Falling In Love With My Kidnapper

Chapter 1

"Excuse me miss, I've been waiting for my coffee for the past twenty minutes. How hard is it to make black coffee?" An old man asked after pushing past what seemed to be a pool of customers - just to complain.

I wiped the sweat that was forming on my forehead with the back of my hand.

"Sorry, sir. I'll get on it right away" I muttered.

That was a lie. He was going to wait at least ten more minutes because I was completely over my shift at this point.

I walked to the very end of the shop where my uncle was trying to fix the air conditioner.

"Would you mind taking cashier duty?" I asked him. "I'll help brew some coffee and try to check this thing out in between." I pleaded. There was no way in hell I was going to go back and deal with all of those customers.

He groaned, eventually nodding. Nobody wanted to deal with them. Everyone immediately got in a bad mood after the air conditioning slowed down. It had made a couple popping noises before it stopped blowing cool air all at once.

I hated being soaked in sweat. I doubt it's anyone's cup of tea. It made me sticky all over and to make matters even worse, the stupid machine broke five minutes into my shift. So, I had to deal with it until I clocked out which seemed to be a long time from now. I already tried to talk my mom about the possibility of giving me the day off but this place was packed with people. I don't understand why it was so crowded because who would want coffee when the weather outside was 87 degrees and rising?!

After my uncle left the air conditioner I stared at it long and hard. If my eyes could shoot lasers it would be melted by now due to all the anger I had built up. Stupid old machine.

I rolled my eyes and took a deep breath before walking back to the kitchen. Sitting and complaining about how much of a shit day I was having wasn't going to solve anything.

I brewed some black coffee for the complaining old man. I took some more orders once my uncle gave up on cashier duty and I even tried to fix the air conditioner though I had no idea what I was doing. I did all of this in about an hour. Not too bad if you were to ask me. I turned around to see if my one of my parents was around in order to attempt to ask for a break. Lord knows I needed one.

Almost as if he had read my mind, my dad looked back at me. "Twenty minute break, Nova. Then you have to come back and finish up." he said.

Didn't have to tell me twice. I nodded and bolted towards the employee refrigerator. I took out my ham and veggie sandwich and sat down in a corner table. It was the farthest seat away from the customers who had decided to stay and eat their pastry or drink their coffee. Who knows why they'd decided to stay. This place was a living scorching hot Hell.

I chewed on my sandwich, sipping a juice box I had found at the very end of the fridge. I had lost myself in my sandwich while trying to ignore the heat to the best of my ability.

"Woah" a deep voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked up to see a gorgeous boy with black hair and the cutest freckles that were scattered all over his flawless face.

I quickly chewed the piece of my sandwich I had in my mouth. "Um-" I started to speak which was a big mistake because it resulted in a huge coughing fit. Never speak with your mouth full. I swallowed down the food I had in my mouth before smiling up at him. "Hi, how can I help you?" I blushed.

"You look like a mess" He chuckled.

My heart immediately shattered. His comment was probably true. All the sweat that had accumulated over time was probably ruining my makeup. I had my hair up in a ponytail which had loosened due to my running around trying to keep everyone content. Although I saw the justification for his comment... he didn't have to say it out loud. Ever thought of keeping your comments to yourself?

"Mhm. I probably do. Our air conditioner broke so..." I shrugged, looking back down at my sandwich. I had lost all interest in the handsome boy standing in front of me. My sandwich caught my attention more than him at this point.

Any boy who insults me... I lose interest in. That's just who I am. Even if they are unbelievably good looking, like the disrespectful ass male who had dared to insult me.

"Maybe I can check it out. I used to work at a mechanic shop so I've dealt with these kinds of things before. Mind if I take a look?"

I put my sandwich down and looked back up at him. "I suppose, but only because it's boiling in here. Can't have the customers any more upset than they already are."

"Literally" he pointed at the stove that was brewing coffee.

I stood up. "What?" I asked him.

"You said it was boiling in here" He mocked me, over exaggerating my facial expressions.

I couldn't help but laugh. "That was lame"

"If it was lame, why'd you laugh?" He raised a eyebrow, stroking his beard dramatically. I said nothing because I had no comeback so I rolled my eyes as a response instead.

"The AC is back here." I waved my hand for him to follow me. I lead him to the room where it was placed. He walked over to it, bent down and analyzed it before nodding.

"I can definitely fix this. Doesn't look like anything major. Give me about ten minutes. You can go back to work and I'll tell you when it's done." He announced confidently.

"Okay" I answered suspiciously, looking around the room. There was nothing valuable in here so I decided to let him try and fix it. It was worth a shot.

***

"We don't sell hash browns, we sell coffee and a variety of pastries. That's it. Take a look at the menu and see if anything else catches your attention but as of right now... no hash browns." I said to a customer for what seemed to be the hundredth time.

"I understand that but if you weren't listening... In my dream... I came into this very shop, ordered the most delicious hash brown man has ever tasted, and you guys gave it to me! I want the hashbrown!" The old man complained.

I groaned. I usually have a lot of patience with the elderly but this man was very persistent. He was holding up the line.

"I'm sorry but your dream made a mistake! We don't sell hash browns!" I tried to keep my voice at a reasonable level. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "We don't sell hash browns but if you really want it, allow me to give you the money to go around the corner to any fast food restaurant and you can get the hash brown that you want. That's the best I could do."

"Make me a hash brown! I want it from here-" he started pounding on the counter with his fists. The sixty year old lunatic was interrupted by the guy who had offered to fix the AC earlier.

"I fixed it!" He announced.

Hallelujah.

I left the crazy man and walked back to the storage room. I was greeted by the familiar sound of a working AC.

I squealed and sat in front of it, letting the cold air blast all over my face.

"Thank you-" I stopped to attempt to remember if he had told me his name. He hadn't.

"Damien. My name is Damien." he told me.

"Thank you so much Damien!" I smiled.

Damien nodded. I looked at him for a couple more seconds before facing the air conditioner once again. I couldn't believe it was working! It was too good to be true.

"You're welcome, Nova."

I turned back around quickly to face him. "I didn't tell you my name" I paused backtracking every memory I had since my first encounter with him. "I think"

"You didn't have to because I already knew it"

My heartbeat sped up the second the sentence came out of his mouth. My dad had made me watch every single horror movie there is out there and I'm pretty much traumatized.

"How? What-" I avoided eye contact with him in attempt to calm myself down. I was probably overreacting, but like I said I've watched every single horror movie and a bunch of different scenarios were forming in my head.

When I turned back around to question him further, Damien wasn't there.

"Shit" I whispered to myself.