Sometimes seeing isn't worth believing
Synopsis:
Most people will only believe in things that they can see. But then sight isn't the only sense a person is gifted with. There are many other ways to deem if somethings are truly worth the investment of one's trust. Maybe that's what Eros was trying to point out, because as they say, "love is blind".
chapter 1
He left the building for his needed daily fix -that being basically coffee with his sugar- and a much needed brain break from doing all the paperwork that was pushed onto him, sadly because he's the new intern. Bless the god lord that it's his fifty minute lunch break.
It was a short walk to a small and homey coffee shop that he recently discovered. He liked
how it was tucked away in the small side roads, giving it an air of privacy and warmth -completely opposite of the cold yet judging atmosphere of the city they were it was in. The only people that actually frequented the store were other office workers or the people who live in the area- the ones who can afford to live in those brand new high rises or college students that lived in the nearby residency building.
Due to the bad combination of being caught in the thought process of trying to word a report and being sleep deprived, he was about an inch away from walking right into a slower paced pedestrian's back. Thankfully he had his peripheral vision which came to his rescue, grounding him to the moment at hand. With barely seconds to spare, he maneuvered himself to walk around the person, but still accidentally brushing shoulders with them.
He was about to continue on until he noticed that the person was quite startled. A moment too late, he realized that the poor victim of his carelessness was a very small female- he could've bashed into her and probably make her fall face first into the pavement due to his large build, and putting his speed into consideration, may cause an injury. One thing that hit him as odd was that she was wearing sunglasses on a cloudy day, and also had one hand palm pressed to the cold
brick wall like it was some life line of some sort. Weird.
Guilt ridden in almost crushing the poor lady, he abandoned the quest getting a coffee and turned around to check if she was okay. Hey, hurting others that don't deserve it didn't settle well in his stomach.
"Are you alright? I didn't notice you there, I was kinda walking in auto pilot."
A strained chuckle came after as he scratched his head. Damn this wasn't one bit smooth.
"...I am a bit startled, but I'm fine." the small voice was very gentle sounding. She seemed very nervous, eyes wandering around on the floor, hesitant to look up, and she still had her left hand planted to the wall.
That is when he began to pick up smaller details that he didn't notice before. Like how she was wearing a large pale blue A-line coat with large pockets, it wasn't too heavy, nor did it look like she was drowning in it. Under the coat she was wearing a warm ivory dress with a modest neckline and a pair of dark brown flats, perfect for the still warm autumn weather. She also had a short boyish cut with a straight fringe that contrasted with her pale cream white skin that held a pair of both of milk chocolate almond shaped eyes and smooth looking strawberry pink lips.
No make up either he added. He had to admit to himself, she looked like a fragile porcelain doll.
She began to shift from one foot to another, causing him to realize that they were in an awkward silence.
"..yea that's great to hear.. 'cause I would slap myself silly if I injured you since it was my fault that I wasn't really paying attention while I was walking..." he awkwardly added. God was he making an ass out of himself, especially in front of a cute girl. Like seriously, who says they would slap themselves silly these days?
He glanced at her and noticed that she had a small smile on her lips and maybe a little dusting of red, but he wasn't sure. Yet her posture still was a little tense, with her hand never leaving its place on the wall. There came no response from her, it was like she was conflicted internally.
"You alright? you seem nervous. And why do you keep your hand on the wall? Why are you wearing sunglasses on a cloudy day?"
His mouth began to run without thinking first, a sad habit he developed when he was a boy. Before when he was younger it was hard for him to cope with silence of any sort, so to counteract such he would start to ramble, just to make noise to keep him grounded- preventing anything from escalating. At times like this, when he would resort to his childish safe grounds even though he was a legal adult- two months past his 22nd birthday, he wanted to hide from the world because often at times what ever came out of his mouth would lead him to trouble.
After the last word left his tongue he finally processed what he said. Boy did he fuck up good.
Her left hand was quickly taken off of the brick wall, and she looked like she was trying to make herself shrink, or at least disappear. The last question totally caught her off guard. She began to fidget with a button on her coat.
"I am not. I am. I do so so I can keep track of where I am. It hides my eyes." Was her whisper like reply. No emotion appeared.
He was taken back by her forward answers to each of his questions. He felt wrong for asking them. They seemed very judgmental and demanding after looking back. This just added to the never ending list of why he should dig himself a hole and hide in it. He felt smooth like sand paper that moment.
"Frick, I didn't mean to ask you those questions, it's just a weird habit thing I have and I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I was actually on my way to grab a coffee and maybe something to eat at that cafe up a head, 'cause I'm on my lunch break. I didn't mean to bug you like that..."
Good Lord up above, please send a lightning bolt to disintegrate me, for I fucked up. Damn the piss poor communication skills he had in one on one situations. Damn the habit of rambling. Damn it all. At the moment he felt like an awkward turtle- just flopping its arms out while trying to withdraw into it's shell. Or better yet a Magikarp from those Pokemon games, just flopping around with the one pathetic move splash.
"It's alright. By any chance were you heading towards the Rompere Tempo?" She completely brushed his sad excuse of a proper conversation off; no look of scorn or second hand embarrassment on her face. Instead there was a gleam of understanding in her eyes. It was comforting.
"Yea, you mean the one with the door bell?"
"Yes, that one. I was actually heading towards there too."
"Okay...You... wanna head there ... together... if you don't mind, 'cause like we both are kinda headed that way."
"Sure."
She looked up, a small smile forming from her one neutral face. Relaxed, with one small step forward, she began to walk in her slow steady pace; fingers of her left hand were gently brushing against the brick wall.
Just that one little word made him smile himself, confidence being rebuilt after being shattered due to the recent not-so-slick things he said and did. And he walked with her, following her speed in an ease. It was funny how they were just a couple of feet away from the entrance of the cafe when he bumped into her accidentally.
"My name's Alfred. Alfred Jones." He said as he opened and held the door to the cafe open for her, the jingle of the bell welcoming them both.
"Thank you. And my name is Hon- I mean Kiku, Kiku Honda. It's nice to meet you." She quietly said as she walked into the store.
Alfred he paused for a bit before following behind her- he trying to hide the light blush he had- when he noticed that she was stopped by the front table by a guy, who seemed to be a barista at the cafe, in a conversation with her. And queue the slight jealousy flares, which he would later deny. Walking up he noted how her hand was on his forearm, just under the corner of his elbow. One of his hands were on top, in a gentle and caring manner. It seemed like it was a routine thing, that both were comfortable with each other's skin contact. At that moment he felt shot down, man a cutie like her would totally be in a relationship already. He knew he shouldn't have had his hopes up. Still, he could have a coffee with her right?
As he walked closer he could hear their conversation, not that it was loud in the cafe either, nor was the barista dude being quiet.
"Kiku why are you here! Where's Feli? Oh Dio don't tell me you snuck out again!" The brunet said in a manner like a parent nagging at their child.
"I needed to take a walk... you know, pre- show nervousness... And I was meaning to tell her, but she was busy designing, and you know how that goes, so I thought I would go here, considering here is very close..."
"Wait, then you came here alone? And where's your cane? Cazzo, don't tell me you didn't bring it with you." He said in astonishment and horror.
"It's alright Romano, I managed to come here fine, see? And you do know how I dislike having it around... Plus I believe I made a friend along the way as well, he was very nice and even walked with me over..." she tried to pat his upper arm in an attempt to calm him down.
"I know, but you know you need it, especially when you go out alone! Dio Kiku, you know Feli is going to get
a heart attack when she realizes you aren't home. I'm going to go give her a call right a-"
then the last words that kiku said clicked into the barista's head. eyes wide in panic, he held her shoulders.
"Did that stronzo do anything to you? Did he touch you in any way or say anything to you?"
The raven haired shook her head quickly, answering no to both his questions.
"He just walked with me to the store, and held the door open for me. he's very sweet. We were actually going to have a coffee together. And I believe he is over there." She nodded her head in Alfred's general direction.
Romano glanced and made eye contact with Alfred, and did a quick look down, recognizing that he was the guy coming in in the past month, usually in the mornings to grab a diabetes coffee.
"Fuck."
-ch1 end
===A/N===
ahahaha so this is my first fic that I've actually published. Sadly I don't have a beta for this yet. Reviews and critique would be loved!
translations:
Rompere Tempo- Italian for break time
Dio- Italian for God
Cazzo- fuck (in Italian)
Stronzo- something like ass hole in Italian