It's Christmas time in New York City and the Espresso Coffee House and Bakery needs two people to work the night shift to keep the cafe open until midnight.
And so that's how Harry, a shy, introverted bookworm, ends up spending his evenings working...
The next couple of nights went by and as Louis and I began to talk more I found myself looking forward to my night shifts at the coffee house more and more.
Monday
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"What's that?" I as finish sprinkling crumble on the new batch of blueberry muffins.
"This is my baby," Louis said proudly holding up a fancy looking camera.
"Odd." I say, "I'm not usually scared of babies."
"You're scared of cameras?" Louis asked.
Before I could respond a man came in and I had to take his order.
"One black coffee please." He asks and I nod, punching the order into the computer as Louis heads off to make the drink.
Once he had his coffee and was seated by a window seat reading Louis sidled back to his perch on the counter and asked again. "You're scared of cameras?" as if we weren't interrupted at all.
"Maybe just a little bit," I say. "It's silly I know."
"Harry, remember what I told you? You don't have to worry about being silly around me. I won't judge you I promise."
"I guess I don't like the attention," I mumble looking down.
My last encounter with a camera had been my sixteenth birthday when everyone at school was singing for me, which is uncomfortable enough on its own when my sister whipped out her phone and took a photo of me. Later that evening she showed me the photo between fits of laughter. I looked absolutely petrified. My eyes were half squeezed shut, my mouth was in a thin line and my shoulders were tensed up. I grimaced at the memory.
"Can I try something?" Louis asks.
I looked up to see him shifting the camera in his hands.
"No..." I say ducking my head and letting my curls cover my face.
"Please," Louis says softly reaching out with his hand and lifting my chin, so we were eye to eye.
My breath hitched and I completely got lost in the intensity of blue as Louis slowly held up his camera and snapped a photo.
Usually, when someone takes a picture of my I flinch at the click of the camera, but I didn't this time because looking into Louis's eyes made me feel relaxed and safe.
He took a couple more and I didn't think I had ever felt more comfortable in front of someone.
"Could you smile?" Louis asks quietly and I bit my lip. I was about to protest but Louis was making me feel all warm inside and I felt like I owed it to him.
Not knowing exactly what he was looking for I gave a small tentative smile.
