At Midnight

Chapter 14

Resting my chin in the palm of hand, I peered at the tiny and crystal-clear drops of rain racing each other to the bottom of the window. But the heavy storm interfered with the mini competition so it was hard to tell who was the winner.

The snapping of fingers brought me back to reality and I tore my attention away from the window.

" Earth to Mia. Do I bore you that much?" Javier joked.

" No, sorry. I forgot to warn you about my limited attention span, didn't I?"

He laughed. I liked his laugh – whenever he laughed, he would tilt his head backwards a little and then he would scratch the back of his neck and give a sheepish smile.

We sat at the window seat of a two-story café. It was crowded on a rainy day and waiters were bustling around getting orders and costumers were talking animatedly.

Javier and I were drinking coffee, like he promised, while getting to know each other. So far, he was a very intriguing person; two years older than me, he loved tattoos (obviously), enjoyed playing soccer with his cousins, his entire family was originally from Spain but he and his parents had migrated to America, he smoked a lot and he was a fellow loner. He was also a reserved person and people in his school thought that he was cold and unapproachable so they stayed away from him.

He was funny, sweet and extremely charming, especially when he smiled. Every girl in the five-meter radius were ogling over Javier and twirling strands of their hair. He didn't give either of them a single glance and kept his eyes on mine. It made me feel special. I felt comfortable with him and he made me feel normal, as cheesy as that sounds. It's just hard to explain.

We talked for hours about, well, a lot of things. From puppies to what we thought was the meaning of life. From commenting of the waiter's horrible hairstyle to why rain existed. I liked those deep conversations. And weird random ones. I liked how he was so open-minded and expressive too.

We were so focused on what we were discussing that we didn't notice the sky had turned dark and that the café was closing up for the day. We left the shop after who knows how long.

" It was fun today." Javier smiled and put on his jacket as we headed out to the parking lot.

" Yeah, we should hang out more often." I shivered a little. I had forgotten to bring a jacket along and the wind sent chills down my spine. How stupid could I get?

" Cold?" Javier noticed and proceeded to take off his jacket.

" No, its okay. You keep it." I offered him a smile.

" Now what kind of gentleman would I be if I did so?" He held up the jacket and waited for me to slide my arms into the sleeves.

" But won't you be cold?" I asked.

" Don't worry about me, I won't." He grinned.

It was toasty warm and the jacket literally hung off my frame. It was too big but I didn't mind. Also, it smelled like aftershave and fresh daises and cologne.

He opened the door of his car for me like a gentleman and he drove me home. He had insisted on picking me up at the foot of my door earlier too. The inside of the car smelled like his jacket. I was very tempted to ask him what shampoo he'd used but that would be too weird for a first impression.

" Thanks for today." I smiled when we reached my house.

" I'll call you later." He said before driving away.

It wasn't until I stepped on the front porch that I realized that I still had his jacket on. I dialed his number on my phone and waited. He finally picked up, " Yeah? I said I'd call you." He joked and I could imagine him smiling.

" I still got your jacket."

" Oh its fine. You can keep it." He said.

" Are you sure?" I asked him.

" Yeah, think of it as a present." He laughed.

I decided that I liked Javier. But it was not the 'staying up at four in the morning and thinking about your lips' type of like. Just as friends.

Feelings are over-rated anyway.