Desire 2

Chapter Thirty

I stormed out of the party with nothing but twenty dollars, my phone and a tube of strawberry lip gloss. I had absolutely no idea of where I was going, what I was going to do when I got there or how the rest of this night would pan out but I couldn't have felt more at ease. It suddenly hit me that the problem all along was me. If I hadn't of been so distraught and broken over Austin leaving, then I would never have been this vulnerable, needy mess of a person. Well, no more. And as I walked the streets of Downtown Miami at nine at night, which I must say was not my best idea, I felt free. I felt the freedom that Amanda felt after cutting off the ties with Alex. It was in that moment, listening to her fight for her independence and herself that I realized that it was the same thing I wanted, no needed. And it was what I intended to achieve.

It was rather cold in Miami tonight and as the thin sleeves of my dress weren't doing much to keep me warm, I decided to seek shelter in a nearby coffee shop.

I entered through a large, brown and glassy door as a ringing noise came from above my head. The shop was mostly empty besides the workers, with only one couple at a distant booth near the farthest corner of the place. gross.

I stepped out of the doorway and over to a nearby booth, taking a seat. The table looked to have been just left judging from the crumbs left on the tabletop. I was just about to find a seat at another table when a tall, black-haired guy with green eyes approached me, wearing a apron and carrying a bin filled with dirty dishes. The man pulled a green rag out of the bin and sprayed a bottle onto the tabletop before making swift motions in a circular pattern across the table.

"I'll get this cleaned right up for you ma'am," he spoke, flashing me a quick and rather creepy smile followed by a wink.

"Thank you," I replied with a quick and involuntary eye roll.

"Rough night?" he laughed.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I shot back in annoyance.

"I don't know. It just seems like you may have had a bit of a rough night,"

"Well if you must know, I have. But I'm not about to share it all with a random stranger," I stated, tossing my clutch down on the seat beside me.

"I can be your friend if you want," he paused, giving me a seemingly sincere glance before resing his palm on the space in front of me and leaning closer to my face, "or more than that if that's what you'd like,"

"What is that supposed to mean?" I laughed, crossing my arms against my chest and leaning as far away from him as I possibly could.

"Well, I'm gonna go out on a limb here but I'm assuming you're having guy troubles and maybe you found the right guy to fix those problems for the night,"

A smile stretched across my face at his words, "Sorry, but I kind of have higher standards than a pervy guy who preys on heartbroken girls because he can't get any with anyone else. So kindly fuck off,"

He choked back laugher as he lifted the tub from the table and began stepping away, "I get off at 10:30 if you change your mind,"

"Don't count on it," I shot at him as he stepped away from the table.

I sat for a moment debating on whether or not I should get up and leave right this minute when a guy wearing the same attire as the previous stepped towards me.

"Hi, I'm Todd. I'll be your server tonight. Can I get you something to drink?" he spoke as I picked up the menu and held it close to my face.

"Some tequila would be nice but a coffee would be good too," I stated.

"Woah, rough night?" he asked.

"Why does everyone just assume I've had a rough night?" I asked, peeking past the top of the menu before the guy took a seat in front of me.

"Well, first off: You're in a diner at 9pm on a Saturday night in a very nice black dress, you look aggrivated, you seem annoyed, your maskara has obviously been running," he paused as I reached my eyes, "and your phone has been vibrating non-stop for the past two minutes. You are either ignoring someone or half-deaf,"

I swallowed hard. Was I really that easy to read? I knew that it may be a little obvious that I had rough night to some people but I didn't realize that a random stranger could easily tell me more about myself than I knew myself.

"Alright, so maybe I've had a rough night. So what?"

"So if it's been that rough of a night, then you should probably confide in someone. It isn't really a good thing to keep things bottled up all the time," he replied, placing his notepad down on the table.

"Why should I confide in you? So you can hit on me like that guy did?" I almost whispered, nodding towards the bus boy at a nearby table.

"Oh," he laughed, "I see you met Creepy Cliff,"

"Creepy Cliff?" I laughed, suddenly realizing the tears in my eyes.

"Yeah. He's kind of a pervert," he spoke, shooting him a disgusted look before smiling back at me, "See there's no reason for tears,"

I laughed once again, wiping a tear from my eye before more suddenly came.

"Hey, hey," he smiled, sliding into the booth beside me, "it's okay,"

"No, it's not. I'm such an idiot for actually believing him," I laughed once more.

"What happened? Does Him have a name?" he joked.

"His name is Drew," I sighed, "He, um, was talking to his ex and my ex showed up and then my friend said she was pregnant then she dumped her boyfriend and my boyfriend's sister is dating one of my ex-boyfriends and then I think my friend's engagement was called off,"

He gave me a raised eyebrow and then stood up before brushing off his apron.

"Where are you going?" I asked, suddenly afraid that he thought I was insane.

"We're both gonna need some serious coffee if I'm gonna hear the whole story of that one," he laughed before stepping away towards the counter and retrieving two coffee cups and quickly pouring coffee in them before beginning towards the table and taking a seat in front of me, placing a cup beside my hand.