"veinte double chocolatey chip, please." anisa handed the barista the money and waited patiently for him to give her back the change.
"wait down there for your drink," she bluntly said, dumping the coins into anisa's palm. she just nodded and did as told, sliding down the line towards the straws and the open counter.
the starbucks was unusually slow and empty today. it made sense, though, since it was a friday and mostly everyone was out clubbing and drinking. at least her friends were, anyway.
"anisa?" a drink was set down in front of her, snapping her out of her thoughts. she grabbed it as well as a straw and made her way towards a nice seat by the window. she had been waiting for this all week.
"looking for alaska," she heard someone say once she sat down. "love that book."
anisa looked up to see a tall, beautiful, brunette stranger.
"uh, y-yeah," she stammered. "have you read it before?"
"yeah, twice actually," he moved towards the empty seat in front of her. "do you mind if i sit down?"
"i'm really not in the mood to talk, i just wanna read-" anisa started, before the boy held up his own book - the celestine prophecy.
"did you maybe not think that i wanted to read, too?"
"i usually do my reading alone-"
"it's nice to switch things up once in a while," he raised a brow, giving her a knowing look. "plus, i would much rather sit and read with a pretty girl than sit and read by myself."
well, isn't he charming, anisa scoffed in her head. she paused for a moment. "okay, but-"
"no talking, i promise. just reading." he finished for her, sitting. "i'm noah, by the way."
"you're like a mind reader or something," anisa mumbled, opening up her straw and pushing it into her drink.
"if i was, i'd already know your name, but i'm not, so i think it'd be better if you told me."
she let out a little laugh. "anisa," she smiled, picking up her book and pulling her drink closer to her.
"anisa," noah repeated. "i like that name. its pretty."
"don't try and flirt." she narrowed her eyes. "we're just reading."
"of course," he raised his hands in surrender. "just reading."
and with that, they both picked up their books and began padding through the pages.
-
bzzt.
anisa glanced down at her phone.
mama: hey sweetie when r u going to be home?
it had been an hour and a half since this noah boy had sat down with her. so far, he'd kept his word - they hadn't talked once. he just kept passing sneaky glances at her and whenever she'd caught him, he just smiled and resumed his reading.
anisa: not sure yet . i just got here like an hour ago. is something wrong ?
mama: no no everything is good. i was just wondering cus pop and i want to go on a surprise date night
anisa: awww dont worry ab me , enjoy urselves !
anisa smiled to herself. date night? it's been ages since they've done that, she thought to herself.
"what's got you smilin' that big?" noah's voice startled her. she forgot he was there.
"none of your business," she teased, putting her phone down. "i thought we agreed to no talking."
"well, i would've stayed quiet if that pretty smile of yours didn't distract me," he shot back.
"oh, wow," anisa laughed. "you've got some punch lines in you."
"oh, yeah?" he raised a brow, sitting up in his seat. "that's only a taste of what i've got."
anisa observed him. brown hair, brown eyes, bushy eyebrows. he was actually kinda cute.
"well, i would love to hear them but i've actually gotta run." she stood up, picking her book and empty cup up. noah hurried to stand up with her.
"that's just your luck because i've gotta run, too." he pushed his seat in and followed her as she made her way to the door, tossing the cup into the trash. he hurried in front of her and pushed open the door.
"you're a gentleman," she smirked, brushing past him. "thank you."
"you're very welcome." he smiled widely. "so, where are you headed?"
"home, actually," anisa tucked her book into her bag. "what about you?"
"well," he looked at the ground. "i was planning on going wherever you were..." he looked up at her, hopefully.
she rolled her eyes. "you can't come to my house."
"then let's go somewhere else."
"why are you so intent on hanging out with me? we literally just met."
"i don't know," he locked eyes with her. "it's just a feeling."
anisa caught herself locked in his gaze as well, but quickly looked away. "look, you're a nice guy and all but you could be a serial killer-"
"i'm not, i promise. but we should probably get out of the sidewalk or something."
"see that's something a serial killer would say. and why would we get out of the sidewalk-"
"noah!" a voice called, followed by a shuffling of footsteps. the pair turned around to see a group of men trailing behind them with flashy cameras.
"oh," noah let out an embarrassed laugh. "hey, guys. what's up?" he started speeding up, his hand on anisa's back. now she was confused.
"is this your girlfriend?" one man asked, while the rest snapped pictures.
"i'm not his girlfriend," anisa answered. all of a sudden, noah whisked her away into a car. he shut the door once she got inside, then went around the car to the driver's seat.
"um, random car-"
"it's my car, and i promise i'm not a serial killer." he cut her off. "if you want, i can drive you to your car but i'd still really like to hang out with you." anisa looked out her window. the camera guys - who she assumed was paparazzi - were still trying to take pictures of them.
"lucky for you, i don't have a car." she smiled. "let's go."
noah grinned. "where to, milady?"
anisa looked out in front of her. "anywhere."
