Piece By Piece | ✓

8 | tristan

     To say that he was stunned to know that his cousin worked at the same coffee shop as her would be an understatement.

     He was downright stupefied.

     Honestly, the only reason why Tristan went out for a coffee fix was because his pack of Nescafe had gone missing for some reason.

     Finding out that Vanessa and Nicolai, his cousin who barely came home to the apartment they were sharing, worked at the same coffee shop was definitely something he did not expect.

     And seeing Vanessa explode all of a sudden surprised him, too. He didn't expect her to get angry just because Nic wrapped his arms around her, but she did. He had no idea why she reacted that way, and it only solidified his determination to find out more about her.

     Tristan planned on giving Vanessa her papers earlier, but since he saw her outburst and noticed how pissed off she was, he decided to let her cool down for a while. They shared the same Literature class later anyway, so he opted to return the papers back to her before Mr. Henri proceeded with their lecture.

     She wasn't at class that afternoon.

     Mr. Henri noticed her absence immediately, his lips settling into a frown when he called out Vanessa's name and noticed that her seat was vacant as he checked his students' attendance before starting his lecture.

     Tristan anticipated questions about Vanessa's whereabouts from Mr. Henri, but his professor remained focused on his lecture, not even bothering to ask about her. He took down extra notes, just in case Vanessa asked him for it whenever she got back.

     Tristan hurried back to his car after his last class ended; all he could think about was continuing his research and getting another cup of coffee from Books and Brews.

     After finding a spot to park his car, he was once again welcomed with the relaxing smell of coffee beans, another acoustic song playing mildly through the speakers as he entered the coffee shop.

     Kayla was at the counter, wiping its granite countertops with a wash cloth, her blonde hair tied into a messy chignon. She instantly lifted her gaze when she heard the bells jingle, signaling the arrival of a customer.

     "Hi, welcome to—oh, hey, Tristan," Kayla flashed him a brilliant smile, her blue eyes warm and inviting. She placed her left hand on her hip and tilted her head to the side as she greeted him. "Nice to see you again, pretty boy. What can I get for you today?"

     "Is Vanessa still here?" Tristan asked bluntly, turning his head to the left, then to the right. He wasn't sure if she worked overtime today, but looking for her at Books and Brews was definitely worth a shot.

     Kayla scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. "What are you talking about? She has afternoon classes almost everyday. She's probably at school right now, Tristan."

     "She wasn't in our Literature class earlier," Tristan admitted, pursing his lips. "I thought she was still at work..." he trailed off. It was frustrating, not knowing where a certain person was, especially when someone was desperately searching for them.

     And the fact that the person being searched for was trying their hardest to push away the people who were looking for her... it was extremely frustrating. That's how Tristan felt.

     Kayla tucked in a few loose strands of her blonde hair behind her ear. "No offense, pretty boy," she said, crossing her arms and looking at him with appraising blue eyes, "but what you're doing is... hmm, how do I say it sparingly? Oh, I know! Stalkerish. Yep. That was definitely the word I was looking for."