Love Virus

Chapter Three

January 6, 2020

Recommended song: Bloom by Troye Sivan

Alfie's POV

He slid into the booth, shoving his bag along the bench as he scooted in. He took out his phone and searched through his playlists until he found what he was looking for and placed the earbuds in his ears. From his bag he pulled out "Running at Midnight," the book he started the day before and was finding every opportunity to read it.

He took a long sip of his coffee and bit into his turkey and cranberry sauce sandwich. It was only then that he looked up and took in his surroundings.

Most of the faces were familiar. He had seen them in the coffee shop before and figured they must live close by. He waved to the elderly couple that came in everyday and they smiled back. A booth of teenagers sat quietly at the back, too busy on their phones to carry on a conversation with each other.

He looked at the man at the corner booth and found himself not being able to look away.

He was handsome in a rugged way. Long chestbut hair that hung loose and his beard was as thick and rugged looking as he had ever seen. Intense brown eyes that looked like melted milk chocolate scanned the newspaper and his jaw was set firm. He reminded Alfie of a bear. A big brown bear that looked intimidating yet Alfie had a strange craving to bury his fingers in his beard and bury his face in his wide chest.

"What the hell?"  Alfie thought scolding himself. Alfie wasn't one to check men, or woman, out. He wanted to focus on his life and keeping it distraction free. 

Just as he was to look away, wide eyed and blushing, the man looked over. He quickly looked down but Alfie felt the pull and his  eyes gazed back at him again.

The man stared back, baring no emotion and it made Alfie immediately regretful that he was not only staring at the bear man but mainly by being caught staring.

Alfie felt his face heat up and he knew that at that point even his ears were bright red. There was no escaping the awkward moment, he felt completely trapped between being obviously checking him out and being devastatingly embarassed about it.

He could feel his breath quickening and hands begin to shake. Panic was setting in and he quickly gathered his book and cellphone, shoving them in his bag, spilling some coffee on his hastened retreat from the booth. The man continued to stare back with the same indifferent stare and he bolted out of the coffee shop as quick as he could.

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Garret's POV

He walked into the coffee shop feeling immediate relief that it wasn't busy and most of the booths were empty. Thankfully the server recognized him and when he said "the usual?" He merely nodded his head. The server frowned and turned his back to make his latte.

He wasn't opposed to talking, he just didn't want to. Maybe that is something he should work on, he thought. Maybe he looked like an asshole with his constant nodding instead of answering. He would have to ask Allison's view on it.

Garrett knew that his social skills lacked and people misinterpreted his nod as being rude but he didn't mean it as such. Talking was just difficult for him. It always had been. He felt that the world would swallow him whole if he stammered or said something stupid.

He knew it was getting worse since his social circle was painfully small. Allison, Adam, the kids and some people he managed to say a few words to. That was it. Pathetic, he thought.

Reaching for his latte he forced himself to say "thank you" but he said it so quietly that he doubted the server heard him, but he did and heard "you're welcome" in return. Garrett exhaled and found a seat.

He slowly sipped his latte and flipped through the newspaper until he got to the classifieds. He was hoping to find his dream job nestled somewhere between "work from home and earn $60,000" which was so obviously a scam of some sort and all of the jobs he was completely unqualified for.

One ad peaked his interest immediately. Looking for a guitarist for local band. He took a picture of the ad and would call them later. It wasn't a job, but for Garrett  it was something even better. A chance to socialize, meet new people, get out of the rut that had become his life. It was the promise for something better. He would be satisfied with better.

He continued to read through the ads and noted some of the jobs didn't seem too bad. It would be an improvement over working at the bar he thought, trying to be positive.

He felt eyes on him. Garrett immediately tensed and all of his insecurities came flooding to him in that instant. He looked up and met with eyes that had fallen on him.

Why is he staring? Garrett stared back trying to figure out if he knew him from somewhere, the feeling of dread overtaking him. He couldn't fathom why this cute young man with bright blue eyes and the most adorable freckles he had ever seen would be staring at him. Garrett sat as still as possible, he felt that if he moved he would scare him off like an animal in the forest. Just sit still Garrett, he told himself. Don't even blink because if you do you will scare him off.

He didn't know why people were scared of him. He was terrified of them but it seemed that he was not only unapproachable but intimidating. How could I be intimidating? He asked himself all of the time. He wasn't outgoing but he wasn't ignorant. Preferring privacy over being the center of attention, he knew this shouldn't garner such suspicion from people. It had always been like this.

He had been bullied at school because he was bigger than the other kids so they would try their hand at fighting him. He didn't understand why they would shove at him and laugh with their friends and when Garrett never fought back it only escalated.

He didn't have a family that would have noticed, mostly because they didn't acknowledge him and when they did it was with their fists. They wouldn't care if he was beaten at school. The teachers seemed to turn a blind eye to his bruises and cuts so they wouldn't help. Allison helped but there was only so much she could do.

The problem was Garrett never fought back. This only encouraged the others to hit him harder and more often and it became a sick joke to them.

He was beaten at home and beaten at school. There was no escape. It only stopped when he was 13 and he had the scars to prove it. Literally.

So he continued to stare at the young man who had become flustered. He wondered if he would come over and say hi, or even smile. That would be nice he wishfully thought.

Then he watched his face change to  dark red, even his neck and ears and hastily put things in his bag. No wait, Garrett thought desperately. He's running away, I didn't even move and I still scared him away.

Poor Garrett. :(