Black cats and broken mirrors - [HIATUS]

03 - Friend or foe?

 'Hey, it's the umbrella guy !'
 'Hope you're having a nice day.'

 Ignored, mostly because he wanted to, yet a part of him wanted to answer, he suppressed it by not paying attention to his own phone. But don't worry, Tom is not a bad person, soon or later he would just tap the messages by accident, groan and curse at himself, and then answer calmly. Still half asleep – and fully waking up halfway there – , he dragged himself to the bathroom and proceeded to stare at himself in the mirror, concentrating the weight on his arms that rested on the sink.

 A mess, it was so easy to point out everything that was wrong on a skin so pale like his. A lot of dark spots on both of his cheeks and forehead from popping all pimples that ever appeared, bags under eyes and dark circles almost all around them, pale and thin lips that couldn't be seen in the distance, a scar under his chin, and not to mention the thing that always attracted attention to him: his eyes. Welcome to your daily session of self deprecation.

 Although it's easy to point flaws when you don't focus on the good things. 

 When he was finished with "admiring" himself, Tom started to get ready for the day. He would have forgot about his phone if he didn't hear a buzz on his nightstand.

'Text me when you can.'

 His curiosity got the best of him, and he read the message, without opening it. Why was that guy being so nice to him? Tom would have to go out soon or later, but just thinking about being with someone made him tired. Physically and mentally. Maybe if he went to that cafe he said he worked at, it would look more casual. So instead of accidentally opening the texts, cursing at himself and then answering calmly, he just went to the cafe, and now, to pretend to be oblivious to the texts.

 He took the same route as the previous day when coming back from the park, tripped on the same spots, got a dog follow and bark at him, and even tripped on the same hole on the sidewalk and fell to his knees, but today they were spared for he didn't use the same jeans. At least one good thing had to happen, at least once in a week. Despite all of the bad luck the guy had on him, pushing a pull door was just lack of attention. 

 When someone actually pulled it, and the bell rang – both above the door, and inside Tom's head -, he wasn't surprised at himself, most people would be ashamed and walk away awkwardly, but Tom was used to it. He got inside and caught a glimpse of a certain ginger at the counter, but didn't go to talk to him, he looked busy with someone else, instead, he had chosen the table that was the farthest to the place the ginger was, and waited for someone to take his order, if anyone would actually come.

 Tom took his time to observe the world through the window next to him, he wanted to be carefree like the people who walked by the sidewalk and crossed the streets, and not worry about everything that would possibly happen to him, when he caught himself thinking too much, he decided to go through his phone, it was a shame he forgot it at home.

 "Good morning, sir, may I take your order?" The tall brit said with amusement, stopping right in front of the table Tom was sitting, his hands behind his back as he leaned forwards a little, a small grin on his face.

 Tom eyed him for a moment. Matt didn't have a notepad, no pen, and he wouldn't be a waiter if he was behind the counter just a few minutes ago, still Tom was polite, smiled for less than a second at the guy, and said his order. "Good morning, I'd like a cup of black coffee, please."

 Tom heard a scoff, but it wasn't a mocking one. "Black coffee? Nobody orders that." 

 "Well," Tom shrugged. "I guess I am Nobody now." He said in a light tone, but couldn't help but feel a little tiny bit offended. 

 "Oh, would you like a biscuit or a croissant to go with your coffee, mr. Nobody?" 

 The shorter male glared at Matt, and later shook his head. "No, thank you."

 "Alright, I'll be back in a minute." Matt shrugged slightly with a smile, and walked away.

 "Take your time." Tom rolled his eyes and rested his chin on a palm, his elbow on the table. A couple minutes passed,and he could spot the ginger coming back, but with both hands occupied instead of one, he didn't think much of it, maybe the guy was hungry too, or not, the answer came when the guy passed both of the items to Tom, he eyes the other a little confused.

 "What?" The ginger tilted his head, sitting down.

 Tom rolled his eyes, or it looked like it. "I told you, I didn't want anything else." He scowled, though he noticed it didn't affect the other on the slightest, he still had that smile, it was getting so annoying, to see him like that all the time, how can someone always be so happy like that?

 "If it's because of the money, consider it free, I'll be paying for it." 

 Tom blew on the coffee as an attempt to cool it down. "I'll pass." 

 Matt looked down at his hands on the table, and fiddled with them. "It wasn't an offer." He said a little quietly, he just trying to be nice.

 "I don't need your kindness." He said stubbornly, but felt a little bad when he saw Matt slightly frowning, he decided to change the subject, with a sigh. "Aren't you supposed to be working, anyways?"

 "I'm on my break."

 "Oh." Tom looked down at his cup. "Then why would you bother to spend your break with me?" 

"Honestly," Matt tapped his index fingers together, his look innocent. "I just think you're pretty neat." He said shyly, the response he got was a puzzled look, which was replaced for a rather relaxed one right after, and a sigh. "...What? Did I say something wrong?"

 Tom took a sip of his coffee, he burned his tongue, but recovered well and quickly. "No, but is that all?"

 Matt chuckled awkwardly. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, everyone who had known me for at least two hours would never compliment me, actually, it's not common for strangers to compliment each other," He stated, as an observation. "Just, cut that off, I don't know what your intentions are, but I do assume you have some, no one is so nice for no reason, so again, why?"

 "Well, I'm sorry that I'm not like all the other people who were once mean to you," Gee, maybe the guy had gone through so much, he forgot what kindness was like. That or he was just being an asshole. Matt couldn't help but reply in a kind of annoyed tone. "But, remember when I said I'd be your friend? That's what I'm trying to do, so, if you don't mind it, you cut that off too, and stop being so negative."

 And with that, he got up and left, back to behind the counter, even considered not paying for the coffee anymore, but he would feel bad later. The brunet, on the other side, would've said something if he wasn't slightly shocked, and if the ginger didn't leave so abruptly. But from his words, you could tell, friend, not foe.

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Word count: 1287