Hellu! Chapter 6 delivery for..well, anyone who has taken their time to read this. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Same as the ones in chapters 1 through 5. I only own Haru and Roma...oh, and Vannessa.

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Chapter 6: Total Coincidence...

Anne placed a hand on her thrusted-out hip as she stared down at the kid currently looking like he got caught sticking his hand in a forbidden cookie jar. Eyes and mouth wide in shock.

He was pretending to look surprised, she just knew it. The odacity! Well, she wasn't going to let him.

"Well? I asked you a question, kid. What are you doing here?" She repeated the question she asked him just a while ago when she walked over to take a customer's order only to find the blonde-haired azure-eyed boy in the most favourable seat in the whole cafè. Which also happened to be one of the tables she had been assigned to.

"Eh? Uh...I-I...uh" Marco sputtered incoherently, before shaking his head and saying, quite stupidly,"Huh?". He hadn't gotten over the shock of seeing Anne here yet. He'd never seen Anne in this cafè before! What was she doing here...and in that get-up? Or was he seeing things...He lowered his eyes.

Wait, Marco knew that uniform! Short sleeved cream coloured top, tucked into neat-trimmed pleated short black skirt, the whole ensemble completed with a dark silk tie, that she had loosened for more comfort. The bottom tip of the tie was held back by a pretty black waist apron peppered with red polka dots. A bandanna of the same designed covered her head. Anne was dressed just like the cafè's waitresses, the uniform highlighting her curvy figure. Pretty black calf-length combat boots adorning her feet. The name tag confirmed his suspicions. Anne worked here? Since when? He wanted to know, so he asked.

But that seemed to infuriate Anne more as she, none too gently, slapped a small hand on the table in front of Marco, drawing a few glances from the immediate customers around them. She quickly smiled apologetically at the other customers and they turned back to whatever they were doing. Confused at her reaction, Marco only just blinked back at her. Anne crouched down a little more towards him. The action made the collar of her top open more than it already was, revealing a lot more creamy skin underneath. Marco tried not to stare for too long.

"Don't play dumb with me Marlo! How did you know I worked here? Did you, like, follow me?" She grabbed the collar of his shirt the same time she drew a conclusion."Are you a stalker? What the hell do you want?"

She was angry, Marco knew that. But currently all he could think of was...Freckles! Anne had freckles...he might not have seen them because of the darkness of the house that evening, but now the sunlight shining through the glass showcased them perfectly. And they were beautiful.

Finally over his shock, Marco countered with an insulted look and told her plainly,"The name's Marco." He smoothed out his features, playing it cool. "I didn't follow you here. I'm not a stalker." He gently grabbed her hand that was still had a hold of his collar and tapped it gently, his words and actions earning him a face full of suspicion complete with a raised brow. "And currently, what I really want, what I reeeeaally really want", he breathed out. "Is...a latte, super creamy and super hot, and a blueberry muffin" He smiled at her and added a sugar-coated(but still manly), "Please".

Anne slowly pulled her hand from his and straightened. She studied him for a whole minute. He seemed to be telling the truth, she'd know because she had a special self-appointed power of smelling a lie from a mile away. But she still couldn't be a hundred percent sure, and you can never be too careful these days. Too many metaphorical green snakes under metaphorical green grasses.

Truthfully, she couldn't stand another stalker. They wore her out. Always looking over her shoulder, making sure to stay in groups, being super careful about the people she talked to, people she let into her life, all the while trying to get her school life in order; it was so tiresome. She's had enough to last her a lifetime. For goodness sake she couldn't handle one more! And especially not after the last one...

She had to warn this one off, nip this in the bud. Threathen him somehow so he'd be too scared to stalk her, that was, assuming he was going to. Still, she wouldn't take any chances. Opening her mouth to say something, her words got cut off by the cafè's manager who had found their way to their table and was currently snapping her fingers in between them. They both turned to look at her.

Whitey Bay stood by the table, looking quite amused as she considered both of them for a moment. She then turned to Anne, arms crossed and smile in place, before saying, in her usual cool manner, "Looks like your other tables are filling, doll. You've spend enough time here, don't you think. The other customers might not like to wait for too long"

"Ah! Yes...ofcourse. Sorry, Whitey" Anne replied briskly before turning to go serve the other tables as requested, not sparing Marco a single glance. Both Marco and Whitey Bay watched her leave before the manager turned to Marco, who was still watching Anne go, and said," She's cute, ain't she...our new recruit?"

Marco whipped his head towards Whitey who still stood there, long blue hair in a ponytail and eyes crinkling at the corners. The telltale of what Marco could already foresee was a tease fest coming his way.

"Sure, Miss Bay." Marco replied politely and turned to look into the street on his left. But not before glancing over at Anne who was currently taking the order of what looked like an old married couple, her smile bright.

Whitey Bay leaned forward, until her elbows rested on the table and she was smiling at the side of Marco's face and his gradually reddening ear. She blew on it to cool it off and chuckled as Marco flicked his wrist at her and covered his ear with his hand glaring at her a little. She replied with a pout of her own, making her already full lips even fuller.

Marco finally remembered something. "Miss Bay?". Whitey sighed at the name. She had tried to get Marco to call her 'Whitey' like all her friends did, but Marco had been so adamant about not doing exactly that she'd eventually given up and let him call her whatever he liked. He was stubborn like that.

"Yes, sugar?"

"Does Anne know about me, and...you know...the cafè?

She looked confused for a moment before she finally understood, straightened and said,"Oh! You mean...?", She placed her hands on her hips and tilted her head thoughtfully, her hair falling to the side. "No, I don't think I told her. But that can be easily fixed" She twisted around to look for Anne but Marco stopped her.

"Actually Miss Bay!" She looked back at him. "I think I'd prefer it if it stayed that way...please let the others know too" He turned to look at her somewhat pleadingly. She crouched back onto the table. This time Marco met her eyes.

"Any reason why Marco?" Her mood turning more serious as she studied his face. He shook his head no and smiled back at her. She studied him for a while longer before she regained her playful mood.

Finally she backed away, but not before whispering, for Marco's ears only, looking like she was about to disclose a big secret, " You know, if you want her number, all you gotta do is ask", which got her a sharply whispered,"Stop that!" as she shrugged innocently and walked away, chuckling to herself. Marco didn't even bother to ask who exactly he was supposed to ask for the number, Whitey or Anne herself.

He tried to smile at Anne as she walked by his table, a serving tray under her arm and a pencil stuck behind her ear, but all it got him was a quick glare. As his eyes occasionally followed her movements around the cafè, he could see how hard she worked. How graceful her movements were as she moved from one assigned table to another, smiling friendily and making light conversation with her customers. She looked so pretty, even though he found it hard to look away sometimes, he still forced himself to. She already thought he was a stalker, no need to raise her suspicions.

At one particular glance, he caught her looking at him thoughtfully. Though she looked away when she was caught and proceeded to take the pencil from her ear to scribble down something. It drew his attention to her ear.

Both of her ears...specifically, their size.

Marco studied them for a while and wondered why he didn't notice them before but then remembered her hair had been worn down when he'd last seen her hair, ears covered. There was no way he could have noticed them, and it seemed that was had been the plan. But now, all her hair tied up at the back, they were out for the world to see.

And see he could, for Anne's ears were huge! He chuckled to himself at his own joke.

Actually, they weren't so big...maybe just a little bigger than the size of his own. But they were noticable...very much so. Although, they suited her perfectly. Along with the freckles that dotted her cheeks, it gave her a very adorable mousy look. He found himself liking them already, although to be honest, he liked everything about Anne.

He just wished she could like him back...even just a little bit.

After a while, his order was brought and Marco tried not to be too perturbed by it as he sipped his unusually cold coffee. He sighed before breaking off a bit of his dry muffin and tossing the piece into his mouth. His Anne was really mean...

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So far, Anne liked her new job. Her shift run from 4 to 8, on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and all day Saturday, which was perfect since her classes were all morning and afternoon classes. And she could use her off days for doing her assignments. It wasn't boring and actually, the pay wasn't bad either.

She'd come in for the required interview the day before and had gotten a feel of the place. The cafè's manager, Whitey Bay was really nice-although she couldn't stand lazy people. Anne had truthfully assured her that she wasn't. The staff all liked Whitey, and now Anne did too. The staff was really friendly too. There were three waiters, four if Anne counted herself. Two males and two females. The males wore the same kind of uniform, cream coloured shirts and black trousers complete with black silk ties. The aprons and bandannas you could bring yourself.

Vanessa, a beautiful gypsy-like young lady with long black hair that flowed past her waist was the other waitress. She always wore big round bracelets, hoop earrings, and a beaded neclace. She opted for a long scarf to cover her head instead of the usual bandanna. Her uniform was also different- her top was tight fitted and her black skirt was long and flowing. Basically, same colour, different style. Give her an eye-patch and she'd look more like a pirate than a waitress. Anne had thought she was a real gypsy at first, but then Vanessa had laughed and replied that she just liked dressing like this, twirling and posing for Anne to see. It suited her though, and no one seemed to mind.

There was also Haru, a very quiet and handsome gentleman with dark green eyes. His hair was very dark blue and cut short to frame his face, covered by a black bandanna. He was very polite and had offered to show Anne the ropes since she was new. Anne had politely declined-this wasn't her first waitressing job- and Haru had conceded. She had told him she was grateful though and he had smiled in return and had slightly dipped his head to her before walking away.

And then there was Roma. A dark skinned young man who talked a mile a minute. He was so hyper, his carefree attitude had sorta reminded her of Luffy, although he was her age. His light brown eyes always screamed like mischief. He had a huge afro, that was super soft. She'd been a little shocked when he had grabbed her hand for her to feel but had been wonderfully surprised when her palm and fingers sank in his hair. His hair WAS really ridiculosly soft. He'd laughed at her reaction and she'd smiled in return. But he didn't wear a bandanna and he'd explained to her that it made his hair look flat when he finally took it off after work, so he wore a hair net instead. Made sense...Whitey didn't really mind what covered your hair, as long it was covered.

She thought she was going to get along with everyone here splendidly, and she had since she started working here on Monday. She'd never met nicer people and they were all glad she was on-board, so to speak. The customers weren't so bad either. Like everyone else, she'd been assigned five tables out of the twenty and that suited her fine. She liked her tables. They were usually filled with old people and workaholics...except today.

Anne looked back at one of her tables. The one the kid was currently sitting at. His coffee had been pushed aside after the first sip and his muffin was only halfway eaten through. At one point he had pulled out his phone and had used it for a while, but now he was back to staring out into the street, chin in hand. She'd asked Whitey if she'd seen him before and she'd told her he was a faithful regular, he just hadn't come in all week except today. He was so quiet he almost looked kinda lonely, but Anne refused to feel sorry for him. Her memory of what he'd said to her last time he'd been in her home refused to let her. In fact, just remembering it was getting her more upset.

She walked over.

"Shouldn't you be going home now, kid?" Anne asked as soon as she reached the table. Marco turned at the voice and sat up straighter when he realized it was Anne. He gave her a blank stare.

"Why?"

" 'Coz it's going to be closing time soon and we like to see all our customers leave before we do" She crossed her arms under her breasts, hiking them up a little. "You're holding up shop, buddy." She glared down at him.

Marco looked around. "But there are other people here too. Look." Anne didn't even bother to.

"THEY haven't been sitting here since four thirty doing nothing."

"I haven't been doing nothing. I've been studying." He replied calmly.

She scoffed. There wasn't even a book in front of him! Or a laptop or anything... There hadn't been since he walked in three hours ago. "Studying what?"

He tilted his head to the side and smiled a little, as if he'd been expecting the question. "People." Was all he said. He thrusted his thumb out towards the glass window. Anne looked doubtly at him before slowly moving her eyes towards the glass window.

It was dark out, the last of the sun rays having faded out more than an hour ago. The streetlights showering the street with light. Underneath, people walked by. Some briskly, probably wanting to reach home to their families after a long day of work, and others taking leisurely strolls. Cars whizzed by on the street, sounding an occasional horn here and there. Anne watched as a group of teenage girls walked by, talking and giggling as they passed, a group of boys right behind them. A child with lollipop in hand walked by, his other hand clutching his mother's. He looked through the window at Anne. He playfully stuck out her tongue at her when she wouldn't look away and she wasted no time reciprocating, he giggled cutely and turned his attention to his lollipop, shoving it in his mouth.

Anne's smile disappeared as she turned to find Marco smiling at her. "They're so interesing," he said. "Like pieces of art, each different yet so unique. More so are you"

"Aha! So you are a st-" she began.

"I'm not a stalker, I told you that already" He replied, amused. Then he said, very seriously, "I'm just a regular art-lover".

Anne stood there for a while gaping down at him. The kid thought he could say what he liked, whenever he liked. Anne tried to give him a response, racked her brain for one but all she could do was try not to get too flustered as she huffed and said,"Fine! Sit here however long you like. I don't care" before storming off. Her cheeks slightly more red than usual. His chuckling behind her didn't really help.

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As usual, the cafè closed promptly at 8pm. In the changing room, Anne had switched out her uniform for the clothes she had worn to classes today; a big dark blue hoodie with a pink t-shirt underneath. She had on black shorts too. Anne could be seen forcefully shoving her things into her backpack. Her mood wrecked by a certain someone. She couldn't believe she'd been so flustered before. Well, it wasn't going to happen again. She wasn't going to let it. She's going to have to be real careful with that Marco kid. Her thoughts had turned more frustrating and she hadn't noticed what she was trying to do was futile-her stuff was already in the bag, all she had left to do was zip it close- until a voice startled her.

"Something on your mind, Anne?" The voice asked.

She turned around to find a concerned Vanessa standing by her own locker. Taking of her head scarf and shaking out her hair with her hand, she approached Anne. "You seemed tense today. Everything alright?"

Anne stared at her dumbly for a moment before answering."Yea. Everything's fine...at least it will be", she muttered the last part to herself. She strapped on her bagpack and said goodbye to her to colleague, walking out into the main hall. It was now completely devoid of customers, just Haru and Roma cleaning up their tables and turning off the lights. She waved at them; Roma waved back whiles Haru merely nodded. Whitey must still be in her office, she thought. Though she wanted to, she didn't go over there to say goodbye. She had to head home to Luffy.

She reached the entrace and as she reached out to open the door, a hand beat her to it- almost bumping it with hers. It was Marco. Anne took a step back in shock and asked, her voice an octave higher than usual,"You're still here?!"

Marco, for his part, looked like that was obvious,"Of course. I almost always leave at closing time. I wasn't going to leave just cause you asked me to." He then smiled.

"Besides, there is one last thing I have to do today". He opened the door and indicated he was expecting Anne to walk through. Anne just looked back at him, her eyebrows reaching up to her hairline in question.

Marco looked like it was assigned duty as he said, seriously, "I have to walk you home."

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A/N: Whitey Bay is an ally of the Whitebeard Pirates. She helped them in their attempt to rescue Ace. Look her up on One Piece wiki...she's really pretty.

When I was writing this chapter, I started on my bed, I was lying, sitting, halfway down to the floor, actually on the floor. At one point I found myself at the dining table thinking, 'how the heck did I get here?'. And right now, as I'm writing this, I've circled back to my bed...weird.

I shirked my chores for this. Aka, gimme some reviews...