Second Chance

Eleven: A Chance

Eleven: A Chance

“Thank you,” she said, accepting the change from the handsome young man with a tattoo on his bicep. He winked at her, and she blushed slightly. Ciara turned to the next customer. “Welcome to Sam’s Coffee Shop. How can I -?” Ciara stopped midsentence. A now natural scowl appeared on her face. The brunette strolled in casually.

“Did he just wink at you?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. “Yeah? Continue what you were saying.”

“He’s a regular customer,” she said, keeping her voice even. “And Taylor, don’t come here while I’m working.”

“Is that how you treat your customer?”

“You’re not a -”

“One latte, medium.”

Ciara’s scowl deepened. She struggled not to hurl the plastic cup in her hand at the man in front of him. There was a pair of light footsteps behind her, followed by a surprised yelp. Curse my luck.

“Avril! Get here now!”

You’re so subtle, Mona. Luckily, I only have five more minutes.

Hold on, was this why he decided to appear at this moment? Ciara knew she was going to have lots of wrinkles by the time she was old all ‘cause of this guy. She groaned.

“Here you go. Now disappear from my sight.”

She handed Taylor the cup and shooed him away with a wave of her hand. The bell tinkled, and Ciara’s head automatically snapped up.

Curse my life.

“Hey, Ciara,” Jared chirped as soon as he entered. Ciara knew the bounce in his step was going to disappear in three…two…

“Oh? Isn’t this Mr. Ano -?”

“Hi, Jared!” she said, raising her voice a lot louder than Taylor’s.

She shot Taylor a wary look. Jared glanced over to Taylor and smiled unsurely. Ciara’s eyes dashed from one to the other like a ping pong ball. Taylor held Jared’s gaze. Ciara wanted to disappear. The tension in the room was palpable. Finally, Jared tore his gaze away from Taylor. The smile returned to his face.

“Oh, I got tickets -”

Oh no! Ciara had an idea where this was going.

“- to watch the new released movie. Do you want -?”

“No, she said she’s coming over.”

That was true, but it was not because of him! Ciara told Bessie that she would go over to her house. Well, Bessie and Taylor shared the same house, but Taylor was definitely twisting the meaning of those words! Jared’s eyes widened and dashed between Ciara and Taylor. Ciara could see the connection he was making. Her eyes shot to Taylor, promising revenge. He shrugged nonchalantly as if he had no idea what this was about.

“I’m friends with his sister,” she said, hoping she could still alleviate this whole mess. “He’s nothing but my friend’s older brother.”

Ciara purposely avoided Taylor’s eyes and smiled reassuringly at Jared. Upon hearing that, Jared seemed to relax. He nodded though it was a bit hesitant.

“That’s fine. We’ll just go another time.”

“Jared, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were going to come.”

“That’s fine,” he said and dismissed her apology with a wave of his hand.

To Ciara’s surprise, he leaned forward and pecked her on her lips. Ciara’s eyes widened. For Jared, that was definitely a daring move. She knew they were being watched by both her two co-workers and Taylor, but she didn’t care. She bent forward and rested one of her hand on the counter to reach over to him. She wanted to reassure him, and this was the best approach she could think of. It worked. She felt her own heart race miles per second, and she mirrored his goofy smile as they pulled away.