Alex and I - Alex Turner

A rainy day at the café (Part 1)

Dark grey clouds illuminated the sky, casting a gloomy shadow all over the city. I walked mindlessly down the street yet again, as I've down million times before in the past two years, my consciousness elsewhere. I still had two papers due the next week and was nowhere near completing either of them. Heck, I hadn't even started on one of them. The anxiety of the deadlines was creeping up on me and I found myself taking slow breaths in between steps to stabilize myself. An extension was absolutely out of the question. Maybe I could take a day off and get some work done this weekend? I quickly let that thought go. I couldn't, we were already short on staff, one missing waitress now would affect the café. Bruce would be kind enough to offer some alternative, a weekday off perhaps, but not the weekend. I was the only waitress on shift tonight so I thought maybe, if it was convenient, I would start the notes from somewhere in the counter at night. I was supposed to close up anyway. I'd get some time to myself. It was a Thursday, after all.

'Better start working on them tonight', I muttered under my breath. 

Lydia was waiting up for me to arrive when I walked in. I subconsciously tried to remember if she had told me that she had somewhere to be. Nothing came to mind.

'You're on!' she exclaimed excitedly, gave me a quick peck on the cheek and headed for her coat.

'You seem to be in a hurry. Did you have somewhere to be?'

'Date with Andrew'

'Andrew?' I asked obliviously. She sighed and rolled her eyes at me.

'Yes Bella. Andrew. Cute guy from sociology. Kinda awkward?' She glanced at me expectantly.

'Oh, that Andrew. Have fun!' 

I managed to sound as excited as possible although I could for the life of me remember her who this Andrew was. Huh. Must have zoned out when this was mentioned. I smiled to myself and got dressed for work, but my thoughts had taken an interest in dissecting my love life so far and how it compared to other girls my age. Like Lydia. Or Anna, my roommate. Soon enough, I was thinking of the people seated peacefully conversing in the café. Was any of them on a date at the moment. How long had the young couple at table two known each other? And so on. There was a total of five tables that were occupied. It seemed like a slow day, and I briefly wondered why. Deciding it was probably the possibility of thunderstorm within the next couple hours, I greeted Charlie and moved on to work. And hence started yet another uneventful shift. And it was, for a good three hours until he walked in.

Dressed in a white tee and black jeans, his once slicked back hair, now a damp mess, falling in strands down the sides of his face, there stood Alex. Alex Turner.

I was at the counter, quite frankly being bored to death, making alarms on my phone for an extra early morning tomorrow to start my paper when I noticed him. With his perfectly chiseled jawline and cheekbones, big dark eyes, I immediately recognized him. Heck, I'd spent a major part of my school years obsessing over the band, infatuated with this man and still had countless Tumblr posts from that time I was afraid to look through again, as evidence to my embarrassing fangirl phase. I could once again feel my heartbeat picking up, for entirely different reasons than when I almost had a meltdown earlier that day. I shot a quick glance at Charlie, my mouth wide open as to say 'Oh my God' as a million thoughts ran through my head. Charlie smiled back, clearly having recognized him too and gave me an approving nod. Alex walked by and sat down at the table farthest from the door. He started looking out through the glass, perhaps admiring the view. Although if you ask me, there was nothing to look at except a rain-soaked nearing empty street and a couple cars parked here and there. He looked a bit like he wanted to be left alone and I made a mental note not to bother him while he was in here. I took a menu from the counter and scooted over to his table; my heart still racing. But hey, I could not lose it. I wouldn't show him I'm an absolute mess, this is important. I HAD to not embarrass myself.

He seemed a bit spaced out when I reached the table so I started by clearing my throat, so as to alert him to my presence. I smiled as sweetly as I had ever had in my entire life, all teeth, I was so overcome with joy he'd even looked at me. I wondered for a moment if I resembled a serial killer with that show. Fuck, compose yourself Bella, don't scare him like that.

'Hello sir. Here's the menu. Please ring me when you're ready to order.' He gave me a small smile and nodded, that was my cue to leave. I started retreating back to the counter, smiling ear to ear, my back turned against him, giddy with joy. I couldn't believe it; I couldn't believe this was happening. I reached for my phone and started a text to Brienne, my best friend about the encounter.

Brienne

 You would ABSOLUTELY not believe what just happened to me at workk!!!

Got asked out? If it's a no, don't tell me.

I rolled my eyes. This was exhausting. She's been trying to set me up with guys from the Uni for some time now despite me asking her not to. But it wasn't like Brienne to listen. I always declined politely, saying I had papers due, work to complete and whatnot whenever I was asked by someone, she introduced me. It wasn't a lie exactly, but it still felt pretty bad having to make excuses every time. She gave up after the first few tries but was adamant love was in the cards for me. The truth was, she had a completely different taste when it came to men, and I couldn't really afford to experiment. I was an anxiety ridden, high-achiever-burn-out, desperately trying to cope. Love was the last thing on my mind. Except for the times I'd find myself wondering what went wrong on a lonely walk home from the café. My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the last remaining customers, a young man and woman both wearing matching sky blue t-shirts, seated on table three. The woman wore a knee length dark blue denim skirt and long white stockings underneath. She wore red lipstick, and her hair was tied up in a not-so-messy-messy bun. She looked effortlessly beautiful, and I found myself admiring her looks as they made their way towards Alex. They asked for a couple selfies and he politely obliged. After having ooh-aah-ed over him, they left, leaving only the chime of the door closing behind. 

Alex slumped in his seat, perhaps finally relieved he was alone. Charlie raised an eyebrow at me, urging me to go and take his order. I was in the middle of whispering 'But he didn't ring'  back when sure enough, he rang.

'Ah, I'm sorry I got a bit carried away.'

'Oh, it's no problem, sir. Take your time.' 

I smiled at him again, trying not to appear as sociopathic as before. He smiled back in reciprocation and went ahead to order an apple crumble and a cappuccino.

'Oh, just that?'    

I had lost my composure and my disappointment that he had ordered something quite basic after this long and my expectations that he'd make an order I'd never forget and possibly could brag to Brienne about, had seeped through. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. He must think I'm being rude. This was not what I wanted him to think of me.

He chuckled at my remark and looked up at me. I got the impression that perhaps this was the first time he had taken notice of me, despite the previous interactions.

'Well, what would you have me order miss...?'

'Jean. Bella Jean.'