THE LETTER

CHAPTER TWO

 

KADENCE PETROV

I awoke to the sound of my mother getting ready for work. I looked at my clock; nine thirty-four am. Far to early to be conscious, I thought. I closed my eyes and was immediately asleep, dreaming of fields of daffodils and pomegranate trees. I awoke again at around four in the afternoon. I yawned, and got out of bed hastily, stretching my muscles. I went out on the balcony and took a cigarette out of my pack, lighting it and taking long puffs, letting them out slowly, watching the smoke disintegrate into the air around me. I yawned again, loudly this time. Last night had been quite tiring. Staying up till five in the morning was not easy on my body. I ached a bit, yearning for a nice cup of tea. 

I turned to scope out the neighbors balcony, looking for signs of them. Nothing. The curtains to the room next to it were closed. My curiosity grew, but I pushed it aside and assumed by new neighbor would be the typical next door neighbor; a divorced, anti-social woman in her mid forties with two kids that never visited her and three cats that slept all day and meowed all night. 

I glanced down at my cigarette and realized it was but a filter, and flicked it down into the street below. I decided to take a quick shower, get dressed and head over to the café a few blocks away. They had a tables outside and decent tea, so I grabbed the essentials and headed out the door.

 

CARTER WHITE

I woke up at around two thirty. My dad had left for his new job early in the morning, and there was no sign of him anywhere in our oddly new apartment. He was the head brain surgeon at the Forest Hills Hospital now. I had showered, gotten dressed and went to explore the unfamiliar area around me. I had found myself in front bookstore while walking straight up the block from my new home, wandering and smoking a cigarette. I lingered there for a while, exploring the old books. I found some works by Auden, and smirked as I opened it. The delicate binding of the old book creaked a bit. Auden had always been one of my favorites. I read more than a teenage boy ever should. 

While standing against the bookshelf, reading, I noticed that the store was connected to a quaint little café. An unstoppable craving for coffee came over me. I hand't had any since Montreal. I wondered what the coffee here would taste like. The smell of it floated through the air all over the library; the books even smelled of it. An interesting smell, strong and pungent. It smelled of vanilla extract and coco beans, and reminded me of cookies.

I purchased the book, knowing I would want to read it later, and headed into the café. I got on line, and looked around while I was waiting. The café had dark brown walls with complex boarders; it looked like any café should. There were shelves everywhere, holding books and things for sale. Tables were propped up against the walls, where people sat and listened to music, or typed for two straight hours while drinking their delicate cups of coffee or tea. I liked this place. It was quite and reminded me a bit of home. I ordered a plain black coffee and headed outside to enjoy the warm weather. I sat down at an empty metal table and sipped my coffee. I glanced ahead of me. The sky was a pretty shade of blue and was cloudless. People were walking the streets talking on the phone or chatting with their friends. This place seemed... Nice. Friendly even. Everyone seemed to be in a decent mood. On the other hand, it was summer; the season of fun in the sun, so who wouldn't be in a good mood?

I looked closer now to see a girl sitting a few tables away from me. She was wearing dark, navy-blue mary jane's and an anklet with a gold anchor hanging off. I followed up her legs only to see the same light, creamy caramel color. She was a high waisted floral skirt full of shades of forest green, rose and periwinkle with a baggy white t-shirt tucked in, and a dark brown leather belt around the top of the skirt. She was was wearing a silver chain with a large, thin gold ring around it. Her hair was pooled around her face, her waves were just the color I had thought, but lighter; a lighter burgundy in the sunshine. Her cheek bones were high and structured beautifully. Her jaw line was defined and her face was a smooth, light beige color, a bit lighter than her legs. She had birthmarks all along her face, just brown specs, as if someone had drawn on her with a brown marker. There was one in the corner of her right eye, one on her left cheek.  And, oh god, those lips. The bottom one was a bit bigger than the top one, and they looked so soft. They were a light pink color and for a moment I wondered if that was natural or some sort of lipstick. When I looked up into her eyes, I realized they were no longer staring at her book, but at me. She was watching me look her up and down. I just stared, not knowing what to do, really. I felt myself blushing. I tried to figure out the color of her big eyes, but they were to dark to tell from this far away. I smiled, hoping that would cure the awkwardness, and she smiled back; creases forming at the corners of her mouth. I felt relieved immediately, and decided to go introduce myself. 

As I got up and began to walk over to her. She stared me up and down, analyzing my every move and all of me from head to toe. I felt a bit insecure, but brushed it off. I sat across from her.

"Hello, I'm Carter White," I said smiling, trying to look as polite as possible. Even from here, it was hard to tell the color of her big eyes. They were so dark. I decided it was between a dark forest green or a navy blue.

"Kadence Petrov," She said smirking a bit, "But you can call me Kade." She took her cigarette pack into her hands and offered me one. I took it willingly, liking that I did not have to worry she doesn't like smokers. I watched as she lit hers slowly, taking small puffs and letting them fly out from in between her lips. I was momentarily hypnotized, to say the least.

She passed me the lighter, and I lit my cigarette. "I thought I recognized you. I'm your new neighbor," I said smiling again.

She was expressionless from a moment, deep in thought, taking another puff of her cigarette and looking at me intently and questioningly, but smiled and said "Well, then I guess we are going to be great friends, aren't we?"

I smirked and took another drag from my cigarette, and said "I sure hope so." I sure hope so.