I was trying to figure out how to tell Natalie I would be quitting soon and moving to Boston for a while. I loved working at the café, but I knew that it wasn't something to do as a career my entire life, although I was certain that Loki would have continued to support me in every possible way, had I chosen to continue working as a barista. He had started to go out in the evenings, to continue teaching private lessons. I knew there were summer sessions going on, but it made me slightly unhappy to come home at the end of the day and find that Loki wasn't there. He'd been staying out later and later. Part of me wanted to know what else he'd been doing aside from teaching, as I was sure no one went for violin lessons at one in the morning. I hadn't told him this for the first two weeks after the summer sessions started; I didn't want Loki to think I didn't trust him. Some mornings I would leave him there still asleep to get to work on time. I knew he didn't mind me waking him up to say goodbye, but he seemed tired from working in the evening and I wanted him to sleep. By the time I'd get on break at work, he'd stop by to check on me, bring me lunch as I constantly forgot it.
Loki was the perfect boyfriend, and I was feeling happier than I had in a very long time being with him. One Friday evening around five, Loki dropped by the café to bring me some dinner. I knew that it was likely he wouldn't be home when I got there, so I made the most of the way things were moving slowly for the moment. We sat at the same table Loki had sat at the first time he visited the café. He was quieter than usual and looked a little bit put off about something, but he smiled whenever I met his eyes.
"What's wrong?" I asked, picking up his hand off the table. Loki's eyes widened at my question.
"Absolutely nothing, love," he said reassuringly, but the low intensity of his smile told me otherwise. Loki gripped my hand as I studied his face, not believing him. He sighed.
"It's just work. I…it's nothing, really—don't worry about it," he said, smiling and kissing the back of my hand lingeringly. He closed his eyes as he did this.
"I'm just thinking of quitting soon. I haven't been feeling very fulfilled lately…I didn't want to worry you. It's nothing," he breathed, finally admitting this. Loki checked the time on his watch and sighed.
"I've got to get going in about ten minutes," he said, checking the watch on his wrist. He sighed, "All I want to do is take you home and go to bed," he said loud enough only for me to hear. I blushed when he grinned, finishing up my Biryani. Natalie came out of the back to talk to me. Loki looked over at her when she stood in front of our table.
"I'm sorry to cut your break short, but I need you at the register. Adrienne's got to run home. Family emergency."
I sighed and started to get up. Loki followed suit.
"Oh, Nat, this-this is my boyfriend, Lo—"
I glanced at Loki whose eyes travelled to me for a quick second.
"Leonard," I said, quickly correcting myself. I knew I was going to have to ask him later what he wanted me to refer to him as in public. We hadn't talked nearly as much about his past as I wanted to, but I knew he went by Leonard as a professor, and I didn't want to spread inconsistencies about his identity. Loki laughed quietly and extended his pale hand to Natalie. She looked completely mesmerized as she gazed up at Loki's face and shook it; his charming voice poured from between his lips, the silk he had for hair tumbling over his shoulders as he bent slightly to her height.
"I'm Leonard Larsson," he said, "it's a pleasure to meet you."
"Wow," Natalie said absently. At this Loki laughed heartily, throwing his head back slightly. Natalie turned back to me for the quickest second with a blush on her face.
"I like this one, Jasmine," Loki said, nodding. It occurred to me that it was the first time he was meeting one of my female friends.
"You're tall," said Natalie, turning back to me again and cocking a brow. Loki contained himself, but smiled slyly.
"Six-five," he said nonchalantly.
"I think this one's a keeper, Jas," she said. It was my turn to laugh.
"Well, it was nice to meet you, too. I'm Natalie. Now you know who will be the one to hunt you down and destroy you if you ever break this girl's heart," Natalie half joked. Loki laughed again, cocking a brow in a way that aroused me. Something told me that he didn't like to be threatened, whether in joking contexts or not, but his affect towards Natalie was appropriate at all times. Natalie went back to the storage room. I was about to head for the counter when Loki grabbed my hips.
"Where in Midgard do you think you're going without giving me my kiss?" he asked. My face flared. Loki pulled me up towards him, not caring that there were still a few customers around to witness this less than decent for public display of affection. I felt his tongue in my mouth for a few seconds. A quiet moan escaped me, but I knew that it was only loud enough for Loki to hear. When he cut the kiss short, I was left frustrated. I still had my eyes closed, and Loki's arms still wreathed my waist. I didn't want to go back to work. Loki pressed his forehead to mine and I felt his exhale.
"I love you more than anything. Do you know that?" he asked me quietly. I opened my eyes and looked up at him. I was at a loss for words. I vaguely noticed the bell above the door tolling to signal more customers. I nodded and Loki kissed me once more.
"I'm going to finish this tea and then I've got to run," he explained. I groaned quietly, not wanting to let go of him.
"It's only a matter of hours until we're both at home," he said quietly to reassure me. I let my head fall against Loki's chest. I felt him kiss the top of it.
"Call me a bit before you close up shop and I'll pick you up," he said. I nodded. I started away from Loki, feeling his hand slip down my arm, until it clasped my own hand a moment, letting it go slowly as I walked towards the counter. When I got there and turned around, he was staring into his tea looking a bit indecisive about something. I could tell that he was thinking. I wondered what about. There were times when I wished I could read his mind. I had started to feel like there were things he wasn't telling me, things that bothered him. I tried to distract myself and turned to start a fresh brew of coffee. I pulled out the leaves for the loose peppermint tea, one of Loki's favourites, and replenished the jar that was on display. Someone cleared their throat behind me. I turned my head slightly, but not enough to see who it was. I heard the bell on the countertop toll.
"I'll be with you in a minute," I said politely.
"Jasmine," said a familiar baritone voice, and my heart jumped violently. I then realized that my ex was the customer trying to get my attention. Jared's wide, clear eyes stared me down when I turned to see him there. I glanced over where Loki was sitting to find that he had his elbow up on the table, his head resting in his palm so that his eyes were hidden.
"Are fucking following me?" I hissed, keeping my voice low. I didn't want to disturb the other customers. I was only being so bold because Loki was sitting no more than ten feet away. Jared took immediate offense and his brows furrowed. He inhaled and they un-furrowed.
"No, I'm not," he said. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to believe him, but he'd looked as surprised to see me as I was to see him when I'd turned around.
"I didn't know you worked here. What, now I'm not allowed at coffee shops?"
"Leave me alone," I said.
He just stared at me, and then looked up at the menu. He rubbed his clean shaven chin. I could have screamed, or cried, or something. I wasn't even sure how to react. His milky skin was still so beautiful to me, and he looked like any normal guy, but I knew what he was capable of.
"I think you should leave," I said, glancing over at Loki who was now closing the container he'd brought my dinner in, unaware that my abusive ex was standing right in front of me.
"I think I'll have a medium oolong," Jared said, looking directly into my eyes. I lowered my voice, "Leave, Jared."
"The restraining order expired. What are you going to do, call the fucking police?" he responded in just as quiet a voice. I felt the tears breach my eyes as I stared at his lips while he spoke.
"Look—I don't care if you don't believe me, but I had no idea you worked here. I'm just a customer. Give me my drink, okay?"
"I'm not going to give you jack shit," I said, shaking my head. Jared sighed impatiently and closed his eyes. When he opened them again to find that I hadn't moved, he just kept standing there, staring at me. I was starting to feel so uncomfortable. I just wanted him to go away, so I thought I might as well give him the stupid tea.
"For here or to go?" I asked hastily. Jared shrugged like he didn't care, and I picked up a portable cup. I put the tea together and he started to pull his wallet out of his pocket. I rung up his order.
"Three-fifty," I said. Jared handed me a twenty. I stared at his hand, reluctant to let him get that close. He stared at me and then cocked a brow when I didn't take the bill.
"Jasmine, take the money," he said. Another five seconds passed before I reached out to grab it, and Jared dropped the money on the counter before I could take it out of his hand. As I was reaching for it, he grabbed my wrist. I gasped. His grip tightened.
"I wish you would stop accusing me of shit," he said quietly. He knew what he goddamned did, and he knew that I knew it.
"It's all your fault I didn't get my degree," he said through gritted teeth. He was letting go just in time as I screamed and threw the cup I was holding at him. Loki stood up faster than Jared had time to turn around. He hurried towards the sound of my discomfort and his eyes locked on my ex. Jared was no longer holding my arm, but Loki needn't have seen what was going on to know he'd been messing with me.
"What's going on here?" he asked quite loudly, grabbing Jared's attention and stepping between him and the counter, in front of me.
"The fuck was that for?" Jared asked me, ignoring Loki and staring past him at me. He was shaking his wet arm, having been burnt by the tea I threw on him. I turned away from him. I didn't want to look at his face.
"I think you should get out," Loki said, trying to contain himself. There was a silence and it maddened me.
"Who the fuck does that, Jas?" Jared asked, making it known to Loki that he knew me.
"I want to talk to your manager," he said. I heard feet shuffling and turned around in time to find Jared throwing his fist in Loki's face. Loki barely moved at all, but he slowly turned to face Jared, who raised his fist again, but before he could throw another punch, Loki had grabbed his neck and started squeezing. He and Jared tumbled to the floor and I ran from around the counter to find them brawling on the floor. Jared managed to get another punch in, but then Loki subdued him and was straddling him, his fists retracting almost as fast as they propelled towards Jared's face. Two guys had stood up and made their way towards the fight. Jared squirmed beneath Loki, and before he could receive a fourth hit, he turned his head, causing Loki's fist to make contact with the floor. Loki yelled and was momentarily distracted, long enough for Jared to get a leg free and kick Loki in the chest. One of the men who had been approaching caught Loki and fell back with him, the other started to drag Jared up off the floor. Loki was up in a flash, and had these two perfect strangers not stepped between the two of them, I knew the fight would not have stopped there.
"What the hell is going on out here?" my boss asked, appearing from what seemed like thin air. There was no way she hadn't heard Loki yell like that.
"Both of you get out of my store before I call the police," my boss warned. Loki whipped his head in the direction of my boss. Jared shrugged the other guy off him angrily, saying that he was fine. He gave me a very threatening look as he slowly backed up. Loki looked from Jared to me before my ex stormed out of the café, nearly knocking the door off its hinges.
"You too, Mike Tyson," my boss warned, pointing at Loki. But he hurried towards me and had his hands on my waist, his face riddled with worry. I was so upset that I couldn't hear Loki asking me if I was okay. My boss appeared right next to us and started trying to pry Loki away from me. I snapped out of it at last.
"I-I'm sorry," I said, grabbing Loki's arm and starting towards the door. I just didn't want my boss to call the police. I needed to get Loki outside. Once we were standing outside of the café and out of view, I started to pace back and forth. Loki wouldn't stop asking me what had happened, did I know that vile excuse for a man? What had he done to make me scream? I wasn't answering. I was still so shaken up over the fact that Jared had gotten so close to me. Loki finally gripped my elbow.
"It was my ex," I said, shaking my head, still not wanting to believe it. Loki looked around the street angrily, and I knew he was looking for Jared.
"I—I don't know how he knew I'd be here."
"Jasmine," Loki said, his eyes having widened. I looked to see that his beautiful lip was bleeding and a bruise was forming around his left eye. I reached up, tears flowing out of my eyes, and wiped the blood from Loki's lip. He smiled in an attempt to make me feel better.
"I'm alright. I promise," he said soothingly. He pulled me into a tight embrace.
"What did he do to you, Jasmine?" Loki asked me desperately. He pulled me away a little bit to look at my face, and kept asking. I couldn't even speak; I just cried.
"Come on, let's go home," he said, leading me away from the café. I paused and stood in place. Loki turned around and tried to coerce me, but I grabbed his hands. He was looking down at me with so much concern that it started scaring me.
"I am not leaving you here while that maniac is on the loose," he said gravely, "I'm not going to work tonight; let's go home, sweetheart."
I reclaimed my hands and wiped my eyes, calming myself down. I took a deep breath and shook my head.
"No, no. You go. I'll call you before we close—it'll be fine. He won't come back. You saw my boss, Loki," I said trying to reassure him. Loki crossed his arms and glanced off for a few seconds, his jaw tightening with anger.
"I can't work worrying about you," he said, "How do you know he's not following you? The bookstore was one thing, but I think that this was too much of a coincidence. I don't want you here," Loki said, placing his hands on my shoulders protectively.
"You don't know what he might have done if I wasn't there."
I started to cry again and Loki rubbed my shoulders comfortingly.
"Jasmine, if that man touches you again, I'm going to kill him." And I believed every word.