Sniper

Chapter 1

4 Months Later

"Tom, can you please clean the empty tables since you clearly have nothing better to do." My manager snapped at me

I simply nodded in reply and began bussing and cleaning the small tables.
I unfortunately work in some miscellaneous coffee shop; it's the only place I could find work. Though I hate it, it pays the bills and keeps me alive.

I cleaned the tables as fast as I could, knowing my shift ended in 10 minutes and I wanted to leave as soon as I could, I hated hanging around after hours.

Finally the time for me to leave came and I grabbed my things hastily leaving before my manager could stop me. I sped out the shop so fast I never got a good look at my surroundings and who was in them.

"Oof!" I grunted as mine and the strangers foreheads made contact.
I was lucky enough to keep my balance but the other man wasn't as lucky.

"I'm so sorry! I never looked where I was going! Here let me help you up!" I took the strangers hand helping him to his feet.

"Don't worry about it! It's all good, I wasn't really looking where I was going either." He smiled widely.

I don't know why, but I felt this odd feeling in my chest I couldn't quite describe.
"Can I make it up to you? I still feel really bad about it. We could grab a coffee or something?"

"I mean, I won't turn that down." He kept the same bright smile on his face as we walked down the street

"What your name?" I asked shyly

"Tord, and yours?"

"Tom, that's a cool name, foreign right?"

"Yeah I'm from Norway!" His voice was so bright and happy, it was like a breath of fresh air talking to him and we'd only known each other for a few minutes.

"What are you doing here?" I laughed lightly, "this place sucks."

"I like it! There's more character than in Norway." I shrugged and agreed, I didn't know what Norway was like to disagree with him.

We kept chatting until we came to the other coffee shop in town; I made sure to bring him here since I was not about to go back into my own workplace as a customer.
We ordered drinks and took a seat in a booth nearer the back of the shop. It was quaint and quiet, it was a comforting atmosphere. Fairy lights were strung neatly over book cases and the majority of seats were made up of couches rather than hard wooden seats.

"This is a nice cafe, I've never been in here before." Tord commented sipping his hot drink, licking the cream off his top lip like a cat.

"Yeah I really like it in here, the owners are super kind, they're in the shop most days but they're on their honeymoon right now. They should be back soon though." I sipped my own drink enjoying the warmth and taste, "So have you been here long?"

"Not really, only about a month or something."

"Really?! That's not long at all."

"Yeah, you're actually one of the first people to talk to me other than people in stores and public transport." He smiled shyly not making eye contact with me or even looking at me.