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MIA

5° celsius.

That's how cold it was tonight and that probably goes to show just how dumb I am for thinking I could go out for a casual run on a November evening in Dortmund, Germany. 

When I first started running, I felt pretty pumped at the feeling of actually getting some exercise after just laying around the house eating french fries for the past two weeks. But then, the wind started hitting me straight in the face and I knew I made a bad choice. 

I was too far away from home to just turn back around, so I decided to just pull my hat on tighter on my head and run for a few more minutes before going back home. 

I needed to clear my head. That was what was going through my mind when I thought about going out for a run. I was sat cooped up in my house for two consecutive days after just thinking about the embarrassing façade that happened at Marco's place. 

I had come to the horrible truth that I was still strung on my ex while he was happily dating some other girl. These weren't the type of thoughts I needed going through my head while I was getting ready to start on my next leg of tour, so I ran. 

Running always helped me sort out whatever was going on. If I was feeling sleepy, I would go for a run. If I was feeling stressed, I'd go for a run. If I was feeling confused, I'd go for a run. Upon coming back home, I'd always know what to do and feel just a little bit better about my current situation.

Apparently, it wasn't going right today.

My brain short-circuited and I stopped running and slowed to a jog. I groaned as I felt the wind hitting me harder and I could actually feel my noes getting frozen. I pulled my jacket up to cover my nose and mouth and started walking towards a nearby coffee shop. I figured getting some hot chocolate with extra marshmallows wouldn't hurt. 

I walked towards the cozy little coffee shop around the corner and I opened the door, hearing the little bells jingling as I did so. I walked up to the counter and smiled at the lady there before ordering a hot chocolate with whipped cream and extra marshmallows for myself. I paid for it, dropping some coins in the tip jar and walked towards the end of the counter to wait for my drink.

The lady handed me my drink once I was done and I thanked her, taking my drink to the back of the coffee shop near the fireplace. I sat down on the large love seat and crossed my legs, pushing one ear bud into my ear and turning on some music. I tapped my foot along with the rhythm as I slowly flipped through a magazine, checking out the latest and trashiest news. 

I was about to take a picture of one of the articles to send to Ava so we could laugh at them together when I heard the bell on the door jingling. I instinctively looked up only to see Marco and his new girlfriend entering the coffee shop, her arm linked through his. 

Crap! Could this day get any worse? I barely ran 10 minutes before quitting and now my ex shows up with his new girlfriend.

I wanted to make a run for it but I couldn't leave without the two of them spotting me - and besides I still had a huge mug of steaming hot chocolate that I didn't want to leave behind. I panicked as I tried to figure out what to do. 

Emily was walking along the counter, checking out what kind of pastries the coffee shop had. I knew she would see me if she turned her head just a little bit to the side since I was the only other customer there.

Oh, God. There's nowhere to run to now.

As I heard the lady start making their drinks, I quickly covered my face with the magazine as well as I could just so they wouldn't see me - in hopes that they got their drinks to go. I tried to look as casual as I could, hoping that none of them would even consider looking my way. But of course, only a stream of bad luck could follow another.