Seraphina's Awakening

Chapter Sixteen: Possessions & Confessions

A few hours and an outfit change later, she finds herself walking through the front doors of the coffee house. Her stomach twists and tugs at her, and she turns to see Nate sitting there in the same spot as the other day, complete with nameless book. As soon as she enters he looks up, their eyes meet. His eyes once again entice her and pull her toward him. Even with all the strange things going on around her, Nate has always been the one constant in her life—at least subconsciously. Just like in her dreams, she's drawn to him.

That tugging in her stomach leads her to that green chair she loves so much. He rises to his feet to meet her. Their eyes remain locked and she pauses before him, "Hey."

"Hey," he mutters in response. They stand like that for a second, staring at each other until he coughs, "I think we got off to the wrong start."

"I'm sorry I left like that last night."

"It's my fault, I came on too... strong."

"It's not you, it's me—"

"Yeah, that's what they all say," he interrupts.

She smirks not having a smart remark for that one. She glances down to the table. Two cups sit upon it; he was expecting her.

He motions for her to sit, "I took the liberty of ordering your drink."

She slips into the comfy chair like she usually does, only this time she feels Nate's eyes on her. She's secretly happy she stopped home to change into that red blouse she had purchased. It pairs perfectly with the pencil skirt she wore to work.

"My drink? How did you know?"

"The gentleman behind the counter was more than helpful on the matter."

Sera glances over to see that Jack is studying their interaction from his spot behind the bar. "Oh," her mind only temporarily at ease.

It seems Nate's appearance was also part of the strange things occurring to her. It's almost... could she still be sleeping? What if she is dreaming right now? She pinches herself just in case. "Ouch."

"What was that for?" His lip quirks up like he's holding back a laugh.

"Nothing," embarrassed she hides the redness in her cheeks by digging around for her laptop within the folds of her purse. Opening it up, she begins typing up some paperwork for the office. It was hard not to be slightly distracted when she returned from lunch.

Nate begins reading from his nameless book and Sera pecks away at her computer keys. That was the way an outsider would see it. Sera gets the feeling more is going on. She could feel his eyes on her, and every once and awhile when his eyes returned to his book, she would steal a glance as well. She could feel every breath he took, her cheeks warmed at the thought of him watching her.

It continues like that until Sera's stomach growls embarrassingly loud. Nate glances up right away, "Are you hungry?"

"Um," her cheeks redden even more, "I guess so."

"Why didn't you say so, let's go."

"Okay, let me just—"

Nate is on his feet heading for the door as Sera is still packing up her stuff. She hadn't heard him approach, but Jack is upon her when she glances up.

"Sera, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Uh," one glance over at Nate and she responds, "Sure, what's up?"

"Are you sure about this guy?" he nudges his head toward Nate's figure by the door. Nate looks pained, almost like he wants to rescue Sera from the encounter.