Four Months Later

Lita applied a second even coating of her red lipstick on her full lips, the final touches of her makeup as the bus moved. She did a quick mental prayer, praying that the bus doesn't hit bumps on the road. Today was the first day of her new morning shift, after months of working the afternoon shift until closing time.

Lita thought this was a blessing and a curse at the same time. A blessing being that she was going to be with her good friends Sade and Danielle, and second, she'd have her afternoon free. A curse being that she was not a morning person, and it would normal reoccurrence that she'd hastily do her makeup on the bus. Lita hated it, but she had to do what she had to do.

She pulled on the cord to signal the bus driver to stop at the incoming bus stop near the coffee shop. She got up and thanked the driver on her way out, before going on her five minute walk to the shop. Much to her annoyance, she passed the liquor store to hear two guys calling her.

"Ayo, Mami, look here!" Lita heard him call.

She whirled around to see them, she mentally recoiled at the sight of them, a Puerto Rican guy and a gangsta rap white guy that tried so hard to act black, but would probably get scoffed and laughed at by the black community. One of them wore an ugly jacket that was out of style since 1995. Then that person had the nerve to say to her,

"Come my way, baby."

"Sorry, I gotta go to work," Lita replied, trying so hard to be nice, instead of flipping him off.

But unfortunately, the man was persistent. "But come on, that ass looks great in that uniform," he said.

Lita put on a smug smirk for the guy to screw with him. "Not a chance, horndog."

She rolled her eyes and went on her way to work. She almost laughed when she heard the Puerto Rican guy yell out,

"Oh, alright! Alright, go then! With your Selena lookin' ass!"

Lita flipped him the bird, and she heard the white guy say to his buddy,

"Hey, hey, chill, it's not worth it, she ugly anyways."

"Hmm, the last guys I fucked thought otherwise," Lita thought to herself, not even bothering to care about what two ugly cokeheads thought.

Lita stepped inside the coffee shop to see her girls getting the shop ready for opening time. She inhaled the welcoming scent of the coffee brewing and the pastries being baked by the cooks.

"Mornin'," Lita called, taking off her jacket and hanging it up on the rack by the kitchen.

"Hey, baby girl," Danielle greeted. The pair exchanged kisses on the cheek.

"What's up? You're out of breath," Sade said, after receiving kisses from Lita.

"Oh, you know, let's just say I'm not a morning person," Lita replied. "And I ran into some crackheads by the liquor store."

"Did that cabrón try to holla?" Danielle asked knowingly.

"Yup, how'd you know?"

"He did the same shit to me yesterday until I told him 'hell no,' " Danielle said, rolling her eyes.

"Don't take it personal, Li," Sade added. "He tries to shoot his shot at every girl and fails."

"Oh, no, sweetie, I told him off and he'd told me to go with my Selena lookin' ass." Lita scoffed.

Danielle sucked her teeth. "He actually complimented you, I wish I looked like Selena."

"God rest her soul," Sade added.

Lita sighed sadly and made the sign of the Cross looking up. Their conversation was cut short when the manager came bounding in the lobby saying,

"Alright, girls, everything ready?"

"Yes, ma'am," Sade replied. "We're all set."

"Well, get ready to take orders, 'cause here they come," the manager said, pointing out the window to see a few people coming towards the shop.

Sade rushed to unlock the door, and thus the day began. Everything went smoothly, Lita striding comfortably through her new shift, serving her customers. And then, at a little after nine o'clock, her heart nearly shot out of her when she saw none other than the record store boy coming in her coffee shop. Her heart pounded as he sat down at the one of the booths by the window, took off his leather jacket, revealing a white graphic tshirt. He took out a book and started reading, waiting to be served.

"Oh, shit, he's so hot," Danielle said, practically foaming at the mouth. "And he reads too!"

"I've seen him around since last month," Sade added, he works at that new publishing place down the block. "One of my friends from school work there."

"Do you know his name?" Lita asked absentmindedly. "I actually met him in New York."

"Well, he's right there, Lita, you better hurry up and take his order or Glenda's gonna be on your ass if he leaves," Danielle urged.

"He's all yours, Li." Sade smirked as she shoved her a little.

Lita gave Sade a mock glare, as she unsteadily walked over to the guy's table to take his order. As soon as she approached his table, Lita noticed that he had a haircut, his neck length hair was now gelled up into a wild, wavy pompadour style hairdo, with a little bit of stubble on his face.

"Good morning, my name's Lita, and I'll be your waitress for today, what can I get you?" she introduced, trying to keep it cool.

The guy looked up from his book, to give that same sexy crooked smile. "That's a nice name, Lita," he said, with that hot, scratchy voice.

"And you are, record store boy?" Lita asked.

"I'm Jess," the guy replied.

"Jess? As in Jessica?" Lita joked.

Jess breathed out a chuckle, as he looked down. "Funny," he said, picking his head up at Lita.

"Hey, I've waited a long time to make that joke."

"So you were visiting from Philly, huh?"

" Yeah, and now I feel so stupid that I didn't ask for your name. I'd thought I'd never see you again."

"Hey, you and me both."

"So, what brings you to Philly?"

"Oh, you know, just eager for something new," Jess replied casually, drumming his fingers on the table.

Lita smiled at Jess' confidence. "What are you getting, Jess?"

"I'll have some black coffee, and a vanilla glazed donut," Jess replied.

Lita jotted down Jess' order on her notepad. "Comin' right up," she said as she turned to hand his order to the barista.

"Really good to see you, Lita," Jess called to her.

Lita turned around to see Jess flash her a crooked half smile, and returned to reading his book. Lita pressed her lips to hide her jubilant smile as she walked back to the kitchen. After getting Jess' order to the cook to prepare. Lita's smile faded when she saw Danielle and Sade looking at her longingly, with knowing smirks.

"What are y'all looking at?" Lita spoke up.

"You should totally get his number," Danielle said with a sly smile.

"Maybe, I should," Lita replied, remembering Julia's advice.

"Yeah, you know, I think he likes you too." Sade nudged Lita.

"Alright, alright." Lita waved a hand at her friends.

"Order up, black coffee and vanilla donut," the cook called.

"Oop, that's me," Lita said, hurrying over to the cook.

She took the paper carton tray carefully to serve it to Jess. As she set the tray down, Jess said to her,

"Well, that was quick."

"Yeah, that's why we're popular around here," Lita replied.

"Thanks, Lita." Jess flashed his half smile while taking the coffee from the paper carton.

"Don't mention it. I'll be back with your receipt."

Lita took care of other customers, after giving Jess his receipt, with Jess paying the bill. After serving a couple, a thought just came in her mind.

"Fuck," Lita cursed under her breath, at the fact that she just forgot to get his number.

She sighed as she trudged to clean off his table. Lita's eyes widened to see a business card on the table. She took the card desperately and saw the phone number of the publishing house. Lita rolled her eyes, before her heart shot out of her when she turned the card around to see a phone number written neatly. Lita grinned in relief at this gesture. She couldn't wait to call Julia tonight.

A/N: And so, Jess and Lita meet again. And yes, I imagine Lita having similar resemblances to Selena Quintanilla (may she rest in peace), if you're wondering, just to help you visualize. By the way, this is a work of fiction, and I strongly do not mean to disrespect her legacy, who she was, and how many lives she impacted positively.Thanks so much for reading and stay tuned for the next one!