirked, scanning him with my eyes and studying his expression. I have never seen him so caring, but then it hit me. The realization that I knew I was in love with this boy, but I did not know who the boy was. Liam. The neighbor next door. But my train of thought was quickly distracted, my eyes slowly moved down to his lips until I felt them pressed against mine.