While You Were Sleeping

Chapter 1

Pretending has always been my forte.

Pretending to be okay, pretending to care, pretending that I paid my bills...

But pretending to be 1/5th of the world's largest boy band's fiancé?

Now that was a new one.

Hi, I'm Jade Parks, and apparently I'm engaged to Harry Styles.

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Near silence is one thing you could truly count on by being in the Starry Night Café, if anything at all. It was a place odd people came to escape reality, to receive their artistic inspiration... or maybe they just liked the coffee or were in a rush to catch their train and had skipped breakfast, but I, on one hand, hated the coffee and chose to believe people came to the small café for the former reasons. I've worked here almost four years and nothing had changed, not the stains on the ceiling, or the old coffee maker, or even the customers. Same old, same old.

The second I stepped in for my shift I knew it was going to be a night I wouldn't be able to take a rest. The small place was crammed to the door of people wanting a last minute muffin before catching their train and the booths and tables, however few of them there were, were piled with people wasting away their time before the next train arrived with extended coffee and newspaper breaks.

The bustle behind the counter and the chaos in front was unmistakable. The Christmas season had hit.

I threw my black, half-apron around my waist and tied it up quickly before pulling my long dark hair up in a high bun to keep it out of my way. It was going to be a long night of miserable business people and the crazy artistic types the café always seemed to attract.

"Oh, Jade! You're here... finally. Uh... take your half, and quickly. Rachel got off fifteen minutes ago and Emily hasn't been checked on since." I nodded at Anthony, my forty-something year old boss with a genuine handle-bar moustache and an annoying habit of talking too much, before rushing out from behind the counter, squeezing past the men in business suits in line.

See, the café was so small that were only ever had two waitresses on staff, and we only usually had to split the café in half. Even with that we only served a handful of people each shift, including a regular even Anthony referred to as Rainbow. Behind the counter, we had a pretty tight-knit staff and each of the regulars, depending on either their looks or habits, had a nickname.

Tonight was slightly different though, and as I passed Emily on my way to check on Rainbow, she rolled her bright green eyes, hands occupied with two full trays of dirty coffee cups and miniature plates.

"Christmas." She muttered.

"Scrooge!" I shot back, hearing a laugh from her behind me as I whipped out my notebook at Rainbow's table. She looked up at me with those massive, confused brown eyes, brushing one curl out of her face and behind her pierced ear. She was wearing her typical tie-dyed t-shirt (hence the nickname) and torn up, stained jeans.

"Oh, hello, Jade! Busy night, huh?" Her voice was slow and heavy as if she had to think about each word before allowing it to grace the world. I shrugged, taking a quick glance around to humor her.

"Nothing I can't handle, hon. What is it for you today?" You would think for a regular, she would have a regular order. I mean, she was in the Café at least once a day. But I wasn't sure she even remembered what she'd ordered the day before, so she switched it up on us each and every day.

"Well, I think I will have the..." She took his time in searching over the small squared menu that I'm sure she should know like the back of her hand. Once again, if she could even remember what she ate for breakfast. "Can I just get a black coffee today?"