Book 1: Lost In Translation (Another Reason To Cry) (Izzy Stradlin FanFic)

Ch. 5: Lost In You

I had spent all Tuesday morning at the café eating sandwiches and sipping coffee. It was now around lunch time and Kim's shift began. She smirked as soon as she saw me and sauntered over to my table.

"Hello there, Mr. Stradlin. Are you expecting somebody?" She teased.

I rolled my eyes and ran my fingers through my hair. Why did my hair always feel like I needed to bathe? I just showered this morning!

"No. 'Just...wanted coffee. As per usual."

"Uh-huh," she nodded her head, winking at me as she turned on her heel. She pointed to a clock on the wall as she walked by it.

"Four o'clock, Mr. Stradlin! Four o'clock!" She called over her shoulder as she hurried over to another table.

I waited until there was no way she could sneak a peek at my curious gaze as I stole a glance at the clock. Three thirty. Fuck.

I almost wished she hadn't given me a scheduled time. Now I'd be checking the clock like a madman. Not that I wasn't acting like one at this point anyway.

For the remainder of the next half hour, I paced the lobby like a cornered animal, ordering cup after cup of coffee, toying with napkins, grabbing handfuls of sugar and creamer packets and building little towers out of them, and I even managed to add another line to the song I'd been working on, which I had scribbled onto a blank paper in Melody's notebook: "shed a tear 'cause I'm missing you, I'm still alright to smile. Girl, I think about you everyday now".

A whistle caught my attention. I whipped my head in the direction of the counter and saw the waitress nodding towards the door. My heart leapt into my throat and I slowly turned to see that Melody was walking right towards me, her face lit up with a smile. I felt myself turning into jello under her gaze and I knew that I was smiling like an idiot.

She motioned towards the chair across from me and mouthed "May I sit down?"

It took my love drunk mind a few moments to respond before I shook my head, frowning at my own stupidity. I struggled to stand on my weakened knees and I stumbled over to her, tripping over air, and pulling out the chair for her. The waitress behind us giggled at my complete lack of grace and I blushed as Melody gave me a polite nod and sat down.

As I walked back around to my seat, Kim was pointing and openly laughing at me. I glared at her and stuck out my tongue at her, quickly morphing that face back into a smile as soon as Melody looked up to grin at me.

When I sat down, she pointed excitedly at the notebook. I chuckled. She looked like a toddler pointing for their blanket. I gently handed it to her. She snatched it from my hands and gave me a playful wink as she began jotting down her thoughts. She handed the spiral notebook back to me and watched my reaction as I read it.

"I didn't think you'd come back."

I shook my head and grinned up at her. "Why wouldn't I come back?"

She rolled her eyes and plucked the notebook back up, scribbling more words. She tossed it back to me.

"Most guys aren't too interested in a girl they can't even talk to."

I shrugged. "I'm not like most guys."

She giggled and blushed. I felt my stomach flip at the sound of her laughter. I'd finally managed to make her blush rather than the other way around!

I slid the notebook across the table to her and said, "Tell me more about yourself."

She chuckled and started writing:

"I was born deaf, so my mom is pretty protective. I only just started being allowed to go to my dad's house on my own and I'm twenty-two! I've never been drunk, never drove, never heard music. I'm pretty sheltered, I guess."

I frowned. I had hoped that maybe she had grown to be deaf later in life, but it turns out that she had never heard anything. She never heard music before. It broke my heart. "You say you're sheltered?"

She nodded solemnly.

"And you've never been drunk?"

She giggled and nodded again.

"So...what do you do for fun?"

She laughed out loud at that one, grabbing the notebook once more, chuckling as she scribbled at the page. Slowly, her laughing died down and her face grew more serious. She kept looking up at me and looking back down at the paper. This went on for a good ten minutes or so before she handed the book back to me.

"Oh wow..." I sucked in a breath. She had sketched a picture of me, and damn was it nearly perfect.

Underneath it she wrote:

"This."

I looked up at her. "You've got some serious talent, girl."

She giggled and shrugged modestly. She mouthed to me: "you...fun?"

I turned over the paper so I now had a blank canvas to write on:

"I'm in a band, which is pretty fun most days. Things get pretty crazy, though. A lot of drinking, drugs, and women. But I like to write songs. They're the best part of my job."

Melody read my words with a delighted smile on her face, like every word I'd written was gold. She started to write below it:

"Women? So you follow girls around in cafés often?"

She giggled as I blushed at her words. I locked eyes with her and smiled.

"No. Only one girl."

She blushed and looked down at the notebook sitting between us, biting her lower lip thoughtfully. She stole the book back and hurriedly wrote something down. She tossed the book down again and got up to go to the counter where her order was waiting.

I glanced down at the paper as she rushed out the door, avoiding my confused look.

"Thursday. 5:30."