Illusions

Chapter Thirteen

She sips her coffee slowly, eyeing the man wrapped in leather at the end of the counter to her left, her gaze sweeping right passed the grumpy man-child beside her and the man always on the verge of tears. There's just something about the man that screams suspicious, even if he's only sitting there, drinking his coffee with his weird briefcase, box thing, beside him. Suspicious, she scoffs in her mind, but her attention is rudely interrupted with a hot cocoa sliding into her view.

She cringes.

"Hey Ally," Ruby leans in abnormally close and lowers her voice. "A secret admirer wanted to buy this for you."

Emma's face instantly expresses her perplexity, scrunching up comically as her head jerks back. "What? Who?" She balks, her mouth curling into an even deeper frown before her eyes skeptically shift all around her, on the prowl for the bastard who sent the one thing she despises.

Two seats down to her right, a man with perfectly sculpted brown hair swooping up with far too much gel, and big puppy dog, brown eyes, offers her an awkward wave with an impish smirk.

"Hey."

Without truly recognizing her action, her face expresses her distaste.

"And you're into guys," Ruby mocks before she scoffs and struts away with far too much smugness for Emma's liking.

She quickly wipes her face clean and plasters on her adorable Allison Cameron perk and flashes a flirtatious grin. "So, you're the not so secret admirer?"

"Or you could call me Bae."

"Bae? Your name is Bae?"

"Yeah...uh my parents must have been high when they named me, Baelfire. It's a terrible name, but I thought Bae is at least a little better than Baelfire." Emma grimaces. "No? Bae's not better? Should I change it? I should probably stop by the courthouse right now, huh? I should go...." Emma actually laughs at this and shakes her head. "Are you not going to drink your hot chocolate?"

Her eyes reluctantly drift down toward the beverage in questioning and she really tries not to wince.

"Why would you send over a hot chocolate?"

"I was aiming for charming and adorable. I didn't want to come off too strong and send over something with alcohol giving you the impression of a pervert."

"You could still be a pervert."

"I could probably be a pervert, but you're definitely a thief."

"I'm a thief?" She balks, one eyebrow scaling high in questioning.

"Yeah, you already stole my heart right out from under my nose. You're a sly one. But if you aren't interested, please give back my heart before you walk away."

"Does this nonsense banter usually work for you?" She deadpans, ignoring the disgusting and vicious drink taunting her from her peripheral.

"Not quiet sure," he smiles from ear to ear, reaching his playful eyes as he slides down one stool closer, so he's sitting with just one stool left between them. "You tell me, how am I doing?"

Her lips pucker out while she squints at the man, assessing his ratty brown jacket, down to his dirty cargo pants, and worn out sneakers. There's something familiar about him, she's not entirely sure why, but she feels like maybe she's already met him. Maybe in another life, she thinks to herself, or maybe he reminds her of someone. Either way, her sirens of dirty scoundrel are blaring loud and clear in her mind. So, she entertains him.

"I'm not going to answer that, you're far too cocky," she boldly announces and pivots to face forward again, reclaiming her coffee.

"Fair enough," he chuckles, making himself comfortable as he leans against the counter, still facing her and maybe even memorizing her. "So, what brings you to this small town? Haven't seen you before."