Coffee II

The nerve of this guy! Who did he think Reed was- some sort of harlot everyone was free to call after a hard day's work? No! Well, okay, maybe he was exaggerating, but that didn't make Shane's gesture any less rude.

Easily crumpling the cup in his hand, Reed stomped off behind Shane, piercing his back with a blazing glare. "Excuse me!" He called, but Shane didn't seem to hear. He cried out again, louder this time. "Hey!"

Finally, Shane stopped, near the glass wall overlooking the scene outside and just beside two available seats. He regarded Reed with a lazy smirk, one hand leaning on the back rest of a chair.

Huffing out a sigh of exasperation, Reed spoke. "Please, I'm really tired. I just want to order another coffee, go home and go back to work. Come on, just take the money." Extending his hand, Reed revealed a thick wad of bills.

Shane shot it a withering glance, that smirk still intact, and narrowed his eyes at Reed in a look of contemplation. "Okay-"

Reed let out a breath. "Oh, thank you-"

"On one condition." Shane issued him a mocking grin, one Reed did not at all appreciate. In fact, he quite detested it. Shane pulled out the chair he was leaning on and cast it a knowing glance before turning back up at Reed's shocked expression. "Sit with me. Just for thirty minutes, and I swear, I'll take that large amount of money off your hands."

Slack-jawed and wide-eyed, Reed gaped at him. "Didn't you hear me? I need to go back to-"

"All I heard was 'I'm really tired, blablablabla'." Looking apologetic, Shane sent him a pleading smile. "Come on. It's just thirty minutes of your precious time. And you said so yourself, you're tired.. You gotta give yourself a little time to breath once and a while."

This probably wasn't a good idea. Thirty minutes was a long time; he could have a sketch perfected by then. And his mother.. Oh, what will his mother say if she finds out he's been slacking off to spend time with a man he barely knew? Reed set his lips in a thin line. "Twenty-five minutes."

Shane grinned, one Reed surprisingly found quite attractive on him. "Awesome. Alright- uh, take a seat. I'll go get your coffee." And then Shane flew behind the counter where he weaved through the bustling employees to prepare their coffee and occasionally received jabs about the cute blonde guy he was sitting with. Shane had to contain a blush and retort that he'd just met the guy and knew next to nothing about him. This didn't seem to deter them from teasing him about it.

When Shane came back, he found Reed staring dazedly out the window. He looked up when Shane set the two cups on the table.

"That was two minutes."

"You could at least pretend like you want to be here." Shane smiled wryly.

Reed shot him a scrutinizing look, before sighing largely. "I'm sorry. I've just been really stressed out lately.."

"What do you do that's got you so wound up anyway?" Shane asked, taking a sip of his medium drip.

Reed stirred his Venti Americano. "..I paint."

Thick eyebrows shot up. "Really?"

Reed nodded, smiling. "Yeah.. I love it."

At the sight of Reed's smile, Shane grinned. How he can be so fond of someone he's just met was beyond him. "I can tell. You light up when you talk about it."

Surprised at the remark, because no one has ever told him that, Reed issued Shane a sheepish look. "It's an escape."

"Escape from what?"

Reed looked up worriedly, scanning Shane's eyes for any sort of mockery or amusement at his expense. He's met people who didn't understand how soul-cleansing art has been to him. It was there when his parents split up, when work became too much- basically all the time. There were people who undervalued its significance to his life, so he had always been careful in opening up too much.

But staring into green eyes, all Reed saw was genuine curiosity and sympathy. Eyes downcast, Reed debated whether to let walls down for this boy he didn't know and yet was strangely comfortable with when a soft voice interrupted.

"Hey," Shane lips were upturned in a kind smile. "You don't have to tell me. We can talk about something else."

Meeting understanding eyes, Reed softened. This boy seemed willing enough to listen. And maybe this was a chance to finally open up to someone instead of a blank canvas. "Mostly my mom.."

Taken aback at the sudden openness, Shane blinked. "Your.. your mom?"

Reed nodded meekly, eyes watching the ripples in the coffee as he stirred it. "She manages my galleries. And she can be a bit much with the deadlines and stuff.."

Shane watched as Reed's eyes filled with a sadness he didn't expect. "..Does.. Does she know she's been.. overworking you?"

"No, it's fine." Reed shook his head frantically, sticking on a smile. "It's fine. I mean, she's my mom so she just wants what's best for me, right?"

Shane nodded halfheartedly, deciding that disagreeing wouldn't be the best course of action when they were barely past acquaintances. "Yeah.. Yeah, you're right."

Reed nodded, more to himself than anything, and donned on a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Right. So, um- what do you do? Besides making coffee, that is." He asked, taking a sip of his drink.

"Me?" Shane grinned finally, thankful for the change of subject. He leaned back on his chair, and shrugged. "Oh, you know.. I dance."

Delicate brows shot up. "You dance?"

Shane chuckled. "Yes- why do you look so surprised?"

"Well, it's just.." Reed blushed, hoping he didn't sound rude. "You kind of really seem.. I dunno, lazy?" He grimaced, that smile turning shy.

"Oh, really?" Shane's tone suggested he took that comment a little too personally. That challenging glint in his eye and the excited spark in his smile made themselves known, and suddenly Reed was feeling a little terrified of what Shane was about to do. Shane turned towards the counter. "Hey Wes! Turn up the volume, will you?"

"Go back to your date, Shane." The boy cried blankly back, enough for the whole shop to hear and eliciting a roar of laughter from the crowd, rendering Reed blushing profusely.

"It's not a date!" Flustered, Shane quickly turned to Reed. "I'msorry, Inevertoldhimitwasadate! He's crazy, like mentally lacking. We only gave him a job because he was living in boxes and eating cardboard-"

"I heard that!"

By then, Reed's laugh had mingled with the audience's, yet somehow, it echoed so clearly in Shane's ears. He chuckled along, mostly giddy with the fact that he'd gotten rid of that sad, feigned smile and replaced it with what had to be the prettiest laugh. He let pass a lingering moment of simply watching as those shoulders shook with mirth and the side of those crescent eyes wrinkled in amusement. He shot a brief glance at the wall clock above the counter. It had almost been thirty minutes. Shane's smile fell slightly.

Noticing the flash of disappointment in Shane's face, Reed followed his gaze.

Ah. So his time was up.

When he looked away from the clock, his eyes met Shane's- so full of life and hope and everything Reed had lost during those long paint-stained hours in his room. Was it sad that it was from a stranger that he realized he hadn't been living lately? Like, truly living. In a way, he was glad Shane had insisted he 'give himself a little time to breathe'. It revealed more than he expected.

Reed issued the supposed dancer a wry smile. "Thirty minutes.."

"Yeah.." Shane quirked up one corner of his lips. "Way past what we agreed on.."

Reed smiled brighter, a bit relieved that Shane sounded as disappointed about the time as he was. "It was fun though."

Shane grinned. "Yeah?"

Reed chuckled, nodding. "Yeah."

A brief silence ensued, but it wasn't awkward. There was a silent exchange of words, an unspoken promise that both of them seemed to be agreeing on, and suddenly, Reed was on his feet, brushing off the non-existent dust on his pants. "I guess maybe I'll see you around?"

Shane scrambled to stand as well before Reed could take a step to leave. "Wait- can I.. um, you don't have to give it to me if you don't want to but, can I please have your number?" Shane grimaced sheepishly at Reed.

Blushing, because honestly, Shane was cute and he had just asked for Reed's number, Reed smiled. "No need." He shot the neatly placed napkin on the table a knowing look and sent one last bidding smile at Shane. "Bye Shane."

Watching in confusion as Reed walked off, Shane scowled at the napkin on the table as if it had offended him. Grabbing it, he realized that there was something thicker than napkin edged inside it. Frantically, Shane unfolded it, revealing a business card.

ADAM BAUMGOLD GALLERY
60 EAST 66TH ST., NEW YORK

feel free to come by anytime~

yours, Reed Van Kamp

oh, and 917-565-7521 :)