jones ✧ s.stan

3

REAL LIFE

It was about 8 pm when they both entered Denny's. The lights inside are low and, surprisingly, no one's in there besides the waitress and both of them. 

"I've never been here before," Emma states, taking a look around as they make their way to the counter. 

"You're a Starbucks person, aren't you?" He side-looks her with a smirk. 

"Who isn't?" She retorts and their conversation is cut off. 

"Welcome to Denny's, how can I help you?" The blonde girl behind the yellow counter greets. The smile on her lips goes from sympathetic to a blissful grin. Of course, she recognized Sebastian. "Oh, my... I love your work!"

"Ah," he beams shyly. "Thank you." Emma is standing near him, still running her eyes through the menu. "What would you like?" He drags his eyes off the waitress and glares at the brunette standing next to him. 

"Mm," Emma puts the menu down. "I'd like an Iced Coffee with almond milk, please." Sebastian nods and orders everything. 

"Do you mind if I ask for an autograph?" After handing them the drinks, the girl finally finds the courage to ask. Emma takes the tray to the farthest table and sits down while Sebastian signs a short piece of paper.

"So," Sebastian get closer and sits down, taking his large cup of black coffee to his hands. "Leslie, isn't it?" He remembered the name written on her card. 

"About that," she looks down and locks the red straw between her lips, taking a sip. "I need to honest with you."

"Go on," he frowns, waiting for her to continue.

"I'm not Leslie... Nor am I a journalist." Emma straightens her back against the chair. "Leslie is my friend and she was supposed to interview you. She got sick but she didn't want to miss the opportunity to get an article with you, so I was forced to come instead."

Sebastian listens carefully and his frowning expression does not fade. "You know that is illegal, right?"

"Yeah, I do. I'm... I don't even know why I agreed to this." She takes another sip but doesn't dare to look up at him. "It's okay if you don't want to answer the questions, I totally understand."

"Well, now I'm the one with some questions," Sebastian speaks, a chuckle slipping through his lips.

With that soft sound, Emma stares up at the man in front of her. "Okay... What do you want to know? I'm Emma, by the way. Emma Jones." 

"Alright, Emma Jones..." Seb smiles - she's cute, he thinks. After hearing her confession his heart kind of stopped and he wondered if asking Jake, his bodyguard, to leave was a good idea. For all he knows, she could just be a crazy fan waiting for a chance to... you know what. He is playing it cool though, she seems calm around him too so he's sure there's more to be told. "If you're not a journalist, what are you?"

"I'm a student still," she answers and Sebastian immediately opens his eyes wide. Emma notices his despair and she is quick to clarify - "Oh, no! I'm at university. I'm," she holds in a laugh, his expression was priceless. "I'm 23."

"You scared me." He leads the warm cup to his mouth again. "So, what are you studying?"

"Psychology." 

"Ah," he grins. "That explains a lot."  

"What?" She asks and feels her body relaxing. 

"The way you... knew," Sebastian says and his smile fades bit by bit. It was going away so slowly that Emma wondered if she was in a slow-motion dimension and in that moment all she wanted to do was hold his smile up.