ELBINA

Chapter 5

I scrutinized him from across the table. Tapping on his phone, ignoring my existence since we sat down. His brows furrowed as he concentrated on responding to someone, using his forefinger like a person who'd only just learned how to text.

I started scratching my palm tucked away into my pocket. Tapping my foot impatiently, altering my gaze outside the window. There was still an eerie glow on the street outside, starting to rain now so the puddles dimpled with the rain droplets hitting the clear water.

I let my head drop back onto the seat behind me still focussed on the world outside of this awkward cafe. The figure of a hooded man strode across the pavement the other side of the road, I tried to ignore the quiet murmuring of anxiety buzzing through my veins or the slight cramping in my gut. He continued walking, careful in his footsteps and flicking his head sidewards towards me occasionally. Through the rain I could see the mask covering part of their face but that wasn't abnormal.

Even now, years after the pandemic some people still wear them. It's personal preference now, it's usually those who are trying to protect family or friends.

After the pandemic, people learned, or at least some people did that you had to take steps to protect others from infection in an increasingly densely populated world.

Masks helped and just being more aware helped too.

And the pandemic made people aware, how fragile everything was. How the entire world could stop for something so small, proving once again that the concept we as humans are above and superior to other species was wrong. We're still susceptible to the same things as anything else.

I pause in my thought process because the man stops right outside the window, and stares at me. I stare right back unmoving, breathing increasing and thinking back to a particular night that I don't want to think about.

What is he doing?

I was suddenly jolted up at the sound of the waiter coming back.

By the time I've flicked my head back to the window, my breath gets stuck in my throat because he's not there. As if he were never there, my plate gets dropped onto the table in front of me so I send a small shaky thank you to the waiter.

I took in a large gulp of air, digging my nails further into my thigh, searching the visible space outside the window and scanning for him once again.

Inching my spine straighter in my seat to get a vantage point.

"What are you looking at?" I nearly crick my neck to look at Jake as he glanced between me and outside.

I look back too just in case.

But of course, there's nothing.

I almost say it, spit out about the weird man on the other side of the window except I realise that he would think I was crazy. Instead, I shake out my hand in my pocket to rid of the jittery nerves and ignore the feeling of the sharp sting from where my nails dug in.

I shrug which seems enough for Jake before picking up my fork and knife to start eating.

It was silent for a while as we both sat and ate. I thought he would have brought it up by now, about Thomas but he hasn't, and I wasn't about to remind him. I would rather ignore it.

As if he could hear my thoughts, he paused in eating to take gulps of his water.

"So... How is school?" I shrug in response.

"Have you decided on what you want to do?" I shrug again.

"Are you going to talk to me at all?" I smirk a little as I shrug. I know it's annoying him and I love it.