Clear Skies

1. A café

If being late was an Olympic sport, my best friend would win a gold medal.

Two empty cups of coffee stare back at me. I rest my chin on the palm of my hand, and sigh. At this point, these cups prove to be a better company than no one.

After calling, texting, and a lot of yelling on my part, Zoe is still at the crossroad she said she was at half an hour ago. Apparently, she bumped into an old friend of hers. Now that's pretty okay, except that we were supposed to finalize a summer vacation today.

I'm dangerously close to dropping my drowsy head on the table, when a male voice speaks to me.

"Is this seat taken?"

I haphazardly attempt to fully open my eyes, and tuck my hair behind my ear at the same time. My eyes look up to meet brown ones, staring right back at me in question.

"Uhh," I manage, "not really. You can sit."

The guy's face breaks into a grin. He mutters a soft 'thank you', and takes the seat opposite of mine. I feel a tad bit guilty for not saving it for Zoe, but I don't dwell on it. I'm sure we can get an extra chair if she decides to show up.

I'm so caught up in thinking about Zoe, that I almost miss the stranger's cringing face on seeing the mess on the table. He gently shoves the empty cups to the side, and all I can do is look at him apologetically.

"Rough day?" he initiates a conversation.

"If you consider waiting for someone as a rough time. In that case, hell yeah." I smile at him, and his eyes twinkle with mirth. Then as if something strikes him, he pushes his chair back and swiftly gets up.

"I- I'm so sorry. You should've told me you're waiting fo-"

"Nah," I dismiss his apology. "You should sit. My best friend is," I pause, attempting to find a sensible reason, "is kinda busy."

His expression is unsure, so I nod my head once more.

"All right then." He retakes his seat, making minimal noise. After which, he sends another cheerful smile my way, and then requests the waitress for a menu card. He orders right away, and I'm kind of delighted by his choice. Hazelnut latte. My favourite.

Having no idea if I should speak next, I decide to keep quiet. Soft chatters around us fill the silence. I glance at my phone. No text from Zoe.

"So," the guy breaks the ice, "I'm Ian."

I'm a little taken aback on seeing him not beat around the bush. I flash a smile of my own, giving him my name.

"Blanche."

"Blanche," he says slowly, testing how the name rolls off his tongue. As if satisfied by how it sounds, he gives me a cheeky grin.

Ian takes out from his jacket what looks like a city map. He unfolds it flat on the table, and closely examines a spot in there. I catch the name on top of the map. Aurville.

"New here?"

He looks up as if caught off guard. "Yeah. Came to visit my aunt's place for a week. However, I soon figured out staying indoors the entire day is as interesting as watching paint dry. So I'm venturing out to see the city."

I nod, and then point at the map. "You could've just gotten it on your phone."

"Well, I realized that soon after I bought the map. But hey! It's quite handy."

"Yeah yeah," I humour him.

He spares me a grinning stare, before he goes back to seeing whatever he was. I take this time to take in his presence.

His hair is a messy mop of silky dark brown, which complements the brown in his eyes. His face is structured, like as if it belongs to a model. His physique is definitely something I'd love to see on a daily basis. In short, I'm sure Ian puts in huge amounts of efforts in his appearance.

Not a bad thing, if you ask me.

"How long are you going to stare at me like that?" His eyes don't leave the map, but I can tell he's grinning.

"Till I creep you out. So you run away, and I can take the hazelnut latte you ordered for myself."

His gaze briskly catches my eyes. A smirk evidently plays on his lips, sabotaging his efforts to hide it.

"Well, in that case," he straightens his back, "I don't mind sharing my drink with you. But I think using one straw would be more eco-friendly."

My face scrunches up in disgust and laughter at the same time. I try to fake gagging and stifle chuckles simultaneously. Needless to say, I look like an ape.

"Eww," I say after my laughing fit ends. "Excuse me while I shift my chair five thousand miles away from you."

Ian chuckles, and then lifts his hands as if to apologise, "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

"You sure did, but I'll overlook it because we share the same taste in drinks."

"But those cups don't look like they were filled with latte," he motions to the empty cups still lying to the side.

"Hey, don't go all detective on me. I can alone finish all hazelnut lattes this store can make. I can do so right now."

"All right, all right," he chuckles. I only now notice the dimples gracing his jaws, although they were there all along. Truth be told, he's pretty. Like really pretty. I'm almost glad Zoe hasn't shown up yet.

"So, do you want another drink or just one more straw? If neither, the one straw offer is still open." Ian smiles at the waitress as she settles his drink down on the table. Just then, he asks her to wait a moment.

"Another drink." I order for myself the same hazelnut latte.

After the waitress walks away, Ian's face droops almost comically.

"I really hoped we'd share my drink from one straw."

I catch the underlying humour, and to amuse him further, I say my next words.

"We will. One day, we will."

•×•

Ian left as soon as he finished his drink, running off to his aunt. All I understood from his hurried explanation was that his aunt has tried a new recipe, and wants him home as soon as possible.

Right now, I sit in front of Zoe, who's just a little out of breath as she orders for herself.

"So Laney was telling me of this vacay package she found online, and I swear that's the only reason I'm late. Sorry."

"Mhmm," I say mindlessly.

"Wait, you aren't angry? You were going to blast my phone from all that screaming earlier."

"I cooled down."

Zoe gives me a weird look, but doesn't press me further. She decides that food is of more priority than my vague replies. Even better for me.

Her drink comes on the now cleared table. I'm glad all the empty cups are gone before she arrived.

"You look strangely happy," Zoe states while sipping her black coffee.

"My favourite author is publishing a new book!"

Well, I didn't exactly lie. My favourite author did recently announce on twitter a sequel to her series. But that's not why I am 'strangely happy.' I avoid telling Zoe about Ian for now. I don't know why, I mean, I just want to keep him like a secret to only myself.

Do I sound like a creep?

We then move in a comfortable conversation regarding books and movies. At some point when Zoe won't stop talking trivially about how hot the Riverdale girls are, I decide to change the topic.

"So what vacation did Laney tell you about?"

•×•

I'd love to hear what you think of this chapter. And that star outline would love to turn full orange. Make it? :)

27.7.2018 • Carlee