The reader and the talker.
Disclaimers: I do not own any of the rights to the characters from Carmilla.
Chapter 6:
Laura walked inside of the cafe and looked around. She was impressed by the choice of cafe Carmilla had picked. It was very classy, with antlers and beautiful paintings hanging on the walls, a chandler was hanging from the high ceiling and the place was beautifully decorated with leather sofas and chairs. It surprised her that someone as tough as Carmilla had chosen such a fancy place, however the blond remembered that she barely knew anything about Carmilla, that girl was full of surprises. Laura started her search for Carmilla, figuring she would already be sitting somewhere in the cafe. She spotted her sitting by the window, her hair held up in a loose ponytail instead of usually let down. Laura had to admit that Carmilla looked beautiful as she sat crossed legged with the sunlight shining through the window. She was reading a book and sipping from her red mug.
"Hey!" Laura greeted as she approached the reading woman. Carmilla looked up from her book and smiled at Laura.
"Hey, I actually thought you'd bail on me to show me a lesson." Carmilla said with a dry laugh.
"Honestly, the thought crossed my mind. But that wouldn't be fair and it's not really my style." Laura admitted as she sat down and got comfortable in the leather chair.
"Well, I'd probably be a bit irritated that's for sure. But I wouldn't hold a grudge. Fair is fair." She answered as she put her book down in her bag. "So, a coffee?" Carmilla asked.
"A hot chocolate for me please." Laura answered. Carmilla nodded and came back pretty quickly. She handed Laura her hot chocolate and sat down in front of her.
"What were you reading?" Laura asked curiously as she reached over the table to get a glimpse of the book in Carmillas opened bag.
"I'm reading "The Wave" by Todd Strasser. Do you know of it?" She said as she took up her book again and handed it to Laura.
"If I do! I actually wrote a paper about it at University!" Laura answered excited as she flipped through the pages.
"Really?" Carmilla asked interested as she raised her eyebrow. "It's actually one of my favourites. I think it's so interesting at how it's so easy to change peoples believes like that. As long as you have a strong leader it proves that people work best in pacts. We always need a leader in some way." She stated as she took a sip of her pitch black coffee.
"I totally agree." Laura answered. "Did you by any chance watch the movie?" She questioned.
"Oh, yes I did. I didn't like it as much as the book though, but it exceeded my expectations. Seeing that usually the movie versions always try to overdo it in some way."
"Yea, so true. However some movies actually make great movies even though they were better as books." Laura answered as she handed her book back to Carmilla who proceeded to tuck it away in her bag.
"You have a point." Carmilla agreed.
There was silence for a while while the girls sipped their drinks. Carmilla held her mug with both hands as she looked out the window. Laura studied her. She was a beautiful young woman, pale skin, dark hair, a sharp jawline with equally sharp cheekbones. To say that Carmilla was anything else than beautiful was false. Carmilla turned her head, meeting Laura's wandering eyes and smirked at her which caused Laura to quickly look down on the dark wooden floor as she sipped her coco in embarrassment.
Laura felt embarrassed at being caught glaring at the girl in front of her and she quickly changed the subject.
"So, what do you work with?" Laura asked as she looked up at Carmilla.
She let out an annoyed moan "God, I really don't feel like talking about work right now. Too much stress. So, how did the job hunting go?" Carmilla changed the subject as she put her mug down and put her elbow on the armrest, trying to get more comfortable.
Laura's eyes widened for a second, both at the fact that Carmilla had skipped her question and that she had remembered, thinking that the woman in front of her hadn't listened to her rambling. "I though you didn't pay attention to that." She admitted.
"Well, I'm actually pretty attentive believe it or not." She smirked at the younger girl in front of her who looked a bit surprised. "I still have a lot of surprises up my sleeves." She answered with an smirk on her face. "So, tell me. How did it go creampuff?"
"Well, actually it went great. I went to "The Oracle" if you-"
"You went to The Oracle?!" Carmilla interrupted as she raised her eyebrows in surprise. This was the first time Laura had seen Carmilla react like a normal person instead of her usual cold self, as Laura liked to put it. She was a bit taken aback by it actually.
"Yea…is there a problem with that?" She asked confused at the raven haired girl in front of her.
She let out a tiny chuckle and shook her head. "Wow, you're in for a ride cupcake."
"What does that mean?" Laura asked as she tilted her head, even more confused now than ever.
"Oh, nothing buttercup." Suddenly Carmilla had a huge smile on her face, but it wasn't a happy smile. More a smile that said "I know something you don't" and it annoyed Laura. But she was having such a nice time that she figured she wouldn't ask.
Laura let out a huff. "Well, anyway it went great. I actually got an interview with the director on friday!" She said with a proud smile on her face.
"With the director?!" Carmilla exclaimed as she jumped up in her chair, her mouth opened wide as she let out a laugh. "Hell, good luck with that sweetheart." She answered with a grin on her face as she shook her head in disbelief.
"What is your problem?" Laura asked with an annoyed tone as she frowned at the girl in front of her.
"My problem? Oh, nothing." Carmilla said as she continued grinning and shook her head. "It's just…it's such a big deal you know? Getting an interview directly from the director of the biggest newspaper in town!"
"Are you being sarcastic with me?" Laura was starting to get really annoyed. Once again the woman in front of her had showed a humane side for a couple of minutes before she turned back to being a pain in the butt. Carmilla bit her first, trying not to let out another laugh as she shook her head.
"You know what! I was having a really good time with you! And yet again you're showing that you're an idiotic, annoying b-b-bad person!" Laura had raised her voice by then, making the other customers turn around, trying to figure out what was going on by their table. "I'm actually really excited for this job and all you can do is laugh. This could be my big break and you don't even take that into consideration! How can you be so insensitive?!" Laura let out a huge huff before she stood up in her chair ready to leave but Carmilla took hold of her hand before she could start walking.
"Laura, hey. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. I promise. I'm just shocked that's all." Carmilla said, this time not laughing as she still held her hand in a firm grip. She actually looked sincere and Laura frowned down at her before angrily sitting down again and crossing her arms.
"Fine. But then you have to explain what's so funny." She said sternly. Carmilla was taken aback. This girl kept on shocking her. First of all, most girls would probably have left after that. Or if they decided to stay they wouldn't force Carmilla to speak. They would probably say sorry about the whole outburst and change topic. Carmilla always had the upper hand when it came to other people, but Laura had balls and that surprised her. She was happily amused for a matter of fact. She was different and not like all the other girls. She was a challenge and that interested Carmilla.
Carmilla looked intensely into Laura's eyes before breaking contact. "Well, you'll see on friday okay? I promise you, you'll understand."
"Should I be worried?" Laura asked as she frowned and tilted her head again. She had been doing that a lot since her arrival at the cafe but the girl in front of her confused her immensely.
"You'll be fine. So, how come you chose Journalism?" Carmilla asked interested as she changed the subject.
Laura ran her hand through her hair in frustration and let out a huff.
"What?" Carmilla asked confused as she frowned at the younger woman.
"Okay, you're subject change thingy might work on others but not me. Tell me something about yourself. Or I'm leaving." She looked at Carmilla with a stern look, challenge written all over her face. Carmilla leaned back in her chair, put her elbow on the armrest and leaned her head against her hand. She drew in a long whiff off air through her nose before letting it out through her mouth. This girl was killing her.
"Fine." Carmilla answered annoyed after a couple of seconds of silence. "Well…" She clapped her hands together before continuing. "My name is Carmilla Karnstein. I'm twenty-six years old. I have a brother named Will. We're also roommates. On my free time I love reading. I have a cat named William after the writer of Lord of the Flies and my favourite drink is red wine. You done now?" Carmilla seemed uneasy by telling Laura all of that. She looked everywhere else than at the girl in front of her. Laura realised she might have pushed the raven haired girl too hard. She actually felt a bit guilty.
There was an awkward silence for a couple of seconds. Laura didn't really know how to react towards Carmilla now. She had made her feel extremely uncomfortable. Even though the information Carmilla had given her wasn't that personal or groundbreaking she realised Carmilla probably had difficulty sharing these kinds of things.
Laura reached over and grabbed Carmillas hand which made the older woman flinch back. But Laura held on and Carmilla finally looked at her.
"Yes, I'm done. I'm sorry I pushed you. I didn't realise you found it that uncomfortable." She looked at Carmilla with concerned eyes as she stroked her hand. "I promise I won't do that again okay?"
Carmilla looked away again but didn't tug her hand away and actually let Laura continue to stroke it. "Thanks…" She took a deep breath before continuing. "I should head back." She admitted.
Laura felt stupid, so stupid. Why did she do that to her. The proud woman in front of her suddenly seemed so small. Guilty wouldn't even describe how Laura was feeling right now.
"I'm not forcing you, but I know you still have forty minutes off before you're break is over. And as you earlier stated, there's a lot at work right now and you need to relax. If you want to we could just sit here and talk about other things? I'm actually pretty good at rambling." Laura said with a chuckle. "If that's okay for you?"
Carmilla looked at her for a couple of seconds before smiling a small smile at her. "I would like that… I would like that very much actually."
Laura smiled a huge smile at the girl in front of her and let go of her hand. "Great! Well lets see, hmm what could I start rambling about? So many possibilities." Laura said as she started tapping her hand against her chin. They both started laughing.
"God, what have I gotten myself into?" Carmilla answered with a chuckle as she shook her head.
Those forty minutes passed fast, too fast actually to both girls liking.
"And that's why I love cookies." Laura finished with a huge grin on her face which made Carmilla chuckle at the girl in front of her.
"I don't understand how you aren't obese by now." She said as she let out a chuckle. Before Laura could answer a sarcastic answer, Carmilla looked at her phone. "Shit, I'm going to run late for my meeting. I need to get back to work." She said.
"You don't sound too pleased." Laura noted.
"Trust me, I love my job. But it's just a bit hectic right now that's all." Carmilla answered as she stood up and started putting on her jacket.
"By the way, what do you work with?" Laura tried again. Carmilla stopped her movements and looked at the shorter girl with a smirk on her thin lips.
"Well, I have to keep some air of mystery. Don't I?" Carmilla smirked at Laura as she raised an eyebrow. Laura felt her mouth go dry. "Besides, it's more fun that way." She continued with a shoulder shrug.
"Well, aren't you mysterious enough?" Laura answered back with cocky smile. Carmilla let out a chuckle.
The girls got ready to leave and picked up their belonging and went out the door.
"So, what way are you going?" Laura asked curiously.
"I'm going that way." Carmilla said as she pointed down the street.
"Oh well, I'm going that way." She answered as she pointed at the opposite direction. There was silence after that and the girls looked at each other uncertainly, not really knowing how to say goodbye. They stood looking at each other like that for a while half laughing and smiling at how silly they were acting. Carmilla looked down and shook her head and let out a small laugh. "I should get going." While making some weird hand movement.
"Yea, me too." Laura agreed.
"Well, see you around cutie." Carmilla said as she started to walk backwards waving before turning around. Laura waved back and blushed lightly at Carmilla's nickname for her. Laura turned around and started walking down the street with a huge smile on her face.
"Hey!" Laura heard Carmilla yell after her and she turned around looking at the woman standing a couple of feet away from her. "On friday Kirch is having this private party at the bar. Maybe you would like to come by?"
"Yes of course!" Laura yelled back with a huge smile on her face.
"Great. See you friday!" Carmilla answered with a smile on her face. They both stood still, watching each other for a couple of seconds before Carmilla shook her head again in amusement and turned her heel.
Laura turned around and she was smiling so hard her cheeks hurt. That had exceeded any of her expectations. She had never believed in a million years that it would have gone that great. When she turned the corner and knew there was no chance of Carmilla seeing her she did a little victory jump. She was feeling butterflies in her entire body and she didn't care if that freaked her out like it normally did. She was just too happy. Suddenly she felt a vibration coming from her pocket. She quickly took up her phone, wondering if Carmilla had already sent her a text, but to her surprised it was an unregistered number.
"Hey Laur, it's Danny! I asked LaFontaine for your number. I was wondering if we could grab lunch sometime this week? :)"