The Boy in Love With a Witch

Chapter 05

I woke up after an hour long nap craving for some caffeine. I did not know that caffeine addiction was real until now. I was really getting addicted to caffeine, or was it just an excuse to see her face? 

I texted the boys in group to meet me at the same cafe which we went to last week and they replied with a 'be there in 10 mins'. I got up and threw on a dark green hoodie over my grey sweatshirt. I walked to the cafe as It was ten minutes away from my house. It was currently 5:30 PM. She must be doing her shift by now.

As soon as I pulled the glass doors open, I saw her face. She was standing behind the counter going through her phone. 

"Hey!" I heard Liam shout from my left and I turned my head to see all of them had already made themselves comfortable on the red couches in the booth.

I walked over to join them. After deciding on what we wanted to order I walked over towards the counter to stand behind a man who looked somewhere in his early thirties. She handed the drink to the man and he lightly grabbed her hand for a moment before releasing it. Her face expression changed. She looked terrified. 

"You know, you are too beautiful to be working in a coffee shop." The man said. 

She did not reply. Her lips were tightly pressed and brows knitted together. Her eyes turned glassy. He handed her the bill with a slip.

"Call me." The man said and winked at her before he turned around to leave.

In one quick look, I took in his features and moved forward to order. Behind the counter, I saw her crippling the piece of paper and throwing it into the trash can. She then returned to me with a fake smile. When she asked for my order I noticed her voice was shaky.

I ordered our drinks and she came back with them. Her hands were trembling. She then disappeared into a room behind the counter. I carried the drinks to the table but before settling myself and enjoying the drink, I had to do something.

"Hey, I'll be right back, okay?" I told my friends.

"Where are you going, mate?" Louis asked. 

"I'll tell you when I come back." And with that I rushed out of the cafe headed in the same direction where that man went.

I spotted him quickly. Luckily he was sitting on a bench in a park nearby, drinking his smoothie. I walked over to where he was sat.Seeing me approach, he stood from his bench. 

"What do you want, kiddo?" He asked.

"Just came to tell you to stay away from her." I replied. 

He smirked knowing who I was talking about. 

"Why? Are you her boyfriend?" He asked smugly.

Just then I felt the need to punch him in his stupid face and my fist met his jaw. I gave him a harsh blow across his face and he almost fell over the bench spilling his drink, shocked at my reaction. 

"What the hell?" He shouted. "You stupid brat."

Before he could gain balance I punched him again, this time, hitting his nose and blood spilled on his shirt. 

"I don't want to see you near her ever again." I spat and then walked back towards the cafe.

As I entered, I saw she was back behind the counter, her face looked drained and her eyes a little red. Was she crying? It made me even more irate at that man. I should have knocked the shit of him. I returned to the table and all of their eyes shifted towards me. 

 "Where did you go?" Louis was the first one to ask.

"Just had a matter to deal with, nothing important." I replied and they all gave each other strange looks.

I sipped in my caffeine containing drink and some energy poured into me. 

As we were finished, she came out from behind the counter and started walking towards us with a soft smile on her face. I felt my heart beat increased with every step she took towards us.

"Do you guys need anything else?" She asked politely.

"No, thank you." Louis replied.

Just then her eyes fell on my hand and her face expression turned worried.

"Oh my, what happened to your hand?" She asked. Tension filling her voice.

Everyone looked at my hand including me. The knuckles were red with blood, some of which was my own and some was that man's. I was hit with questions by my friends as to how I got blood on my knuckles. The funny thing was that I did not realise it was bleeding and did not feel the pain until now. 

"I'll get the first aid box." She walked away and disappeared behind the counter. 

A few minutes later she came back with the first aid box. In meantime, I managed to quiet my friends saying I'll explain them later as to how I got blood on my knuckles.

She sat down beside me at a distance and put the the first aid box in front of her. Her scent was like that of vanilla and coffee which swirled around me making my chest feel bubbly. She pulled out an antiseptic liquid and some cotton. Wetting the cotton with antiseptic, she gently took my injured hand in her other free hand.

Her hand was warm, bright pink and soft as cotton, a little shivery. 

My heart beat increased. She looked up at me, her dark brown eyes meeting my green ones. 

"This might hurt a bit." She whispered softly and gently dabbed the cotton over my blood covered knuckles. 

"Sssss, ow" I winced as my knuckles itched with pain.

She looked up her eyes filled with worry.

"Sorry." She apologised.

She pulled out the cream from the box and squeezed some on her index finger and in the process she left my hand for a while.She then held my hand again and applied cream with her index finger.  Grabbing the bandage from the box, she carefully wrapped it around my hand.

"Is it too tight?" She asked before tying a knot.

"N-no." I managed to say.
She tied it up.

I kept watching her the whole time. How she was worried about my hand, how mildly she applied the antiseptic and the cream with her fingers, how a strand of hair kept coming in her face but she did not care about it because she was so focused on my hand.

"There you go." She looked up at me and smiled warmly.

"Thanks." I returned her a smile.

She placed the things back in the box and stood up straightening her apron. She then grabbed the box and asked " Are you sure you don't need anything else?"  

"Just the bill, please." Louis replied.

She nodded her head and then went back to the counter. After the bill was paid, we left the shop and I tried my best to avoid any queries about my hand.