I could feel Alex’s eyes on me as I wiped down the tables for the fifth time in a row. I’d been avoiding her for most of my shift, but I could only dodge her attention for so long. It was getting close to closing time, and I’d already finished most of the pre-closing duties. Soon we’d be driving back home, and I’d have to face the questions brimming behind her eyes.
Even though Alex was six years younger than me, in a lot of ways, she and I were equals. We had gone through the same hardships together and were both thrown into adulthood sooner than we expected. The one major difference between me and her was I didn’t allow myself to feel anything while she, ironically, felt everything.
Alex was the epitome of an Empath and sometimes, my need to shield her from the cruelties of the world outweighed my instinct to treat her as an equal. I lied to my little sister about what went on when she wasn’t around. Though my intentions were pure, it didn’t stop her from feeling betrayed.
What she witnessed wasn’t anything new. Malcolm always resorted to violence when he didn’t get his way. But after years of hiding it from her, everything was hitting her all at once.
“Everything okay?” Alex asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.
I was so stuck in my head; I didn’t even realize I was wiping down her table.
“Yeah, sorry.” I said, taking a seat across from her, “Just a little tired. How’s the homework going?”
“Good, I guess.” She paused, tapping her pencil against her notebook. “You think you’ll get out early tonight?”
Her emerald eyes glanced around the barren coffee shop.
“We close in ten minutes,” I said, giving her a small smile as I pulled a cookie from my apron pocket, “hopefully no one else comes through.”
I stuffed half of the cookie into my mouth, swallowing the lie I told right along with it. That night, there was someone I hoped to see. The same person who, for the past two years, was my last customer almost every night.
He and I met by chance nearly two years ago. One of the other baristas called out for her closing shift, forcing me to stay and work opening to closing. I could use the extra overtime, so I took it in stride. Little did I know what that night had in store.
It was a rainy Tuesday night in the middle of October, and Cafe Au Lait was vacant. Tapping my fingers against the reclaimed wood countertop, I sliced my eyes at the clock that refused to budge. The caffeine high of the morning rush disappeared, leaving me feeling jittery, yet exhausted. By 8:30 PM, I gave up waiting for customers and started the closing process. The streets were vacant, and I doubted anyone would come in that late.
Just as I began mopping the floors, in walked Mr. Tall, Dark, and Delectable at 8:59 PM on the dot. It took a special asshole to come into a place one minute before they closed without so much as an apologetic smile. His shiny and most likely designer shoes tracked in mud-soaked leaves from the sidewalk and I cursed underneath my breath, knowing I’d have to sweep again.
“8 ounce doppio cappuccino. Dry. Extra hot.” He barked with his ear pressed to his cell phone. There was nothing that irritated me more than bad manners, and this guy was exhibiting all of them. He didn’t even bother to look at me when he barked his order into the air.
“Name.” I chirped back, out of sheer habit.
The moment my mind realized what I said, blood came rushing to my face. There was no one else in the cafe. Why did I ask for his stupid name?
“You need my name?” He asked, glaring at me as he broke off the call.
Fighting a smile, he looked around the empty cafe as if to make his point even more obvious. I know there’s no one else here, asshole.
“I’ll have it right out for you, sir.” I responded sweetly, ignoring his question and attitude completely.
I had mastered the art of telling people what they wanted to hear, and this guy looked like the type to get a hard-on from people kissing the ground he walked on. His entire demeanor screamed power. The pristine suit, the wide stance, his perfectly quaffed dark hair, even the formal tone in which he spoke told me everything I needed to know. He and I were nothing alike.
I plastered on my fakest smile and turned towards the espresso machine, trying to bust out his stupid cappuccino as quickly as possible. Of course he had to pick one of the hardest drinks to make. God, he would be a ‘dry cappuccino’ kind of guy.
“Just for future reference, dickface,” I hissed under the sound of the steaming milk, “we close at nine and just because you’re sexy as fuck doesn’t mean that you get to be an inconsiderate asshole.”
“Dry Cap.” I called out, sliding the cup forward on the handoff plane and not even bothering to look up. He wanted to be rude? Well, two could play that game.
For a split second, warm fingertips grazed mine. The alien feeling created this delicious sensation that blanketed my entire body. Warmth. Comfort. Safety. No man’s touch had ever made me feel that way and for a few beats, I stood there dumbstruck, staring at my fingers like they were malfunctioning. Before I could process what happened, he slipped out of the shop and back into the dark night.
What the hell was that?
Shaking the thoughts of the stranger out of my mind, I went back to cleaning and cursed at myself for being so eager to leave to begin with. I should’ve waited until 9, like I was supposed to, and I would’ve avoided creating double the work for myself.
Thirty minutes later, I stepped out into the chilly autumn night and tugged my flannel across my chest. A grey t-shirt dress and light flannel was cute during the morning, but was practically masochistic at night. The wind’s frigid bite sent Goosebumps spreading across my bare legs. I cursed as I grit my teeth. If I didn’t die from freezing my ass off, I was going to kill Marie for calling out sick.
It was eerily quiet out and something in the air felt off. I couldn’t pinpoint what it was, but my body felt the presence of danger. I spent a few seconds staring out into the darkness and looking for any signs of a threat, but all I saw were a bunch of vacant cars and empty streets. It wasn’t exactly safe to be in downtown Caspian alone this late at night, and had I known I’d be closing, I would’ve gone for a closer parking spot.
Seeing no immediate signs of a threat, I turned around to lock the door behind me. The second I turned my back, a throat cleared and my body froze. On reflex, I whipped my body towards the sound and nearly fell over when I saw who it was.
“Hey.” He said, barely containing the smile he was trying to fight.
“Jesus Christ! Dry Cap? You scared the hell out of me.” I exclaimed, pressing my hand against my racing heart. “What the hell are you still doing here?”
“Sorry, I wanted to make sure you got to your car okay. It isn’t safe in this part of town, and I couldn’t leave you by yourself in good conscience. Since you closed at 9,” he said, flashing me a knowing grin, “I figured I wouldn’t have to wait long.”
Had he heard me? I wanted to die. Like, have a higher power remove me and any traces of my big, stupid mouth from this earth. Nice one, Stevie.
“It’s fine.” He offered, seeing my discomfort. “I was an asshole. Hearing that my face resembled a cock was brutal, but I definitely earned the verbal lashing.”
It didn’t. At all. It was a stupid handsome face on what looked like a stupid perfect body. He had a sharp, chiseled jawline peppered with the perfect amount of scruff. Dark, full brows that framed his sultry brown eyes and thick lashes that most women would kill for. The most alluring part of his face was his mouth. He had the most perfect smile I’d ever seen, and his lips looked like they could make even the filthiest words sound beautiful.
Before I could think of a clever or witty comeback, he had already turned on his heel and began walking. And after a moment of shock, I quickly caught up with him.
“Which one’s yours?” He asked, nodding his head to the row of cars lining the street.
“The uh… the Focus.” I chirped, still in disbelief at how this night had turned out.
“You shouldn’t park so far.” He noted, keeping his eyes on the sidewalk ahead. “A girl like you could get in a lot of trouble this late at night.”
A girl like me… I didn’t know whether to be flattered or annoyed. DC had already made an assumption about me, and we’d known each other for all of thirty minutes. Then again, I made my own quick assumptions about him and he was already proving them wrong.
By the time we arrived at my car, I realized we walked the rest of the trek in silence.
“Well, we’re here.” He said, gesturing to my car.
I nodded and gave him a small smirk. I didn’t know what to say. ‘Thank you’ seemed lame and ‘see you later’ seemed presumptuous. But he didn’t miss a beat.
“See you around…” He paused, letting his eyes roam my breasts unabashedly. “Stevie.”
My heart slammed in my chest as my body rebelled against the calm composure I tried to cling on to. The name tag, Stevie. He was only reading the name tag. Get a hold of yourself and pussy, don’t you dare quiver right now.
In that moment, as his golden brown eyes roamed my body, I felt exposed and objectified and strangely excited. No one had ever looked at me like that, let alone caused my body to react so strongly to a damn look. The rush was addictive. I wanted more.
From that day forward, I requested to close on every shift I worked. It was stupid, but I secretly hoped we would meet again and I’d have more chances to feel that rush.
Two years later, our meetups had sort of become our unspoken rule. Almost every closing shift Dry Cap or DC as I liked to call him, would show up, order his drink, and hang out to make sure I made it safely to my car.
For nearly a year, I refused other guys’ advances. I waited for DC to make a move that never came. I could never be in an actual relationship. I learned the hard way that there are too many emotional expectations that I just couldn’t deliver on. But sex was fun and uncomplicated, and well, my body wanted him. But every night, he’d walk to his car, I’d walk to mine, and we’d go back to our lives as if nothing happened. As if the spark crackling between us was a hoax.
Alex usually stayed at a friend’s house while I worked, but after that close call earlier, I wanted to keep my eye on her. Maybe it was a good thing that he hadn’t shown tonight. I hadn’t spoken a word about him to Alex. I told myself it was because we’d be leaving eventually and it didn’t matter anyway, but that was a lie.
The truth of the matter was, I cared about him. Probably more than I should’ve. When his piercing eyes looked at me, it was like he was looking deep within my soul, seeing each fucked up layer. But instead of being repulsed by what he saw, he embraced it.
I rarely laughed at his jokes, but it didn’t seem to bother him. Other guys I’d dated in the past couldn’t handle the blow to their ego, but DC didn’t seem to care. He had this quiet confidence about him that made me feel at ease. I didn’t have to worry about my reactions offending him. Carla’s conditioning was still so deeply ingrained into me that my body still feared expressing emotions, even eight years after her death.
Overtime, I grew to be more comfortable with this formidable stranger than I was with my own flesh and blood. Alex was my sister, and I loved her to death, but we couldn’t have been more different. She was warm and trusting, while I was cold and suspicious. She was tan, svelte, and cool blonde, while I was pale, curvy, and deep brunette. She was spunky and outgoing, while I was quiet and closed-off.
But in him I found a kindred spirit. I enjoyed pretending that in a different life, he and I could be something more. Something beyond this pseudo security guard/confidante relationship that we had fell into/ so easily.
I debated asking him for help with Malcolm once, when one of Malcolm’s fits of rage resulted in a cracked rib, but I didn’t want whatever the dynamic between us was to shift. He viewed me as a normal person, not some girl with a fucked up life. The last thing I wanted was for him to take pity on me. I couldn’t stand seeing that look in his eyes.
Almost as if thinking of him had brought him into fruition, the sound of the fan over the door kicked on, showing that someone had walked through the door.
“Be done soon.” I mouthed as Alex popped her headphones back in with a nod.
Butterflies swirled through my stomach the moment my eyes caught sight of his familiar 6’3 frame. As usual, DC came in dressed impeccably. He probably worked in law or finance because after two years, I had yet to see him without a sharp suit on.
Tonight was no different. He walked in the cafe wearing a perfectly tailored navy suit with a crisp white button-up shirt that made the healthy glow of his skin stand out.
“Hey DC, the usual?” I called out as I breezed by him.
I purposely kept things platonic with us after realizing that nothing more was coming from this. He didn’t need to know that my stomach did flips every time he walked into the room. Or that my traitorous pussy pulsed every time his seductive scent of smoky sandalwood and soft amber surrounded me.
Without warning, his large hand encased my arm in a gentle, yet solid hold, halting my movements. I whipped my head to face him. He had never grabbed me before and it was so unlike the polished man I knew. The look on his face was cold, dangerous, and lethal.
“Who did it?” He hissed as his sharp jaw ticked and his large body trembled with what looked a lot like rage.
“What the hell are you talking about?” I asked, brows furrowed in confusion.
I had never seen this side of him before.
“The bruise that’s blooming on your face, Stevie.” He said, his fingers gently grazing the tender flesh. “Who did it?”
My hand involuntarily floated towards his. It had probably gotten worse over the last couple of hours. Shit. I had been in such a rush to get the hell out of there, I completely forgot to cover it up.
“It’s nothing.” I lied, faking a smile as I chewed the inside of my cheek. “I clumsily tripped right into a door knob this morning.”
It disgusted me how easily the lie spilled from my lips. I never wanted to lie to DC, but he had backed me into a corner. Omitting was one thing, but this was a flat out lie and it made me feel awful. But his pity would have felt worse.
“You tripped.” He deadpanned as his sharp brown eyes pierced right through me.
“Yes, so… the usual?”
I didn’t wait for a response. Moving towards the espresso bar, I could feel his eyes probing and assessing me as I made his drink. The force of his gaze made me want to shrivel up into a little ball and confess all of my sins, but involving DC would only lead to more trouble. I was leaving in less than two weeks. I could keep our secrets until then, even if he ended up hating me for it. He’ll end up hating me anyway for leaving without saying goodbye.
DC left the shop without saying another word to me. I hoped that he’d be outside waiting, but after I locked up the shop, there was no sign of him. I told myself that it was better this way. I was only prolonging the inevitable. Maybe seeing the mark on my face gave him an insight into how messy and imperfect my life truly was. He had no room in his perfectly tailored life for the chaos that consumed mine.
