It had been days since Joe had been to the laundrymat. his clothes were still in the black garbage bag on the floor in his bedroom. He hadn't had time to take his clothes out. After Billy picked him up at the laundrymat he had to go work a corner and had been busy doing business with Billy and helping him out since. Joe walked into his bedroom after a long night on the corner of 5th and Westin. He was tired and annoyed. He hadn't much sleep lately. He was walking towards his bed when he tripped over the black bag of clothing and almost fell forward.

"What the fuck" Joe stated, kicking the bag and heard a what sounded like paper crinkling come from the bag. He sat himself on the corner of his double bed and started pulling the clothes from the bag. At the bottom of the bag the was a green notebook. The notebook looked ragged and like someone had dropped it in a puddle. He examined the book and and turned the cover over. It was pretty much ruined. Most of the writing wasn't legible anymore but the front page was still somewhat clear. The ink had ran a bit but he could still make it out.

Contact Information:

Name: Ava Griffin

Student #: 7788203

Phone #: 678-555-2334

He then opened the book and continued to try to read through it to find out what other information he could about her. She had a lot of Jim's Cafe written in it. He assumed its where she works. Joe smiled to himself. He was pretty sure that's where Jamie's g.f works also. If his memory served him correctly he had picked Kate up there a few times with Jamie. Maybe today was going to be a good day afterall. Joe pulled out his cell phone and put Ava's number in his contact information and sent out a text message.

Ava was at work bored out of her mind. It was always slow around 5am. No one really started to come in until around 8:30/9ish. She sat there on a stool behind the counter staring at her english paper, waiting for the muffins to finish baking when her cell started to beep. She reached into her pocket and looked at the message.

"hey shorty" it read from a number she didn't know

WTF? she thought.

"I think you have the wrong number" she texted back

"Nope. I have the rite no. Did yr clothes finally get dry?" a message came back

No ... it couldn't be. Could it? and if so how did he get my number?

"Is this who I think it is?" Ava wrote back

"I dunno. Who do you think this is?" Joe wrote back smiling to himself leaning back on his bed.

God! What was his name! I know he told me it. Think, think, think! ... argh. Get a better memory Ava! ... JOE! that's it. his name was Joe!

"Joe?" she wrote back

"I c you remember me" Joe pressed the send button smiling that she remembered his name

"How did you get my number?" she wrote back

"I have my ways" Joe lied. He didn't really expect to see her again. Don't get him wrong he thought she was gorgeous and would have loved to see her again but he didn't really make any plans in the near future to seek her out. Girls like her never really consider giving guys like him the time of day. She was clearly not "his people". She was short, blue eyed, blond haired, had a curvy body. She had plump breasts, thick thighs and a cute butt. She wasn't fat by any means. She just wasn't like the women he was used to being around. Definitely not like the women he had been with or that hung around the gang. They were all sickly thin and strung out. Ava was healthy and she carried herself well. Not to mention she had short hair. Most the women around the gang had straggly long hair or a head of weave. Maybe this might be different though.

Ava didn't know what to write back to that. She was sitting behind the counter of the coffee shop not knowing if she should be flattered or freaked out. One thing for sure she was smiling but the last thing she needed right now was some sort of fling or getting her heart broken. Been there done that ... and recently. Ava's b.f had just dropped her ass faster than a hot potato. Something about how they aren't connecting anymore. Not to mention the trip to Europe he was set to take with Emily. That bitch! Ava thought. Emily was her best friend. Her only friend. So much for friends she thought when another text came through her phone

"I am going to catch some zzzzzzs. I've been up all night. Maybe I'll see you around shorty." Joe sent his message, eyes heavy lidded with sleep not expecting a reply since she didn't reply to the last message

Ava smiled to herself at the thought of seeing Joe around again. Yeah he was annoying and an asshole at first but what guy isn't. Ava pushed a few characters into her phone and pressed the send button.

Joes eyes split open for a second and looked down at his phone.

"Sweet Sleep" was the reply he got from her. Sweet sleep it will be indeed.

*********** later that evening***********

Ava walked into the Cafe for her evening shift. She had attended her classes and managed to push herself to actually go into work. She didn't generally work the evening shift but Jill called in sick so she had to go cover for her. The cafe had only a handfull of people in it. She walked behind the counter and dropper her heavy bag on the floor.

"Sorry I am a bit late but the damn bus didn't stop because it was full and I had to wait for the next one" Ava stated to the girl behind the counter with her

"No worries, Ava. It's not like it is so busy I couldn't handle it" Kate stated motioning to the five people in the cafe.

Ava nodded her head and giggled. "True." she stated. "Hey Kate, do you mind if I sit her and catch up on my reading? I am about a week behind and need to get it read through for Tuesday for my test."

"Yeah, no problem college girl" Kate joked. "Do what you have to do"

"Thanks" Ava smiled to Kate. She had always liked Kate. She didn't work with her often because Kate generally worked evenings but when she did work with her it was always relaxed and easy. Kate was about 5"9, brown shoulder length hair, about 125lbs and pretty. She was hard though. In a tough as nails sort of way. She didn't take crap from no one, not even our boss.

It had been about 3 hours and the five people had left and the place was empty.

"Hey, I'm gonna close up early. You ok with that?" Kate asked Ava

"You think that's going to fly with Jim?" Ava asked concerned about their boss

"Who's gonna know. Not like he will." Kate said. "Besides, I will fill out our time sheets as if we worked the hour we have left. So he will never know. It's not like customers are knocking our doors down tonight" Kate laughed

"Point taken" Ava stated. "I guess is was kinda purposeless that I even came in today" Ava laughed. "It's not like I did any work"

"Hey, enjoy the break when you have it" Kate said.

A car pulled up and honked the horn. Kate gathered her jacket and purse while Ava shoved her book into her backpack.

"Hey, we're having a party tonight, if you want to come" Kate stated. "You don't look like you get out much and honestly with the amount of reading you just did I'm sure you can use a drink"

"Oh ... well... I " Ava started trying to find an excuse

"No pressure" Kate said in a chuckle. "Here's the address." she handed Ava a slip of paper. "Its at our place, at stokely. People will prolly start showing up around 11:30/12ish. If you find yourself with nothing to do, stop by" Kate said ushering Ava out the door. "Maybe I'll see ya. If not" Kate shrugged. "I'll see ya when I see ya"

Ava nodded to Kate as she got into the car that had honked earlier. She waved and seen the that guy in the car waved as did Kate and pulled out of the parking lot. Ava made her way over to the stop light and waited for the walk sign to show so she could cross the street.

Ava's hair: .com/albums/y292/leesel/ds%20fic/?action=view¤t=

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