"Another row last night?" Mario asked, looking down at the young man sympathetically. He was in his mid to late twenties, with blonde hair and dark circles underneath his eyes.

"You could say that," he replied in a weary tone.

"I'm telling you Jasper, that girl is no good for you! You used to come in here all smiles and happy, and now you're just tired and depressed, all the time. She's destroying your soul, man!" Mario spoke with an exaggerated Italian accent.

"Please, Mario. I'll deal with it in my own time. I just need to wait for her to take no for an answer." Jasper's head sank into his hands as he spoke.

"Look, I'm sorry Rosalie but I don't care what you think! And stop calling me that!" A new voice entered the cafe, but it didn't seem to attract the attention of Jasper or Mario. "Fine then, be like that! Love you too."

"Ten dollars says they're sisters," Jasper murmured quietly, pulling out a newspaper.

"You're on," Mario agreed, shaking him by the hand. "Hey kid, what can I get you?" he added, addressing the girl.

"Uh...cappuccino please," she replied, not glancing up. Jasper took the opportunity to get a closer look at her. She was a little over five feet tall, with short black hair and some of the palest skin Jasper had ever seen.

"Here you go," Mario said, passing her the drink. He waved away her hand as she went to give him her money. "Hey, you give me a decent story, you have this one on the house. We've been trying to work you out for weeks now."

"Who's we?" the girl asked skeptically.

"Jasper and I, of course! There's nobody else ever in here at this time of the morning."

"Not since Ellie the Professional moved to New York, anyway," Jasper added, flipping his paper over.

"Well..." She began uncertainly. "Not much to tell really. Grew up over near Seattle, little town called Forks with my brother Edward. Moved on out here because I got sick of so much rain. Gets a little monotonous, don't you think?"

"Yeah. I went there once or twice when I was younger to see an old friend. Had to say, I preferred Texas every time." Jasper's reply was unexpected, and the girl looked at him with the expression of somebody who couldn't quite place another person.

"What was your friend's name?" she asked.

"Emmett," Jasper replied, his face suggesting that he didn't see where she was going with this.

"I knew it! I knew I recognised your face from somewhere! I was the little girl in the house when you and Emmett picked up Edward that one time! Do you remember?" The girl almost bounced, such was her excitement.

"Um...no. I never came into the house that day," Jasper said, looking confused and apologetic.

"I was outside. I watched you from the big oak tree," she explained.

"Ah," Jasper made the noise of pretending to understand.

"Anyway, thanks for the coffee!" she said, grabbing her coat from the stool and heading towards the door.

"Hey kid, wait!" Mario called. The girl turned. "What's your name?"

"Alice," she replied, opening the door and leaving the bell over it ringing in her wake.

"Alice, hmm?" Mario said, looking in Jasper's direction.

"Don't even go there, Mario. Just don't, ok?" Jasper held up his hands in front of himself to protect himself from the barrage he knew was coming.

"You were nicer to her than you were to Ellie the Professional," Mario pointed out. "And you already knew her."

"So?" Jasper shrugged.

"And she is a damn sight nicer than that girl you've got at the moment, kid. Now she really needs to get that stick out of her-"

"Mario! Please, enough." Jasper interrupted him before he could complete the sentence.

"Ok, ok. I'll leave it. For now." Mario held his hands up in defeat. "But she's pretty, eh?"

"Enough!" Jasper half-laughed. "I have to go now, my shift starts in ten. I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"

"Yeah," Mario grinned, ducking beneath the counter for a second. "Here, take this," he said, presenting Jasper with a muffin. "You need to eat, man."

"Thanks, Mario."

---

A.N. Not sure how this will go down. Please review.

Fee x