Emma

chapter one - impulse

She was sitting alone at the counter.
The barista kept glancing at her from behind the coffee station where he was immersed in his tasks. Between taking and making orders, he followed the finger she absentmindedly traced over her lips. Lloyd was completely and inexplicably captivated by this woman. She just had that type of atmosphere around her.

He saw her suddenly turning her head to look at the door. Her passive face from before broke into a smile and when Lloyd shifted his focus, only then did he remember the entire cafe of people all chatting and chilling. Cafe Vivace's door had opened, striking the bell that made Lloyd think of a creative new sequence of curse words every day. Another woman entered, her eyes and smile meeting the first. They hugged and began catching up on their way to the coffee station.

"It's always the same thing." The newly arrived said as she pushed a strand of raven black hair behind her ear.

"Don't take it personally."

"I know."

The two of them came to the front of the short line, "Ladies, it's nice to see you again. The usual?"

"Always a gentleman, Lloyd. Yes please." The second, dark-haired one said. The barista knew the almost-daily customer. Mei. That's the name he had to her serenely still face. Her friend, the one who intrigued Lloyd so much, contrasted her so much. Her lighter, brown hair and lightly freckled face were always moving and showcasing her every feeling. She was taking a while to answer today.

"Emma?"

Her eyes jumped away from the menu. She answered in her slightly breathless voice, "Actually. . ." Her eyes met Lloyd's. "I think I'm going to try something new. Give me that." Emma pointed at a random name on the list of drinks.

"Two seconds."

The two of them went to wait by the 'collect' counter as Lloyd made their hot beverages. He followed their conversation over the commotion of cafe sounds.

"So you're done with the Chicago article?"

"I handed it in today." Emma's voice danced with pride and content.

"So happy for you!"

"Thanks. I feel so great about the whole thing. Don's going to love it."

"Obviously," Lloyd could almost see the hair flip Mei was doing behind his back as she said that. "We need to celebrate before you leave."

Lloyd brought over two biodegradable cups and lingered a while to join in the conversation.

"One for the journalist - congratulations on the article, Emma. And one for the YouTuber."

"Ah ah, I'm a content creator."

"You make videos on YouTube."

"I'm a lifestyle and fashion vlogger," She corrected. "Stop acting like you aren't a millennial, Lloyd, let me live."

Emma was distracted.

"How are you and Jess doing?" Mei winked at Lloyd.

"She's great. We're having a lot of fun spending time together."

"Are you guys official yet?"

"Well, I guess. . ."

Mei laughed a little, "I get it. No define-the-relationship talks yet." She took a sip of her regular cinnamon dolce drink and looked over at Emma. Lloyd saw what she was looking at: Emma was unusually quiet that day.

"Em?"

"I wanted to ask you guys something," Emma said immediately as if she expected the moment to arrive.

"Of course. Anything." Lloyd didn't know what to expect at all.

"What are you doing tonight?" she asked.

He definitely did not expect that.

"I'm doing whatever you are. What about you Lloyd?"

"Didn't have anything planned."

Emma put down her cup and faced them both.

"Look, you two are the only people I know in this city - outside of my temporary job. Show me around before I leave. I want an adventure."

Lloyd thought the moment was surreal. So he surprised even himself when he said, "Okay,"

"Okay?" Emma asked with a little smile. It looked like she didn't actually expect them to want to say yes. "Okay, that's awesome. When do you get off?"