Jared's POV
My thoughts are interrupted by a voice. "Would you like some more coffee, sir?" I look up. A girl with purple hair, tied back into a braid stands in front of me with a steaming pot of coffee. Around her waist is a rusty orange apron that is folded in half and tied around her waist. She looks no older than seventeen. I look up at her name tag. It reads Delirium.
"Yes. I would love some more coffee." I slide my empty coffee cup closer to her. She pours the coffee up to the rim. "Thank you."
"No problem. Is there anything else I can get you?" The girl, Delirium, looks me in the eyes.
"Um no thank you. I think I am good for now." I smile back at the girl.
Delirium leaves. She walks table to table asking if anyone needs anything. She has such an unusual name...
Delirium's POV
I stand behind the counter, closing up the coffee shop. Most of the lights are turned off, but I have not yet locked the door, nor have I turned the open sign over, so it reads closed. But since it is past ten everyone assumes we are closed. It's just how things work sometimes.
The 'behind the counter' lights are dimmed and music plays softly from the radio by my feet.
As I count the money in the register, the bell at the front of the shop jingles. My counting stops and my head pops up. A guy in a jacket walks up towards to the front counter. I recognize him from earlier. He was writing in a book and listening to music on his laptop.
"Hi, Umm I think I left my notebook here. I can't find it in my bag and this is the last place I left it. It has random doodles on the front and it has my name on the inside." He pauses. His hands dig into the pockets of his old looking jacket. He is wearing the same thing as earlier. Black skinny jeans with holes in the jeans, a shirt that says The Shins, a jacket, and old converse. He also has red glasses and his hair is messed up, but in a sort of way that makes it look neat. "My name is Jared by the way." He adds, as an after thought.
"Okay. I will go look in the lost and found." I turn on the heals of my feet and walk towards the back of the café where the lost and found is kept.
I take the box of lost and found off the shelf and set it on the floor. In the box there are two cellphones, a sweatshirt, a kindle, four wallets, three books, a titanium coffee cup, two scarves, four pairs of gloves, and one leather bound notebook. I snatch it from the box and walk back to the counter, leaving the box on the floor. I'll pick it up later.
Jared's POV:
I watch as the girl turns around and heads toward the back of the room. I notice she is not wearing any shoes. The girl, Delirium, has on socks with the words Sock Whore on them, repeatedly. I chuckle to myself.
A few seconds later, shuffling drifts out from the back room. Then Delirium appears again with something in her hand. She smiles at she sees me looking at the notebook in her hand. Holding the notebook up slightly and waving it around she says, "Is this yours?"
"Yes. It just so happens, it is." I step forward and hold out my hand for my notebook. But the girl with the weird name does not give it to me.
Instead she looks at it and says, "So what to do you write about? Romance? Mystery?" She threatens to flip through the pages. Then her face lights up. "Do you write songs? Because if so, every Wednesday, is open mike night. And if you write poetry, every other Friday night, we have a poetry slam." Delirium place the leather bound notebook on the table. Then slides it across the counter. Leaning on the palms of her hands, she looks at me. "What do you write about?"
"I write about whatever I want to. Romance, poetry, Murder mystery, and, yes, I do write some of my lyrics to my songs in here." I put my hand on the notebook and slowly slide it towards me. "Nice socks, by the way."
Delirium smiles with delight and clasps her hands together in front of her. "Thank you for noticing my socks. I love them dearly." She sways and looks at me. "I also have a pair of socks with books on them that say 'Only a whore for book characters'."
I laugh, close my eyes and shake my head. "That is fantastic. Where do you get them?"
She shifts from one foot to the other. "Oh you know, here and there. I get a lot of them in locally owned business's and record stores. Usually, I find them when I travel. I always try to stock up." Delirium shrugs.
"That's awesome. So you collect socks?" I ask, already knowing the answer.
"Yes."
"Alrighty then." I hit my notebook against the palm of my hand. "Well, I should probably get out of your hair. I mean it looks like you're trying to close up."
Deliriums POV:
"Alrighy then." Jared hits his notebook against the palm of his hand a few times. "Well, I should probably get out of your hair. I mean it looks like you're trying to close up." He starts turning around but I stop him before he leaves.
I grab hold of his bicep lightly. "Or you could hang out here. I'm always up to meeting new people."
Jared smiles. "I guess I can stay. I mean, I have no where to be." I drop my hand from Jared arm, and he steps leans on the counter. "So do you always invite strangers into this fine coffee shop at night?"
I mockingly flutter my eyelashes. "Only the attractive ones that write music and poetry, of course. Do you always stay when a strange girl asks you to?"
"Only when they're beautiful, and have names like Delirium." Jared joked.
"Is the name Delirium what's making you stay? Or is it the strange socks?"
"Oh it's definitely the strange socks. I wouldn't stay for any other reason."
I laugh and start wiping down the counters and coffee machines. "Well that's a relief. So what do you do for a living? What school do you go to? Who was your highschool sweetheart?
"Wow, that's a lot of questions." Jared pulls a stool from under the front counter and sits down. "But since you asked. My highschool sweetheart doesn't exist because no one likes me enough to date me. I work at a record shop downtown called Cactus Records and stuff, and I attend college at Montana State University. What about you?"
I nod and pull the pastries, that were not sold today, out of their case and place them on the counter. "Well, I work here, obviously, and I also work at Mackenzie River Pizza, but only on wednesdays, and sometimes on Tuesdays. I also attend Montana State university. And my high school sweetheart's name is Gabe. Our relationship lasted for seven months, thirteen days, and five hours. We were everyone's favourite. Always together, always happy. We were, as the teens say, relationship goals. I was heartbroken when he dumped me, but I got over it."
Jared nods his head. "That is quite the relationship. If you don't' mind me asking, why'd he dump you?"
I sigh dramatically. "He just... wasn't feelin' it anymore. The love wasn't there or something. I actually don't know. He didn't give me an actual reason. Which is why it took me nearly two years to get over it. But now, all he is, is a douchebag and a heartbreaker." I pick up a chocolate chip cookie and bite into it.
"Jeez," Jared grabs a danish and eats nearly a half of it at once. "Guys are douchebags."
"Ha. No kidding."
Jared's POV:
"Ha. No kidding." Delirium finishes off her cookie and I finish off my Danish. Delirium goes back to washing down any surface that looks dirty.
"So why are you the only one that's here cleaning up the place?" I brush crumbs into my hand then throw them in the trashcan two feet away.
"Because I like doing it alone. Nobody gets in my way." Delirium begins to wrap up the pastries. She pauses and looks up at me. "Do you want some free pastries? I hate it when they throw them away. That is another reason I'm here alone. Because I'm the only one who works here that doesn't throw day old pastries away."
"I would love some free, day old pastries."
Delirium packs up the pastries and puts them in a small box, handing it over to me. "I love day old pastries. Especially when they are warmed up in the microwave, then dunked in coffee or milk"
I laugh. "Yum." From the box of pasties, I grab a cake pop and eat it in two bites.
"Do you want something to drink with your day old pastries?" Delirium throws the dirty cloth across the bakery and walks over to the coffee machine.
"Sure. If it's not too much trouble." I watch as Delirium sort of jumps over to the machines. She's smiling.
"Of course it's not any trouble. I actually love making drinks for people. And since it's after closing, you don't have to pay." She pauses her actions. "Well I'm not making you pay." Delirium continues to make our drinks. She starts singing the song that quietly plays over the speakers set up around the room.
"Oh, it could've been
Should've been worse than you would ever know
Well, the windshield was broken
But I love the fresh air ya know
(The dashboard melted, but we still have the radio)
Oh, it would've been
Could've been worse than you would ever know, oh!
(The dashboard melted, but we still have the radio)
Oh, we talked about nothing
Which was more than I wanted you to know-oh-oh-oh-oh
Now here we go!"
Delirium sort of dances over, back to where I am sitting, with two drinks in her hands. She takes one step at a time and sort of shakes her hips then takes another step and does the same thing with her hips. Delirium does this all the way until she is in front of me. All the while, she has two cups filled to the brink, topped with whipped cream and manages not to spill a drop.
Delirium sets the cups down, puts both her palms down on the counter and looks me in the eyes. "That was a weird fucking dance. I don't know what I just did... Anyway," Delirium slides, what I'm guessing, my cup towards me slowly. "Here ye' go. This is a peppermint mocha. Topped with whipped cream. Enjoy."
Delirium's POV:
"Enjoy."
Jared picks up the mug and takes a sip. When he takes the cup away from his lips, there is whipped cream all over his nose and upper lip. "How do I look?"
"Hot." Is all I say. I grab my cup, and instead of taking a sip of my peppermint mocha, I lick all of the whipped cream off the top. "Hm. Yum." We both sip our peppermint Mocha's in silence for a minute. Then I ask, "So how is it?"
"It tastes really good. Thank you for making it. And also for not making me pay for it." Jared takes another sip.
"Awesome. This is the first time I've made a peppermint mocha and I didn't follow the recipe. So I didn't know how it would turn out. That's why I topped it with a crap ton of whipped cream." I laugh and take some of Jared's whipped cream.
We talk for another few hours. We talk about whatever we want to and eat day old pasties until they are gone. By the time three in the morning rolls around, there are six dirty coffee mugs and both Jared and I are ready to lay down in a bed and sleep. Or watch movies until we fall asleep.
I'm putting the, now clean, coffee mugs away when Jared speaks up. "So we should meet up again some time." He says it hesitantly.
"Yeah. Definitely. Um," I write down my number on a napkin and slide it towards Jared. "This is my number. Please don't give it to anyone."
Jared looks at it for a second. "Thanks. And don't worry. I won't give it to anyone. Um," Jared pats his pockets. "I think my phone is in my car. But I will text you. Tomorrow probably." Jared starts backing up towards the door.
"Isn't there like a three day waiting period, when it comes to texting a girl?" I wash down the counter one last time.
Jared looks at me. "Yeah, but I'm a rebel."
I laugh and shake my head. "Alrighty then. I guess I'll talk to you tomorrow." I look down at the counter and smile.
"Alrighty then." Jared smiles and nods his head. He slowly backs up until he runs into the glass door. "Shit..." Quickly he turns around and touches the door with his palms.
From across the bedroom, I can see a small blush form in his cheeks. I laugh and wave at him. "Bye Jared."
He coughs and waves. "Alright, bye Delirium." Jared stumbles out of the door and leaves me alone in the coffee shop.
I finish cleaning up and put my shoes on. I grab my keys and coat, then head out the door, ready for sleep.
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Hey. Dear lordy, I haven't posted in forever... Sorry . I mean nobody really reads my stories anyway, So whatever. Enjoy.