somnolescent

hour fourteen - elyshia and salvator eat coffee shop breakfast

"...That's what love is. Love is keeping the promise anyway." - John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

☾☆☽

the snow stopped by the time salvator and elyshia left for breakfast at her coffee shop. it was four inches high, but nothing a worn, too-small pair of snow boots couldn't fix. salvator, on the other hand, had to trek through it with his vans on while carrying his soaked clothing in a plastic grocery bag (elyshia let him keep her dad's clothes). salvator, of course, let her keep his leather jacket. she currently had it on right now.

although, how amusing it was, meeting salvator at the coffee shop and spending the last hour of their all-night adventure at the coffee shop.

"thank goodness, i thought i was going to have to fire you!" snapped marie brett from the counter, before elyshia could fully step into the causter oaks coffee shop. she stopped abruptly, seeing elyshia was not alone. "oh... you have company." her tone was cold. clearly her infatuation with salvator was over.

"she won't be working for an hour," salvator put in, shooting her a charming smile. "she'll be having breakfast with me."

"are you serious?" marie said incredulously and salvator shook his head. "fine. fine! one hour or she's fired. one, elyshia." with that, she stalked off into the kitchen. okay, so maybe she still had a little something for salvator saxon.

salvator led her to table three, the exact table he sat in yesterday when ely was his waitress slash barista. the difference was, like a gentleman, he pulled open her chair and waited for her to be seated, then proceeded to seating himself. they didn't say anything for a while, merely looking at each other. ely was blushing. everything was considerably normal about this situation.

"would you like to know something, elyshia locke?"

ely glanced at him and nodded once.

but before she could elaborate, a morning-shift waitress, shelley, headed over to their table. she had a seemingly forced, immediate good-employee smile on her face. "hello, welcome to causter oaks coffee shop, although elyshia probably knew that already. what can i get you two today?"

her tone was sarcastic and it was evident she didn't like ely, but it was okay. she didn't mind, not even a little like before. she knew what happened that day. and it was nobody's business but hers, salvator's and her parents'. "a chai latte and a croissant, please." politeness got you far in life after all.

"same thing," salvator put in and shelley nodded once, briefly, before heading back to the counter to make their order. at just past seven in the morning with snow on the ground, the coffee shop only had three customers. ely and salvator, and a teacher ely recognized from the local university. "anyway, i think you're fit enough to know what was going on with my life the four years i couldn't find you. or chose not to find you, rather."

"okay..." elyshia was nervous. "what about? did you have a girlfriend?" she said that half-jokingly. actually, she was expecting the girlfriend confession. she knew it was coming. what else would someone like salvator saxon be doing with himself for four years without one?

"um, not exactly," said salvator, with an equally nervous chuckle. "this may seem strange, but although i've tried flirting with countless other girls, you're the only reason i've never had a serious relationship. i was a wreck, getting drunk constantly and flirting. flirting with anything that had lady parts and looked enough into me. believe me, ely, if i could have forgotten about you, i would have. but i couldn't." he smiled, but it still looked nervous. "or maybe that was a terrible thing to say... i can never tell. i'm sorry if it was."