Fluctuat nec Mergitur

Chapter 16

"It's a Monday." I commented, surprised. And it's only nine.

"Of course it's a Monday. It's the tenth of July." Juliet showed me her phone screen, tapping it with her nail. "It says so right there."

"I am well aware." I pushed her hand away.

"Isn't it in your schedule thing, too?" She pointed to the computer.

"Yes, it is. That's how I knew it was the tenth." I reassured slowly. "How much coffee have you had?"

"Why do you want to know how much coffee I've had? She rephrased my entire question.

"Because you're a bit jittery."

"Just two." She shrugged. I don't know what that means, but I won't get anything better from her at this rate.

"You must not be able to tolerate much caffeine, then."

"Oh, no, I think it's wearing off. I had it at six. Wait, maybe five." She frowned, trying to calculate the numbers.

"Why are you up so early?" I had a hard time believing that a college kid would wake up before 12.

"I don't know." She thought about it. "The place where I work is closed for a health inspection for a few days, maybe more."

"Did you just come here to see me, then?" I looked up at her, having nothing else to do. Very few people come in at this hour, especially on Mondays.

"Why would I do that?" She seemed slightly hurt by the idea.

"I'm sorry if the prospect offends you." I raised my hands in surrender.

"I was just kidding." She pointed at me, as if to say gotcha!

"You really got me." I said sarcastically. "But you're not here for a lesson and I can't imagine you'd be buying something not on impulse in your current state."

"What if I am?" Her eyes widened, thinking hypothetically.

"I don't want you to buy something expensive because you decided to three seconds ago." I said slowly. "You'd be wasting your money."

"I'm sorry I'm like this." Juliet sighed suddenly. "My brain is really wired right now."

"I can tell." I smiled. "I don't really mind, but I'd advise against coffee next time."

"You think so?" She grinned, resting her elbow on the desk. "I really did come here to see you."

"You did?" I raised an eyebrow.

*Juliet's POV*

"Yeah, I did, even if I have to stand behind this dumb counter all day." I tapped it with my nails meaningfully.

"Come around it, then." Max shrugged. I sighed, too quietly for her to hear, and dragged over a chair.

"What are you doing?" I asked, looking over her shoulder.

"I've got nothing to do for a few hours. We're never busy at this time." She pulled up an alternate tab with solitaire open. I laughed. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, it's nothing." I shook my head. She's so cute. I looked around at the mess on the desk, trying to distract myself. There were masses of papers and an entire guitar on the floor. I looked at some of the papers.