Coffee, Distractions and a Girl

The sky darkened outside. The splashes of orange, pink and gold became hues of purples and blues. The lights inside flickered on, illuminating the cosy shop.

It was his first time here, but in the past couple of hours, he had grown to like it. It had comfortable chairs and the coffee tasted surprisingly good. The staff were easy-going and the atmosphere was lively. He decided that he might come back here again.

Through the window, he could see the people rush past, wearing their tight business suits and clutching at their overly large brief cases. They walked past, oblivious to the people around them, and were stuck in their own little world. In the café however, he was safe from the noise of traffic and the sound of hundreds of feet pounding on the pavement.

The twenty year old gave his coffee a stir with a disinterested look. In front of him, the light from his laptop shone on to his face, reflecting the thesis he was currently writing. Next to the laptop, his notebook was open, showing the world his hastily scribbled notes. He sighed heavily and rubbed his hands across his tired eyes, and leaned against the cushioned chair.

A chime sounded and he glanced up, watching the new customers make their way inside. It was a mother, holding onto the hand of an overly-enthusiastic boy, most likely to be her son. The little boy was bouncing up and down, pointing gleefully to the display of cakes. Percy took a sip of coffee and winced when he realised his drink was no longer warm. He placed his cup down and began typing again.

It was about ten minutes later when he pushed his laptop away, muttering words which would have made his mother frown and smack the backside of his head. He let his eyes wonder around the shop.

On his immediate left, there was a couple that were chatting quietly between themselves, sharing a slice of chocolate cake, while one his right, the booth was empty. He let his gaze extend further, until it rested on a lone figure who was seated in the corner. He didn't know why he couldn't take his eyes off of her. For all he knew, she could have been a model. She had blonde hair which glowed under the café lights and she wore a simple shirt and a blue scarf which was hugged her neck.

He shook his head and tore his gaze from her. Don't get distracted. He pulled his laptop back to him and began furiously typing, trying to block out the girl from his mind. With more force than necessary, he grabbed his coffee cup and gulped his cold drink, and placed the empty cup on the table.

Two minutes. In two minutes, he had managed to write a sentence, consisting of the words, blonde, beautiful and breathtaking. It would have been fine, but it had nothing to do with his essay about Ocean Conservation. Just a small, minor problem which had to be addressed.

Percy groaned and his head dropped to the table, trying to knock some sense into himself.

Ow..

He massaged his forehead, while unconsciously turning to face her. From where he was seated, he could see that she was reading a very large and impressive book. The book was thick, something he thought was only possible in movies. His brain almost melted in fear.

He squinted in an attempt to read the title, which became an impossible task. Was it possible to have writing that small? He raised an eyebrow and tried to figure out what she was doing. Maybe she was studying. If she was, he didn't want to interrupt her. Or perhaps she was reading for fun. He shivered at the thought. Who in their right mind would even think of that? Why would anyone want to read in their spare time?

Forcing himself to look away, he shifted his attention to the thesis at hand. And stared at it blankly. What was he doing again?

Percy slammed his laptop shut with a huff and gathered his notebook. He shoved them into one hand, while the other sought out the empty cup and stood up abruptly. The couple next to him raised an eyebrow at him in annoyance but said nothing.

He stared at her. (Observed. Stared just makes it sound creepy.) She was reading her book, frowning every so often and writing something down into her notebook. Upon closer inspection, he could tell that they were in fact, sketches, rather than words. Small thumbnail sketches of buildings.

"Um… can I help you?" She asked, looking up from her book.

He blinked at her. It was then that he realised he was standing in front of her table, watching her. Since when did his legs have a mind of its own? His face flushed bright red. "Sorry. Um… Yeah… I don't…" Oh god, he was making himself looking like an utter fool (more than usual). He didn't actually mean to approach her, let alone talk to her.

She just raised an eyebrow at him.

Cursing internally, his hold on his laptop tightened. "Um. Would you like me to get you a drink?" It was the first thing that came to his mind.

The girl awkwardly brought her drink to her lips.

So she already had a drink. Great. Fantastic. "Oh. Right. Sorry." Did fate have something against him today? "So, um, what are you reading? It looks… impressive"

"… It's a book about architecture…" She said, tilting her book to allow him to see the title.

"Oh that's pretty cool. Um…" He was so bad at this. He was the most socially awkward person to ever exist. "Can I just ask you a question? I won't bother you after that."

With a small sigh, she placed a silver book mark in her book before snapping it shut. "If you're going to ask me about my phone number, you can forget it." She picked up her book and stood up, the coffee cup in her other hand. She began to walk away.

"Wait that's not-" Percy cursed and went after her, throwing his rubbish in the bin as he went. He followed her outside, where he was greeted to the noise of traffic. The sweet smell of coffee and cakes soon mingled with the pollution of the outside world.

"Hey wait! Please!" he cried out, rushing after her. He struggled to pull the strap of his laptop bag over his shoulder. After a few moments of swearing, jogging and shoving people out the way, he finally caught up with her. "I just wanted to ask if you would be here tomorrow."

The girl looked at him with a confused face. "What?"

"I don't want your number… well maybe someday in the future… but I just wanted to know if you were a regular at that café."

Her walking pace slowed down a bit, allowing him to comfortably walk next to her.

"Oh. Well… yeah… I may be there tomorrow." She said after a while.

"So do you think I can get you a drink tomorrow then?" He wondered with a cheeky grin.

"Maybe. You'll probably find me there in the afternoon."

Percy was internally screaming in excitement but all he said was, "Alright then. My name is Percy, by the way."

Pink spread across her cheeks as she gazed at him, "Well Percy, I look forward to the drink. See you around." With a small wave, she weaved her way through the sea of people and disappeared from sight.

He held onto his bag with a stupid smile plastered on his face. Although she never told him her name, he was intrigued by her. She was composed, seemingly smart and was very attractive. Hopefully she would come tomorrow. Fingers crossed that he would be able to keep an interesting conversation going. Though knowing his luck, he would probably end up spilling his drink all over her books, but one can always hope. And pray.

As he made his way back to his apartment, he decided that he was definitely coming back to that small cosy café.

AN - Oh my gods. It has been way too long. I'm so sorry. I've just had assessments and exams piled up on me and I was slowly drowning in work. And I, being a great and normal human being, procrastinated right until the end. So this is probably crap but I wanted to put something out for now. I have no idea when the next one will be up, but keep a look out!

Please leave me a review, as they make me very happy and make my day a whole lot better. And if you have any suggestions, please let me know in a comment below! Thanks for reading and I'll see you soon. Until next time.