one shots

alex turner

"You've got that face that just says 'baby, I was made to break your heart'."

The pleasant aroma of black coffee intertwined with the stench of cigarette smoke lingered in the air of the café, sticking in the nostrils of those who were sat in the coffee shop as well as those passing by. The smell was slowly being overpowered by the mouthwatering scent wafting out from the kitchen, in which toast was being buttered and tea was being brewed. It was a small room with limited space, yet the tables were evenly distributed in a way that made that made it seem like this quaint café could fit the entirety of the city.

Alex found himself in the corner of the room, fiddling with the salt and pepper shakers on the wooden oak table in front of him. He had his signature black aviator sunglasses on, his hood pulled down and had his head positioned in a way that meant he wouldn't make eye contact with any living creature. The Arctic Monkeys currently found themselves in the city of Brighton due to an upcoming gig; Alex loved it here, a lot - more specifically, he loved the vintage shops, the picturesque beach, the charismatic people. The only downfall was the hectic nature that comes with such a popular city, which prevented the Monkeys from relaxing, which was needed after a month's worth of travelling. Luckily for him, Alex had just found the serenity that he needed in this isolated café, tucked away from the city centre.

Jotting his thoughts down carefully into his moleskine notebook, Alex was so carried away by his thoughts and potential new lyrics that he didn't take notice of the food that had been placed in front of his face. Before he had a chance to thank the waitress, she had been whisked away by another waitress and they had migrated to the other side of the room.

Shutting his notebook, Alex started to eat, once again becoming so immersed in his food that he took no notice of his surroundings. As the plate was becoming more and more empty, he took a moment to skim the room and he noticed that there were no longer any other customers - just him and one waitress; the other waitress had disappeared. Shovelling a forkful of beans into his mouth, Alex became aware of the melodic sound that had erupted from the other side of the room.

"Your love is like a leather studded headlock. Your kiss it could put creases in the rain,"

Alex quickly removed his sunglasses and lowered his hood, gazing intently at the woman who was singing one of his own songs whilst wiping down tables. He paid attention to the way her mouth formed the words so perfectly, the way her copper coloured hair fell in her face as she moved around, the jingle of her bracelets as she proceeded to sweep the floor. It was perhaps the most meaningful moment of Alex's whole entire trip: to hear such a beautiful girl sing a song that he had written about his life.

It wasn't clear to him if he was infatuated with her beauty, her voice, the way she moved, or whatever else. In years to come, he wouldn't label this as 'love at first sight'. He was simply mesmerised by her, nothing in particular, but rather everything about her. He wanted to rise from his chair, dance around the tables and sing along with her. Of course he wouldn't, she didn't even know it was him. But he wanted to. So very badly.

"Are you finished, sir?" her silky voice questioned. Alex raised his eyes slightly, enough for him to see her face but not enough for her to see his. He took this opportunity to also quickly glance at her name tag - Eva.

"Yes thank you, Eva." he deepened his voice in an attempt to sound distorted, enunciating her name as it had been dancing on the tip of his tongue.

Eva smiled sweetly, picking up Alex's plate, brushing his hands, which were resting on the table, in doing so. He shuddered; she blushed.

Gathering his belongings, Alex figured that he needed to leave in order to prepare for tonight's show. As much as he didn't want to, he rose from his chair and left a tip on the table, along with his number on the receipt. It was a cliché move, but that just summed Alex up to a T, he thought.

Despite usually being the one to charm others, Alex felt himself enticed by this alluring woman and couldn't resist taking one last look at her face. He walked up to her, gently taking ahold of her slender yet muscular arm and looking dead into her eyes. Eva's lips formed an O shape and a gasp escaped them. She looked too in shock to form any coherent thoughts, much how Alex was also feeling in that moment in time. Through the tortoiseshell glasses that sat on the bridge of her nose and framed her face so perfectly, Alex admired her pretty green eyes, oblivious to the fact that she was admiring his eyes as well (which, for the record, she thought were 10 million times prettier than hers and shined like a freshly formed diamond). They were momentarily lost in each other's worlds, each of them revelling in the escape from their everyday lives, which were so completely different yet equally so chaotic. Alex noticed her mouth open, but then it slowly shut again.

"I-" she tried to speak.

Alex racked his brain for something to say. For a man with such a way with words, he was seriously lacking in the word front at that current moment in time. He thought back to Eva singing before. What was she singing? Suck it and See.

The corners of his mouth curled up, and he gave her arm a little squeeze. As he walked out, he announced "you're rarer than a can of dandelion and burdock, and those other girls are just postmix lemonade."

He walked away, leaving Eva with her mouth agape and a smile plastered on his own face.