Falling For Coke

Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19

I get out of the taxi with Grace trailing behind me.

"If he hurts you again," she starts thoughtfully. "I'll hang him by his toes until he's dead and then I'll get a hundred horses to trample his corpse. And then I'll throw the remains into the garbage dump."

I shudder. "How pleasant."

"Hey, there he is," Grace whispers. Then she crouches down and starts sneaking to his car like James Bond.

"Stop it, Grace!" I scold. "Just walk...naturally."

She stands straight and we walk to his car.

"Who's that?" Grace points to a guy coming out of Coke's car. Black hair and electric blue eyes...

"Thomas," I reply. "And I thought this was personal," I add dryly.

Coke gets out of the car, the wind making his caramel hair whip across his face. Goddamn it, you don't have the right to look that hot, Coke.

We're standing in front of The Cozy Cup, one of the best coffee places in the world It's next to...Starbucks, maybe.

The two guys approach us. This is awkward...

"Who are you?" Thomas asks Grace quite rudely.

"Grace," she says haughtily. "Perkins."

"Oh yeah? Well I am..." he pauses and says dramatically, "Thomas. Simms."

Awkward...

"So...uh, let's go in," Coke blurts out. "What do you guys want? It's on me."

We head to the counter where a guy, about twenty or so (a very young hot twenty at that) watches us from behind his place at the counter. He's got blond hair that falls into his golden eyes. A strange, yet attractive mix.

"Hey," he says, he winks at us. "I'm Lawrence. What can I get you guys?"

"I'll have an iced mocha..." Coke says.

"Dark chocolate millshake, low-fat milk," Thomas states.

"Er..." I begin. "Same as Thomas, I guess."

"...low-fat milk..." Lawrence repeats. "And you..." he pauses and smirks. "Milady," he says directly to Grace.

"I'm...I'll have..." Grace stammers. Grace...stammering? She shrugs and flashes a nervous grin wider than normal. "Me? Uh...I'm good. Fine. Excellent, actually."

Then she realizes we're all gaping at her. "Yeah, I'll just have a cappuccino," she adds hastilly.

"Sure," Lawrence winks. "Mmm. The cappuccino is our best seller."

"Uhhh..."

"So!" I interrupt the awkward moment. "That's an iced mocha, two dark chocolate milkshakes, low-fat, and a cappuccino."

"Yep, that would be twenty dollars," he says.

"You guys go and find a seat. I'll wait here...for the drinks," Grace says. She winks at me and smiles. As if Alex never cheated on her. As if she never cheated on him. As if they never broke up. As if she might not be pregnant. As if she was never sad at all.

"Okay, Bright," Coke begins, when we find a comfy place to discuss things. "This is not what it looks like...I'm sorry for whatever I did to you, okay?"

There goes those eyes.

I let out a strangled laugh. "You," I say, breathless. "You think you can just almost kiss me and give me puppy dog eyes and say sorry? You think after that, everything's back to normal?"

He remains quiet, which means it's true. Thomas interrupts the silence. "Look guys. I can see that this is taking a very intimate turn so I'll just be headed over to Sprite over there..." He nods to a group of giggling girls at the far end of the room. He grins at Coke. "Enjoy." With a slight tilt of his head, he walks over to the group of females cautiously.

"Well," Coke tells me, drumming his fingers on the table. "My sister wants the first ever original Coca Cola can."

"The what?"

"The first ever original Coca Cola can."

I smack the table hard with my palm. "This is getting very random and you know it."

"But it's true."

I turn my gaze momentarily to Grace and the guy named Lawrence. They're chatting animatedly now, making ridiculous faces. I swivel back to face Coke once more. "Okay. A Coke can, you say."

"Yes."

"Okay, this is crazy. Crazy."

Suddenly, Thomas is back, flushed red. "I do not understand girls. At all. Why." He turns to Coke. "Shove over."

Coke glares at him, but scoots over to give Thomas space. At the same moment, Grace returns, also flushed red, but for a different reason. "Rence just gave me his number."

"Rence?" I ask, automatically giving her space to sit down.

"Lawrence. Jace-like hot barista over there. He is cute." She looks at all of our faces. "Don't worry, guys, drinks to be served in like a few minutes."

"Okay," I say. "Coke here," I pause to glare at him. "wants an antique Coke can."

"I do not want it. Carolyn does and she's threatening to disown me. That's why I'm with Sophia. Because of that for some crazy reason. I don't know why she wants it. She just says it's valuable or something. Okay?" Coke explodes. "I have no idea where it is or what she needs it for. But-"

"But what?"I hiss.

"Holy crap." He swears and runs a few fingers through his hair. "Yup. Oh god. I think it's with Sophia. And something's in it, I think. It's not just empty."

"Some see the Coke can half empty," murmurs Thomas. "Others see it half full."

"Oh, shut up." Coke takes a deep breath. "Look. This sounds weird but it kind of makes sense. Our business is dying. Carolyn wants money. Something is in that can. Or with that can. Or whatever. Tomorrow, we talk to Sophia."

I clear my throat. "Are you sure with that 'we' you were saying?"

He looks taken aback. "Bright..."

I glare at him once more. "I hate you," I say. "But..." I groan. "Oh, alright. Fine. But you owe me-you owe us," I correct pointedly. "one."

"Okay." He smiles, dimples and all. "Deal."

* * * * *

I have updated! Cue the hallelujah chorus!This is for K squared, my fellow shadowhunter. ILY:)

Anyway, I have no idea what to do next. Shall I continue this series? Hmmmm.

Anyway, I changed my username as you may have noticed.

Thanks guys. I am nearing 600 views. Woo!

-K