Broken Hearts Club // ONC Entry

// 1 //

And yet. Her heart was still broken. 

Lost so deep in her thoughts, Luna's cigarette had burned up, the embers now touching her fingers. With a gasp, she dropped the bud and shook her hand. Breathing in deeply, she looked down at the cigarette bud before stepping on it to put it out and checking her watch. Three minutes left. She'd better get inside. Only three more hours to get through. 

Luna opened the door and swung it open as she stepped back into her workplace. She headed towards the kitchen, to the back left-corner where a pot of coffee stood on the counter. Despite the fact that this was a café with fancy coffee machines, the one that stood in the kitchen for the employees was one of the cheapest ones out there. She quickly poured a cup full with the dark substance, and drank it in three gulps. The pot had been standing there for at least half an hour already so it wasn't that hot. 

"Luna, where are you? I need you to release Alex from his shift," Luna heard her boss yell from the front of the café. 

"Coming," She yelled back with a roll of her eyes. She put the cup down and hurried to the front, where she took Alex over so he could go home. 

For the rest of her shift, she made coffee and got the orders ready for the most part. The last half hour Ella and Luna switched, so that Ella was making coffee and Luna was taking the orders. When it wasn't that busy, they cleaned. Or at least pretended to wipe the counter down with  a rag for a while. Luna was doing exactly this when she noticed another customer walk up to the counter. She looked up, and stared straight into a pair of dark eyes, almost hidden beneath a set of thick, dark eyebrows. The intensity of the man's stare almost made Luna gasp, but she managed to hold it back as she gulped. His hair was dark brown, almost as dark as hers, and a short-trimmed beard covered the lower half of his face. 

After a second, Luna managed to regain her composure, and she cleared her throat. 

"Hi, how can I help you?" She asked, forcing a small smile onto her lips. 

The man continued staring at her for a few seconds, before finally, he spoke up too. 

"A large, black coffee, please," He spoke, his voice low and as dark as his eyes looked. All Luna could do was nod as she wrote it down and typed it into the cash register. 

"Three dollars, please," She said as she looked up, unable to avoid his gaze. The guy pulled up one of the corners of his mouth in a half-smile, before pulling out his wallet and handing Luna the money. 

"Thanks," She breathed out, putting the money away. "You can wait for your order on your left." The man stood there for another moment, and then stepped to the side. 

Luna pretended to be busy for a while, peeking through her lashes to see if the guy was still staring at her while Ella got the order ready. 

After Ella handed him the coffee with her 'customer-friendly' smile, he headed to the back-right corner of the café, and sat down alone at one of the tables, seeming to making sure to face the coffee bar. Luna continued wiping the counter, as if it was still dirty after 5 minutes of cleaning the same spot. She glanced up, to see the man staring at her. Even though she caught him looking at her, he did not look away. 

She put the rag down and looked at Ella, who signaled her over, obviously having spotted the stranger as well. She stepped towards her, as she was hidden behind the large coffee machines, safe from the guy's penetrating gaze. 

"That hottie has been staring at you from the minute he walked in," Ella mused with a smirk on her face. "You know him or something?"

Luna frowned. "No, I don't." She peeked around the left side of the big coffee machine at the guy sitting in the corner. He was looking down at the coffee cup between his hands, giving Luna some time to really study him. He had to be around her age, a bit older maybe. He was wearing a red plaid jacket with a white t-shirt underneath and dark jeans. His hair was a dark-brown colour, shorter on the sides, longer and a bit curly on top. A ray of sunlight peeked through the window, making some strands of it look golden-brown. When he looked up, his gaze met Luna's instantly, and she quickly darted back behind the cover of the coffee machine. 

"He looks familiar, though," She said as she looked at Ella, who had been peeking at the guy as well from the other side of the machines. "And he keeps staring at me like he does know me."

Ella chuckled. "If he wasn't so hot, I'd say it was actually a bit creepy."

"It is kinda creepy," Luna retorted, a shiver running down her spine when she imagined the guy's dark eyes peering straight into hers.

"You should give him your number." Luna's gaze snapped towards her coworker in a scowl.

"You're crazy." Ella laughed and shrugged. Luna couldn't help but chuckle at her friend. She checked her watch. "Well, my shift's over anyway. Guess I don't get to stay here to swoon over intense, creepy guy," She joked. 

Ella jutted out her bottom-lip in a pout. "Sad. I have to suffer for one more hour." Ella grimaced at the prospect of an hour of boredom. Then she suddenly perked up. "Oh hey, by the way, we are still going out tomorrow night, right?"

Luna slumped her shoulders and let out a groan. "Do I have to come?" 

Ella slapped her friend with the dishcloth she was holding. "Yes, you do! I need you to get over that asshole of an ex of yours and I need you to be your old self again, and in order to do that we need to go out and find a guy for you to make out with. Maybe if we're lucky we'll run into mister 'intense stare.'"

Luna rolled her eyes but could not suppress the chuckle escaping her lips. "Fine. I guess a few drinks together with you would be nice." 

Ella clapped her hands together in front of her chest and grinned widely. "Great. I'll text you."

"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow then," Luna said with a smile that was almost genuine. Ella gave her a small wave and called out a loud "bye" before stepping past her towards the counter, where a new customer stood. 

Luna started making her way to the kitchen, but couldn't resist looking over her shoulder at the strange guy one last time. He was still sitting there, looking out the window this time, his coffee halfway empty. She couldn't place him, but she did feel like she had seen him somewhere before. Then, as if he could feel her gaze pricking into the side of his head, he turned around and locked his eyes on Luna's. Even though he was all the way on the other side of the room, Luna could clearly see the man's eyes. Dark brown, to the point that they were almost black. His eyebrows were furrowed slightly, hiding his eyes partly as he peered at her from underneath them. They didn't look angry, though. They looked almost... sad.

Luna snapped out of her daze, almost embarrassed for unabashedly staring at the guy. Whatever. She was probably never going to see him again.

So, she turned around and headed for the kitchen once more, taking off her apron in the process. After throwing it in the laundry basket, she remembered to clock out and say goodbye to her boss. She got her coat and her bag, and stepped out the café through the back door. Just one bus ride away from home.