Vanished

Chapter 7

It's now a chilly Wednesday evening, and still no sign of Marco's Grandson. Marco has been tense all week in anticipation of his arrival and its making everyone in the café uneasy. So much so that the normal bustling café has been unusually quiet for the past couple of days. It's surprising to me what one person's mood can do to dampen to entire atmosphere in the room.

I write in my journal neatly.

Right now, I am on duty, yet it feels as though I'm on break with the lack of people I've served today. I would never write in my journal at work, but I have literally nothing else to do. The café is empty. I'm just waiting for someone to come walk in that door and-

Ding!

Well, ask and you shall receive.

I look up to the sound of the bell signaling someone just came in the café. Normally the door of the café would be open, but we had to close it due to the ever-changing temperatures outside.

"Welcome to Buckley's, how may I help you?" I say with a smile, still not having seen the strangers face due to his hood and jacket obscuring most of his face.

It takes him a few breaths to reply before he finally says, "Hi, I'm looking for Marco. He owns this café with his wife I believe." It only takes those few words for me to realize his voice is mesmerizing. From the subtle Italian accent to the slight rasp heard after each syllable.

He begins to take off his jacket and hood to reveal his face before I can respond. Once I see his face, I'm immediately speechless. From his jawline, to the loose piece of hair hanging down, even to his dark brown eyes that were looking at me for an answer. I've never seen someone so handsome before.

I clear my thought awkwardly, realizing that I'm staring at him.

He smiles, hopefully disregarding it as nothing.

"Um yeah, Marco is in the back. I'll go get him." I say, trying to get out of that awkward position as soon as possible.

"Thank you uh..." He reads the name on my apron "Bailee."

"Thank you too... Wait what? I mean uh you're welcome!" I say laughing nervously, leaving behind the counter to go in the back of the café. I couldn't be more embarrassing if I tried.

I take a deep breath and try to get rid of the blush creeping up my cheeks.

"Marco, someone's asking for you in the front."

Marco stops what he's doing and looks slightly worried.

"Alright B, I'll be there in a second."

Damn, that means more alone time with me and Mr. hottie

"Okay."

I walk back to the front as slow as possible. Luckily, Marco was right behind me with a different outfit on however. He changed really fast.

As we step back in the front we see that the mystery man is now sitting at one of the café tables on his phone. There's also a new customer waiting at the front desk causing me to run up there and ask for their order.

As the customer gives me their order, I side eye Marco and Mr. Hottie to see what he's here for.

While making the coffee for the waiting customer, I overhear Mr. Hottie say, "I'm Lorenzo. Your Grandson."

This makes my heart skip a beat for a second. He's the Grandson? Well that's surprising.

Actually, thinking about it, it was kind of obvious. I guess I was too caught up in his looks to put two and two together.

After work, I went straight home. Marco and Lorenzo ended up going straight into Marcos office to talk privately so I have no clue what their conversation could be about. Lorenzo and I didn't get a chance to talk either because he was occupied with Marco and that's probably for the best because I would have made a fool of myself.

Now I'm finally home after a day filled with embarrassment and guess what I come home too? MORE EMBARRASSMENT!

"AH!" I scream shielding my eyes with my hands in horror.

The first thing I see when I come home is a half-naked man in a towel.

"Oh, shit Bailee, I'm sorry!" Ash says still standing directly in the path to my room.

"Why aren't you using my mom's shower in her room?" I ask still covering my eyes.

"Well your mother doesn't like anybody other than herself using her shower, so she made me use the guest one." He responds casually.

"Okay, well can I get to my room?" I ask, trying to move this awkward conversation along faster than its occurring.

"Oh yeah of course, sorry." He says, moving out of my way and going into my mom's room to do who knows what.

I let out a big breath of air and jump on my bed once I enter my room. Today was a really awkward day, but at least one thing good came out of it.

I hope I get to see him again.