Shattered Dreams

Chapter 10

        Taking a deep breath, I slowly lift up my fist to knock at the dark oakwood door before me. When no one answers the door after a few minutes, I face palm myself internally at my stupidity and press on the doorbell. Immediately, I hear thundering footsteps and the door swings open to reveal a shirtless Christian. My eyes trail down his chest to land on his abs. There's a fresh layer of sweat lining them which gives me the hint that he was working out. My face flushes as I notice him watching me admire his abs. I lower my gaze to the floor and push my hair behind my ear before looking back up at his face. 

        "Uhh...Can I come in please?"I ask quietly. Christians face flushes in embarrasement and he quickly stammers out a 'yes'. He takes a step to the side to let me in and I can't help but notice the mere inches between us. As soon as the door closes, Christen steps back to give me more space and I can't help but feel disappointed. We stand there in silence before he runs his hand through his light brown hair and hesitantly says, 

       "I-I should go put on a shirt," Pointing to the living room to the right, he adds. "Just wait for me on the couch over there." Some weird bold part of me causes me to step in front of him and say, 

        "I think you look perfectly fine without one." I notice Christians shoulders relax as he leans back and smirks at me.

         "You sure? Do you think you'll be able to handle it all?"I raise an eyebrow in reply and push back my bold side before I say something stupid, after all it it like the second time I've met him.

        "I'm sure, but if you're not, feel free to go put one on." I push my way past him and innocently take a seat on the couch he had pointed at a while ago. I dig my fingers into soft brown couch as I try to hide my returning nervousness. Christian walks up to the couch across from me and takes a seat. His smirk has fallen off as he gazes at my face. My fingers creates a design on his soft velvet couch before I speak up quietly, my gaze still direct at the my hand. "I'm sorry. I was not planning on ruining the night like that, and on top of that, I threw up on you which was totally not lady like." I finally meet his gaze which is showing no emotions. "I'm sorry and I totally understand if you never want to see my face again, but you have to know that there was a reason for why the day went how it went." Before I can elaborate, Christian leans across the gap between us and sets his hand on my knee.

       "I don't need to know your reasons. When you are ready, you can tell me but I'm not forcing you to tell me now." A small smile appears on his face. "You think I took the extra time to tell Eliza that I wanted to meet you so that I could tell you that I never want to see your face again?" My lips twitch into a smile and I look into his eyes, all I see is sincerity. According to Jaxon, he's the one, a man who still came back to me even though I threw up all over him on the first date. 

---

        I step out of the 2017 honda civic and turn to face the driver. He has a tiny smile placed on his lips as he gazes at me which causes me to respond with a smile of my own. After clearing up all the confusion, Christen and I spent time getting to know each other at the local park and now he's dropped me off in front of the cafe. Lifting my hand in a wave, I bid Christen goodbye before turning to walk up to the cafe. As I step in, my eyes immediately go to the girl at the counter. Hearing the door open, Eliza looks up from her phone to meet my eyes. A smirk creeps onto her face and once I get to her, she raises one eyebrow. 

      "So? Looking at your face, I'm gonna guess that it went well?" I nod my head and lean my elbows on the counter, across from her. 

       "Well is an understatement." I state. "He asked me out again, thought that we could do a redo." Eliza's eyebrows fly up but before she has a chance to reply, a voice interrupts us. 

       "Look's like he's the one." Jaxon's breath tickles in my ear and I immediately spin to face him which is a big mistake since he's standing closer than I expected. Jaxon's head is angled down towards me and as usual, he shows no emotions. If I angle my head up to look at him, our lips would be mere inches apart, causing me to look up at him through my lashes. 

        "Yeah, I guess." I whisper breathlessly. Our eyes lock and I can't seem to break the eye contact. For a few minutes, all I can think of are the deep pits staring into my soul until Eliza's voice pierces through my thoughts. 

         "Either that or he really wants to get laid." Jaxon and I both take a step back, our eye contact breaking as I turn to look at Eliza. 

         "I don't think that's his intention. He seems like an actually genuine person." Eliza tries to assess my face to see if I mean it and slowly nods before looking past me as a customer comes up. I step out of the customers way and immediately notice that somehow within a couple minutes, Jaxon has disappeared. My shift starts in a couple minutes which is why I ignore the disapointment I feel and push open the door to the employees section. I throw on my apron and slip in next to Eliza. I don't notice the time pass by as I take orders and soon its closing time. Letting out a sigh, I watch the last customer leave the cafe before I flip the open sign to the closed side. Eliza's still here since she's the second manager and has the responsibility of closing up. I quickly slip out my phone and text Owen to come pick me up. I take off the apron and hang it before exiting the cafe. I watch Eliza look up the store and leave through the back door after saying goodbye to me, as I wait for Owen. With my legs stretched out before me, I lean back on my hands in front of the cafe and lift my head to gaze at the dark sky. I always found a sense of serenity in the night sky. A couple stars twinkle in my vision and I try counting them. I'm so lost in my thoughts that I don't notice someone walking towards me until they have taken a seat beside me in the same pose as me. Looking to my right, I see Jaxon, he has his eyes closed as he lifts his face to sky. Some of his dark hair has fallen so that its covering his eyes and I get this urge to push it back. 

       "I thought you left." My voice echoes around the empty parking lot. With his eyes still closed, Jaxon replies.

        "I did, but I returned." I shake my head in annoyance at his vagueness. "It's quieter here, at the edge of town. I like to come here when it gets too loud by Crown Black." 

         "Yeah." I whisper as I continue staring at the dark sky. Now that he has said it, I can't help but notice it. It's just at the edge of town but it feels like the heart of the city is worlds away as I lose myself to my thoughts. "It is." We sit there in silence and yet it feels like a conversation, a mutual understanding. My fingers make circles on the cement before a thought comes to mind.

        "You said that the next time we met, you'd tell me your story." My voice is soft as I say it, as if I'm talking to a wolf during a full moon. Jaxon's eyes snap open and he tilts his head to look at me. 

         "I came here for the silence, not your voice." I continue looking him into his eyes. I know that there is a story that he is hiding. No one can become so emotionless without previous trauma.

          "Then why'd you come sit next to me?" Jaxon opens his mouth slightly before sitting upright. He breaks eye contact with me and stares and the ground in front of him. 

          "I never said next time, I said maybe some other time." I shift my position so that I'm not leaning on my hands anymore. Brushing the dirt from my hands onto my jeans, I lean forward to get a look at Jaxon's face. His face is the same as always as he turns to meet my eyes. 

          "What are you hiding, Jaxon?" I ask quietly. Anger flashes in his eyes before it turns to something else when I add. "Whatever it is, I'm going to find out, okay?" These are the first emotions I have seen from him and I can't help but feel like by getting them out of him, I have accomplished something.

           "You know nothing, Cynthea." My name comes out as poison from his mouth but even then, all I feel in concern for the man in front of me. What turned him into this emotionless person?

---

I have updated!! Hopefully this chapter was interesting for some, if it was, don't forget to vote and comment! <3