three
astrid woke up the next morning to the smell of bacon. it took her a moment to remember the events of the night before, stopping her mini heart attack since she had not been used to waking up with someone else. her eyes traveled around her dark room, finding the alarm clock next to her bed. it was 7:23, seven minutes before she had to wake up to get ready for work. it was monday, meaning she had the morning shift at the shack.
a quiet moan left her lips as she rolled over in her bed, remembering to put on pants before leaving her room. no way could she risk mooning her house guest.
but, to her dismay, when she pulled back the curtain her apartment was empty. the couch that had been previously inhabited by harry was now impeccably organized, three folded blankets sat on a cushion with the pillow she gave harry the night before on top of it. disappointment rolled through her as she glanced away, remembering how nice it felt to finally to talk to someone for a change.
it was stupid she was upset that he was gone without saying goodbye, he even said last night he'd be gone in the morning. she just assumed he'd say farewell first.
whatever, it didn't matter to her anyway. he was just a random boy who needed somewhere to sleep, and astrid had been kind enough to supply his demands.
her stomach growled, snapping her back to the present. her eyes zoomed in on the counter as she saw a single plate sitting out, topped with two pieces of bacon and scrambled eggs. a giddy feeling gathered in astrid's gut as she walked to where the plate sat, a folded note sitting next to it.
astrid grabbed it, opening the note greedily.
'astrid -
thank you for being so kind to me last night.
here is some breakfast since i assumed you are not used to waking up to something being made for you.
all the love
-h'
the note surprised and confused her. part of her knew exactly what he meant in the second line, but it almost made her upset that someone knew something so private about her quickly. was she that obvious? she felt pathetic; a random stranger being able to see that she was clearly alone and had been for years.
out of frustration, astrid grabbed the plate of food and threw it in the garbage can, not bothering to leave the plate out. she didn't want another reminder of the night before and the popstar who all but showed up on her doorstep.
-
work was slow and agonizing. astrid kept glancing at the door, apart of her waiting for the famous boy to be there again. one of her regulars - jim - seems to notice this, and teases her for being 'lovestruck.' the adjective made astrid's gut curl and she made sure to spit on jim's breakfast sandwich.
jean doesn't come in all day, probably since she had mary to look after. jean also ran the retirement home, and just recently one of the elderly women had been diagnosed with alzheimer's disease, meaning she had to have around the clock care. astrid didn't mind, she was used to running the shack by herself.
"you seem tired," jeff, the main cook, observed.
astrid shrugged, pouring coffee into a mug and sliding it to a patron sitting at the counter. "it's monday." she excused.
"suuure," jeff teased, making astrid want to punch him in the face. for some reason she had been very irritable all day and all she wanted was to nap, or curl up with her favorite book, the catcher in the rye.
the rest of the day went by slowly and no sign of harry. maybe he had just been a dream, something astrid had conjured up because she was so lonely. it didn't seem that crazy - the boy she imagined was a popstar, no wonder the whole situation was weird. astrid was just bored, and the whole event was impossible to believe now.
