Piece By Piece | ✓

7 | vanessa

     Vanessa was still pissed at him the next morning.

     Although she had Literature during Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, she decided to skip that particular class today since it was Friday; she didn't want to see that annoying blonde guy again after encountering him at work yesterday.

     Ever since he had stepped foot inside the coffee shop, everything seemed to slow down for her. Sure, she could tolerate Kayla's high-pitched squeals and boisterous laughs throughout her shift, but seeing him so close to where she was standing nearly made her spontaneously combust.

     Damn those hypnotic blue eyes. She could easily get lost in them just by gazing into his eyes for a few seconds.

     Staring back at him had been a very bad idea—hell, she could even feel the voices in her head latching on to her pale skin, whispering a series of "no" in her ears. It was pretty much the validation she needed to stop herself from sinking any further.

     Vanessa gripped the wash cloth in her hands tighter than before, her knuckles almost turning white.

     "Whoa," a male voice interrupted her train of thoughts, bringing her back to the now. "Take it easy, Vanessa. Are you okay?" Nic looked at her with concerned eyes, a small frown blooming on his lips.

     "I'm fine," Vanessa brushed him off, scowling. Nic wasn't too convinced with her answer, though; he crossed his arms across his chest and waited for any kind of response from her, his forehead creasing as he stared intently at her.

     "I'm fine, Nic," she reiterated, her voice sharper and more domineering than the last. "Stop getting into other people's business, you're turning into Kayla."

     Nic held up his hands up in surrender and shook his head. "No, I'm not," he said. "I'm not that loud."

     Vanessa sighed. "I'm fine, Nic. Chill the fuck out."

     "Tell that to yourself," Nic said, snatching the wash cloth from Vanessa's pale hands. "Have mercy on this poor thing," he joked. When the exasperated expression on Vanessa's face didn't falter, he frowned. "Look, I totally get that you don't want to be involved in relationships and stuff, but I want you to know that you're not alone, alright? If there's anything you want to talk about—"

     "Stop," Vanessa hissed, her brown eyes smoldering. No matter how much she wanted to stay out of trouble and keep her temper at bay, lots of people always managed to piss her off for some reason.

     Kayla and that blonde-haired demon spawn came in first place for annoying the hell out of her, and as much as she wanted to at least feel a bit of remorse for Nic because of the numerous times she'd rejected him, he was definitely scoring second place right now.

     "I don't need to tell you anything," Vanessa continued, pulling out the scrunchie on her wrist to tie her hair into a ponytail. "And stop denying that Kayla's rubbing off on you, 'cause she definitely is."

     The bells at the door jingled, another customer was going to order their dose of caffeine this morning. When Vanessa turned away from Nic to face whoever it was in front of the counter, her eyebrows shot up in surprise.

     Of all people, why did it had to be him?

     Sure, he completely caught her off guard yesterday, but did he really have to come back today? Was he pissing her off on purpose?

     For a moment, Vanessa gritted her teeth in annoyance, then she plastered another professionally fake smile on her face. It took her a lot of practice to maintain a pleasant expression whenever she was at work and she was already used to faking it by now; but seeing him in front of her and taking his order needed extra effort, damn it.