Falling For The Christmas Thief

Chapter 9: Princes With Tutus And Bras

10.17am
Friday
11th December 2015

"Shhh... there's no need for a distress call, because I'm your prince, remember? Your prince. And you are my damsel in distress. You always choose me," he muttered. "That's how the story goes. That's how it always ends." He glanced intensely at her dark blue eyes with his green ones for some mere moments.

Kylie took the opportunity to shove him away and said, "Prince? Story? I don't understand a word that you're saying so leave me alone. Get away from me before I call the police." She took out her phone and was about the dial the number when Sam snatched it away.

"You forgot, didn't you?" he uttered, sliding the phone into the pocket of his jeans. Seeing Kylie's confused expression, he smiled and said, "You best have a seat while I explain myself. Its a very long story." Kylie patiently returned back to her seat, Sam did the same.

"You were one of my bestfriends before you left. We all used to sneak out from the house during the night to go sledging, then we would have a sleep over after that if there was a blizzard. During the sleep over, we will build a fort."

"You and Jason would wake me by throwing pillows at me," he said, smiling at the memory. "There was once when we were almost done with the fort and Aiden went to the storeroom to get more pillows and blankets. Jason was sick that day though. I ignored you when you asked me to pass you some pins so you could do some finishing touches. You got annoyed and aimed for me with a bolster but it hit the middle pole instead, the whole fort went crashing down. And Aiden was kind of frustrated because he did most of the building job."

"Aiden?" Kylie muttered, confused a little. The blonde boy she just met a day ago used to play with her, spent time with her. And all this time, Aiden was trying to hint to her about their childhood days but Kylie didn't even recall one memory. How could she not have remembered? she thought, a pang of guilt hitting her hard at the chest. "I was friends with Aiden before?"

"Yea. Wait, you sound like you know him. You already met him?" Sam asked but for some unknown reasons, he looked shocked. Kylie then nodded. His once good expression turned into an envious one. She knew he was jealous but for what reason? Sam was staring down at his hands angrily.

"Your drinks and snacks are here," Suzanne said, reaching the top landing with a tray in her hand. The waitress was staring at Sam the whole time while serving them, not making eye contact with Kylie. But Sam didn't seem to have noticed the waitress' stare as he was still looking down at his hands. "Here's your morning coffee with my good wishes," Suzanne said, setting Sam's latte onto the table. Sam just ignored the girl which seemed to upset her.

She then served Kylie, saying, "Here."

"Thanks," Kylie uttered. The waitress noded, stole another glimpse at Sam before descending the stairs. The eerie silence continued for a few minutes and Sam was now staring at his latte, not blinking even once. Out of the sudden, he held the hot cup of latte and examined the content.

"Coffee," he uttered. "Coffee was one of the things I need in my life. To me coffee was perfection, one of the reasons I once worked as a part-time barista. But my lack of professional skills and patience were not one of the reasons I quited. I just can't seem to understand what is perfection, because I'm not perfection."

He glanced outside the window then sipped his latte. Kylie also looked the scenic view outside, while munching the snacks Sam ordered.

The dazzling blue sky had been replaced with a misty glacial freeze. The window was frosted, dunes of snow were starting to form and the wind outside was getting stronger. She quickly drank her London Fog - which was undeniably delicious - and stood up from her seat.