Author's Note: Yay it's the third chapter! THANK YOU SO MUCH to the person who wrote a review, it made my week! As usual thank y'all for reading and please enjoy!
The door slides shut, and you hear Roger and April's footsteps going down the stairs. You quietly sigh and look at Mark, who was already looking at you. You just smile politely and try and be confident as Roger had instructed you. "So what do you want to do?" You ask him. His eyes widen slightly, but he seems fine. "I dunno, have you eaten dinner yet?" he asks. You shake your head, and your stomach almost starts grumbling at the thought of food.
Mark walks over to their kitchen area and looks through the cupboards and the refrigerator. After a moment he turns around with a sigh. "There's no food. Nothing new though." He informs you with a light laugh. "Yeah, me too." You say back only a little awkwardly and smile.
You couldn't understand why it was so awkward between you two. I mean, you had only met him yesterday and you hadn't talked much, but you met April yesterday too and you were totally comfortable around her.
"Want to go out?" He asks, grabbing his coat. Are you sure you can afford that? you think to yourself. "Sure!" You say with a smile, grabbing your bag and heading out the door.
You both walk down the cold metal steps of the apartment building, and he opens the door for you. You thank him and walk outside. Wow was it cold. You hadn't brought a jacket because you thought you would be inside the whole time. You cross your arms and shiver slightly. "Maybe I should go get a coat." You say to Mark. His eyes fill with realization.
"Here." He says, taking off his coat and giving it to you. You blush at the cute offer but decline. "Well now you'll be cold." You tell him, a light blush creeping up your cheeks. "I'll manage." He says with a smile, and you smile back, pulling on the plaid coat which he had given you. It was a little big, but really warm, and it smelled good too.
You both head down the street, and he points to a restaurant only a few blocks down. "Ever been there?" He asks you. You shake your head, reading the sign labeled THE LIFE CAFE. "It's great." He says, and you nod and follow him across the street to the cafe on the corner.
You walk into the little restaurant and are greeted with warmth. You sigh and Mark leads you to a little booth without speaking to the guy at the desk first. You just roll with it and sit down.
"So what are you going to order?" He asks, not even glancing at the menu. You are busy taking in the bohemian feel of the lovely cafe though. "Well what do you recommend?" you ask him with a smile.
"Anything but the pasta and meatless balls." He tell you. What?! "Ew!" You exclaim. He laughs. "Apparently it tastes the same." He says. "Yeah if you close your eyes." You both laugh at this and proceed to order food and drinks.
You realize you don't have much money, and could probably not even pay for half the meal. "How much money do you have? I only have like $5 in my purse." You tell him. He smiles politely. "Don't worry about it." He says.
Okay then.
You continue to create small talk until your food arrives. "So Mark, what do you do? Like what's your passion?" You ask him. He smiles. "Film." He says plainly. "Like you make movies?" You ask him. "Yeah. I'm working on a documentary right now." He tells you.
"Thats so cool!" You tell him enthusiastically, because you actually did think it was cool. "Thanks." He says and he clearly meant it.
You take the moment of silence to observe him. He had cute and kind of spiked up blond hair. His eyes were bright blue, and he had a perfect jawline. Behind the glasses and somewhat awkward disposition, he was actually really cute.
"So what's the documentary about?" You ask him.
"New York City, people with AIDS. My old roommate who now works at MIT has AIDS, and I'm trying to spread awareness you know?" He says. You smile brightly. "Yeah."
Just then he reaches into the bag that he had brought with him. You hadn't particularly noticed it at first, but now you were curious to see what was inside. He pulls out a black, somewhat antique looking camera. It was rustic and had obviously been used quite a bit.
He starts spinning the silver handle on the side of it, and points the lens directly at you.
"December 19th, 5:30 PM Eastern Standard time. Close in on Y/N Y/L/N, who I am currently sitting with at the one and only life cafe." He says, in a somewhat different voice than before. You smile at the camera. "What are you doing?" You ask him.
"Putting you in my documentary." He says. You smile widely at this.
"So Y/N, tell us about yourself." He says.
"Well, my name is Y/N Y/L/N, I'm 20 years old, I went to NYU for one semester before dropping out and moving to East Village where I now live in a crappy apartment only one floor above this girl named April that I met at a bar last night, who introduced me to you Mark, and Roger. Today is April and Roger's sixth month anniversary, so they went on a date, which is why me and Mark are having dinner at the one and only life cafe." You say, looking more at Mark than the camera.
He smiles. "Why'd you drop out of college?" He asks. You shrug. "I wanted to start my life for real I guess." You tell him.
"Did you ever go to college?" You ask. He shakes his head. "I was supposed to, but I didn't want to." He says, gripping tightly onto his camera.
"Here." You say, taking his camera out of his hands, and spinning the handle as he had done before. "Tell us about yourself Mark. We want to know about the filmmaker." You tell him. He sighs. "Please be careful, I don't want you to break it." He tells you.
"I'm being careful!" You say with a laugh. He just laughs and sighs once more, before looking at the lens of the camera. "My name is Mark Cohen, I'm 22 years old. I grew up in Scarsdale New York, and then moved straight to East Village where I met Roger Davis, my roommate and his girlfriend April. Last night April came home with Y/N, and now April and Roger are celebrating their sixth month anniversary, which is why I'm am here having dinner at the one and only life cafe, with my new friend Y/N." He finishes. You smile brightly.
"This is some good stuff we're getting here people!" You say, turning the camera to face yourself. "Y/N! Be careful!" He cries. "Please give it back." He says, he was laughing but you could tell he was serious. You look over at him, and in the moonlight shining in through the window, he looked perfect.
"Sure. On one condition." You say. He just raises an eyebrow. And in one swift motion, you lean across the table and kiss him on the lips, his camera pointing directly at you both. You feel him tense up.
OH gosh.
What if he has a girlfriend? What if he's gay?
But after a moment, his hand reaches up to your cheek and he kisses you back. You smile into the kiss, and after a moment of bliss you both pull away. You hand him his camera.
"Okay." Is all he says.
"What?" You ask with a flirty smile.
"Okay." He says again, this time leaning across the table and kissing you. You felt the presence of the black camera filming the whole romantic ordeal, and you both pulled away after what felt like 30 seconds. You smile, and he smiles back.
"That gonna be one hell of a documentary."