.:Frustrated:.
Katie sighed as her shoes continued to squeak over the mall floor. She looked at her watch, still a half hour until she met her mother back at the fountain and there was no other store that she wanted to go to. Looking left and right as she continued to walk, Katie tried not to let the squeaking annoy her.
It had been drizzling near constantly for the past few hours, and Katie was the slightest bit damp, the air conditioning in the building chasing a shiver up her spine.
"Oh, are you cold?"
Katie nearly jumped, not having noticed that she had absentminded walked to the Cascade Café. Well, if she thought hard about it, she probably went there on purpose, but wasn't sure. She lifted her head and looked at Patrick, who was looking at her with a casual smile, holding a black tub filled with dirty dishes and silverware under his arms.
"No, no I'm fine..." Katie grinned.
"Do you want something to eat or drink?" Patrick offered, pointing to an empty table. "It's only 'snack time'" he used his free hand to air quote. "So basically all we have is little cakes and stuff, but it's all pretty good."
'No," Katie shook her head. Play it cool, act like you're not interested, even though he knows you are. Katie told herself, repeating some advice she had found on the internet earlier. "I have to go meet my mom and-"
"Please," Patrick stuck out his lower lip. "It's such a slow day, the others have the day off and I have to work because I had to missed a day earlier this week because of a photo shoot and I'm bored." His eyebrows shot up. "Plus, it'll be on me." He added quickly.
"Well," Katie stalled on purpose. "I can't pass up free food." She walked over to the table that he pointed at and dropped her bags to the ground. "So sure."
"Great." Patrick's smile was back.
Katie set her hazel eyes on his dark blues, leaning her elbow onto the table and resting her chin on her hand.
"Well, what can I get you?" Patrick asked, having pulled a small pad and pencil out of his back pocket. The uniform he wore fit nicely, and Katie couldn't help but want to thank the owner, for picking something that made Patrick look better than anything Katie had seen on the menu. (Not that she would say that out loud of course, but at least she could think it.) All that black contrasted with his lightly tanned skin, and dark hair, and the little tie around his neck was just adorable. The sort of thing Katie would have loved to pull on to pull him closer.
She quickly sat up, her cheeks turning a little red as she looked over her shoulder unconsciously, and then turned back to Patrick, who was waiting for an answer.
"The raspberry tea, please. And a slice of whichever cake you think is the best." Katie replied, and Patrick nodded quickly, writing the order down, though he paused at the end, as if he hadn't even thought about Katie's request till he'd gone to write it down.
"Uhm... Do I have to choose just one?" His eyebrows lowered and he let out a short sigh. "Oh, well, I'll go with the... no, wait... the carr-oh no, something else..." He was chewing at the end of the pencil, looking more distressed by the minute, and Katie couldn't keep her laugh in, reaching out and patting the hand that Patrick still held around the pad.
Physical touch is a good thing She told herself, startled at how warm his hand was as opposed to hers. "Just surprise me, its fine."
Patrick nodded quickly, and dashed off, pushing his way through the swinging doors in to the back. A second later there was a loud crashing sound and then the loud yell of him cursing.
Katie laughed to herself again and pulled out her phone, sending her mother a text where she was, sent her brother a text saying that they would be home soon, and then started to scan the internet. She was looking through a management website when she noticed movement at the other end of the restaurant and saw that Patrick was heading back to her table, holding onto a tray.
Katie turned to grin at Patrick, just as he clipped a chair that had been left out, and tripped.
Katie barely had time to register what was happening before she could feel the hot tea sinking through her jeans and burning her leg. Katie winced and stood up, quickly blotting at the spill with one of the napkins at the table. The damn thing near disintegrated in her hands.
"Don't bother," Patrick quickly whipped a dishtowel and started to dab at the blotch, looking distressed. "Those napkins suck when you really need to clean something up, trust me on that." He made tsking sound and frowned, pulling the towel away. "I'm really sorry; I wasn't watching where I was going." He looked over his shoulder.
"Its fine," Katie reassured, him, holding her hands up. "I mean, they're just jeans, they're not that special."
"But," Patrick titled his head to the side. "Aren't those your favorite jeans? You said that you were wearing them the day that your brother was discovered, AND when you got that money from Russell Brand when we were at that beach party when you helped the guys get discovered or whatever."
"I'm surprised you noticed." Katie replied, her eyes widening.
Patrick's casual smile returned. "I always notice things about you, Katie." Katie started to smile back, but then it faltered when he continued. "You're my best friend, besides Noah, and my two friends back home, so how could I not notice?"
"Yeah," Katie agreed shortly.
"Anyway, please don't tell my manger what happened," He gave a sheepish shrug. "Tom is cool and everything, but we get written up if we spill on the customers, and I've always been written up a few times in the past few days. Riles is a horrible klutz and she makes sure that she doesn't fall over either." He placed his hands together in the prayer position. "If this happens again, I'll be suspended and I need the money."
"Alright, I promise." Katie grinned. "I won't tell."
"Cool, it'll be our secret." Patrick winked at her. He then leaned over and waved as his gaze slid over her shoulder. "Hey Mama Knight," he greeted as the older women walked up to them. "Would you like some cake and tea?" He laughed as he motioned to Katie. "I promise that I won't spill it on you like I did to Katie."
"That's alright Patrick," Kacy laughed in reply, smiling warmly at the boy. "I just came to get Katie, because we have to get back to the apartment so I can make the boys dinner." Her smile widened. "God knows that the guys wouldn't be able to feed themselves if I wasn't around."
"That's the beautiful thing about having a live-in-mom," Patrick agreed with a nod. "Ri-Ri's kinda like that, she won't even let me near the stove after the one time I accidentally burnt my toast. I would starve without her." He suddenly winced, shifting his eyes to the floor.
"Mom!" Katie hissed, looking from her friend up to her mother.
Kacy recognized it immediately. "I'm sorry," she stated gently. "I didn't mean to bring it up."
"It's alright," Patrick waved a hand and grabbed the abandoned black tub. "I brought it up myself actually. But you should come in again soon," his eyes lit up. "Maybe Ronan or Kelly can bring you in; you guys can get something for free."
"I'll keep that in mind," Kacy replied and then waved. "Bye, Patrick."
"Bye." Patrick waved back and turned to go.
"Oh, wait," Katie turned back around, grabbing his attention. "Do you want to come over and hang out later?"
"Sure," Patrick nodded. "Noah and I'll be there later."
"Cool," Katie smiled and nodded back. "See you then." She turned and started to follow her mother out of the store. It's hard enough to try and get you to figure out my feelings for you, but to have to try and do that with your twin, who is going to be with us too is going to be harder. Why did I have to develop feeling for them? It was easier when we were just friends.
A/N: So raise your hand if you've ever tried to hint to the guy/girl you like that you want to be more than friends and they don't seem to get it. Yeah…it's not just Katie. I hope you guys liked this chapter and I'll update again soon, next one will be longer, I promise.
Cheers,
-Riles
