"i have no idea how you can stand that," i say, looking at ashton's black coffee.
he looks up from his cup. after swallowing, he sets it down, "what? I like it."
"why?" he pierces his lips like he's thinking then shakes his head.
"it's unexplainable," he tells me.
i nod slowly, "ahh, you're very mysterious,"
"i like to keep a low profile. makes me seem cool," i laugh. he smiles at me before taking a swig from his coffee cup.
"ash," i say. he hums in response, "we know nothing about each other."
"that's very true," ashton says, "tell me about yourself."
"you tell me about yourself."
"well, there's really not a lot to tell. my life is so boring, i've fallen asleep through most of it,"
i throw my head back and laugh, actually let out a real laugh. "good one, ash."
he beams, "what's your last name, elle?"
"winters," i reply. i smile, "you?"
"irwin," he says.
"irwin. i like that." i tell him.
he shrugs, "your name fits the weather."
i laugh, "um, tell me about your hopes and desires."
"good question," he says before bringing his coffee cup to his lips. i wait for an answer as he sets it down, "i don't have any hopes or desires,"
"of course you do," i say.
"no i don't,"
"what? how can you live a life without a set goal?"
"i don't really know. that's why i live with michael. basically, i'm a real fuck up and michael is really nice so he helps me out. he's my backbone."
"what if michael realizes one day that he doesn't want to be your backbone anymore?"
"i don't know," ashton says, "i don't really like to talk about it. hm, maybe my hope and desire is to be someone i'll be proud of when i'm way older. you know, look back and think, 'i wouldn't change anything.'"
"i like that,"
"yeah... i just kind of don't want to go to school, graduate, go to school again, get a job, and then... die. that's... a terrible routine." we both laugh, "but overtime i've found myself in the same routine that everyone else does in some point in life."
he sighs and downs the rest of his devil coffee, "i'm sure you'll end up where you want to."
"really?" i nod. he smiles at me and plays with his sleeves, "what about you? tell me about you."
"i go to school for film," i take a sip from my coffee cup, "i really want to be a director of a movie one day or be the one behind the camera. that'd be so cool."
"i can see you doing that one day," ashton smiles. the bells on the door chime announcing a costumer's arrival.
