'So, when will you be back exactly?' David asked from the other side of the phone.
'Tomorrow, I thought I already told you,' Keira replied. She had been on the phone with David for half an hour and they had talked about all kinds of things before the conversation had shifted again to her going back to England.
'No, you didn't, but that's fine. I'll make sure to stock up the fridge and clean the house, I want to show you I can take care of running a household,' David laughed.
'I'll make sure to bring my checklist then, to make sure you tick all the boxes.'
'I can't wait. Do I have to pick you up from the airport?' he asked.
'No, I know you have classes tomorrow, so the underground will do.'
'OK babe, safe travels then and I'll see you tomorrow!' he sounded cheerful.
'Good luck tomorrow and I'll see you back at the house. Bye!' she then hung up the phone. She checked her watch and cursed when she saw the time, she hadn't expected the phone call with David to take this long and she now had to hurry. She quickly finished the apple she was eating and said goodbye to her parents.
It was almost eleven and Keira didn't want to be late, she hated people who where late. She felt hot in the clothes she was wearing, because she had put on more layers then she normally would have done. She couldn't afford any more slipups like yesterday, so when she had gotten dressed this morning she had made sure everything was covered and would stay covered. She longed back to the days she had just been worried about looking good when leaving the house, always making sure her outfits were on point and her hair was styled. Now she didn't care anymore, besides hiding her ugly past, she never put in any effort anymore. She turned the corner and she could see the little cafe a little bit further up the road. With another glance on her watch she picked up her pace and arrived at the cafe a few moments later.
She swiftly scanned the space for a glimpse of Sebastian, but he clearly wasn't there yet. She let out a sigh of relief, at least she wasn't late. It was always busy around this time of day, so there weren't many empty tables left. She sat down at an empty table close to the window and saw Sebastian walking in when she sat down. He spotted her almost immediately and she could see his eyes lit up at that same moment.
Sebastian sat down in the empty chair and he was slightly out of breath. 'Sorry, I didn't want to be late. I hate being late!' he exclaimed.
Keira chuckled, it was only three minutes past eleven and a lot of people would consider that on time. 'Germans and their punctuality,' she said while she shot him an amused smile.
At that moment a waitress came over to take their orders. They both knew what they wanted without checking the menu, which revealed that the pair of them were regular customers.
'So, do you come here often?' Sebastian asked in a way to start the conversation.
'Quite a bit. The only place to get good coffee!' she told him as it was something as important as climate change.
'That's true, that's why I always come here. Tried others, but this one is the best,' he nodded in agreement.
'I work in a cafe back home, so I can't go long without a proper cup of coffee,' she grinned. The job had definitely gained her a coffee addiction and that was something Tom and Abby had teased her with.
Sebastian was playing with the sugar bowl which was standing on the table and he gave Keira a half smile when he noticed her staring at him. He put the sugar bowl back down, but he ended up spilling the content on the table. He instantly turned red and ran his fingers through his hair.
'Not your day?' Keira grinned. He looked adorable with his flushed cheeks and his lips were slightly parted when he tried to clean up his mess.
He sighed. 'Something like that, I think.' He swept the spare sugar he hadn't been able to put back into the bowl off the table and onto the ground. He put his finger to his lips and signed with a grin on his face to stay silent.
'You naughty boy,' she gave him a disapproving look, but couldn't manage to keep a smile off her face. She saw him turn even redder and this nervous schoolboy look was rather cute on him, she thought.
'I like to live life on the edge,' his mouth twisted in a mischievous smile and he winked.
Now it was her turn to blush, she hadn't seen this side of him before. He looked even more attractive if that was even possible at all. She bit her lip and tried not to meet his eyes again. Instead she tried to continue their conversation. 'What do your friends think of that?' she asked.
He shrugged and his eyes twinkled. 'They do the same, of course! No, we don't like to be boring,' he laughed.
'And what does classify as not being boring?' she lifted her eyebrows, now she was curious.
He tried not to laugh, but was clearly amused when he had remembered something. 'Well, one of my friends was once found outside a night club on top of an inflatable dolphin, so...'
Now it was her turn to laugh and she almost spat out the coffee the waitress had just brought. 'What?!' she sputtered.
'Well, it definitely wasn't one of his finest hours, but it makes for quite a story,' he chuckled and he shrugged his shoulders again.
'How on earth did that happen?' she wanted to know more. She sat up in her chair and wrapped her hands around the warm coffee that was in front of her.
'Sadly no one knows, even he doesn't know. He says he was too drunk to remember, judging from the position he was found in I can't argue with that,' he was trying to hold back a smile, but each time he spoke a word his mouth twitched and he had a hard time finishing his sentence.
'You have weird friends,' she sniggered. She glanced at Sebastian who was drinking his coffee and she could see his lashes flutter when he looked down at his mug. Even his eyelashes were perfect, she thought.
'And you don't have any?' he shot back at her with his eyebrows raised.
She saw a flicker in his eyes when he said that and she knew he was right. Abby, Tom and herself weren't really angels, she had to admit. 'Well, we haven't had any encounters with inflatable dolphins, so...'
'Not yet,' he grinned, showing her his perfect teeth. He put one hand under his chin and leaned on the table. 'I can arrange that if you would like?' he chortled.
'I think we're fine without it, thanks for the offer though,' she tried to keep her face straight. She drank the last of her coffee and tucked her hair behind her ear, she felt quite relaxed.
'So tell me about your friends then?' his eyes were glowing with anticipation. He drummed his fingers on the table and shot her an awaiting glance.
'Well,' she began, 'one of my friends ended up naked in the backyard of one of our professors once.' That was completely true, Abby had done many dramatic things, but this was one of her highlights. Tom and herself often teased her with it, naturally she didn't like that very much.
'How is that any better?' his eyes carried a mixture of shock and amusement and he shook his head.
Keira bit her lip and smirked. 'Maybe it isn't,' she said.
'Explain please,' he leaned against the back of his chair and folded his arms, flexing his muscles as a result.
'It was at a college party, to celebrate the end of the first year. One of the professors had offered his backyard to host the party, so all the first years ended up at his garden. There was enough booze to kill at least a thousand people and a lot of them were trying to do exactly that, I think,' she paused, thinking about how to explain the second part while still protecting Abby's modesty. 'She was one of the heavy drinkers and she ended up in a game with a few others. The game was that you had to take off a piece of clothing when you were last to finish a drink. Needless to say that she wasn't very good at that game. When I saw how far it had gotten I tried to stop her, but she was happy to take off all her clothes,' she sighed when she remembered how stubborn Abby could be sometimes.
'Am I right to assume she regretted that decision later on?' he tilted his head when he caught Keira's eyes.
'Pretty much,' she answered with a smirk, 'but we think that's not a good enough reason to stop teasing her.'
'Yeah, I would do exactly the same,' he grinned and his eyes twinkled.
'I bet you would,' she bit back after watching his expression for a moment. God, his face was beautiful no matter what he did, although she still hadn't figured out why it was that his face looked so familiar. It was like she had seen him before, but it was unlikely however that she would have remembered him from another holiday. She pushed the thought aside and focused on the conversation again.
'Any embarrassing stories involving you?' he asked tauntingly before giving her a wink.
Her mouth fell open, he had not just asked her that. She felt blood rushing to her cheeks and she shifted in her chair. 'I can ask you the same thing!' she replied.
'Puking in front of your boss, is that bad enough?' he answered sounding amused.
She chuckled when she imagined him doing that. Spewing chunks on a neat pair of shoes belonging to an important man who was dressed very smartly. 'OK, that sounds bad,' she said with sympathy in her voice.
He pulled a face. 'I was so embarrassed, but I think he didn't mind that much.'
'Work party?' she asked curiously.
'Something like that, yeah. Still not a good excuse to throw up though,' he said with a sigh. He gazed out the window and then turned his head back to Keira. 'Alright, spill it', he grinned.
Knowing he wasn't going to let this go, she thought of something embarrassing she had done. Not all of it was suitable to discuss over coffee and she was quite shocked by how many things she could think of. She didn't think it was that bad, but obviously Tom and Abby had tried their best.
'Is it that bad?' he smirked.
She looked up and shot him a warning stare. 'I once fell out of a taxi, into a large puddle of mud. Everyone thought it was very funny, I however did not,' she admitted. It had been a humiliating experience and she studied his face when his lips turned into a curve again.
'Right to assume you were intoxicated?' he wiggled an eyebrow and gave her a knowing look.
She grumbled and nodded in his direction, he was right. She had been completely wasted and that wasn't something that happened very often. She had the intention to keep it that way, because these stories didn't exactly make her look good.
He leaned over the table to get closer to her. 'Don't worry, it'll be our secret', he whispered while trying not to laugh.
She felt a shiver creeping up her spine, his face so close to hers made her heart race. This close up his eyes were even more captivating, like they were hiding the galaxy. She also had caught a wave of his scent and it had made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. His smell was a combination of mint and funnily enough petrol, it was a combination she had never smelled before. It wasn't unpleasant though, and she was even slightly disappointed when he sat up again and his scent disappeared. Then there were his lips, they looked really soft when he had them slightly parted like this and that made her unable to look away from them.
Sebastian had spotted her staring at him and an amusing grin played on his lips. 'You OK there?'
'Yeah, I'm fine,' she said quickly. Feeling mortified that she had been caught, but she couldn't help herself staring.
'Having any plans for this week?' he asked, shifting the conversation to another subject. He was watching her tearing up the napkin that had been laying on the table.
She quickly stopped murdering the napkin and put one of her legs over the other. 'Going back home tomorrow, so that should be fun.'
'Oh really? Having enough of this country?' his face twisted slightly at hearing the news. He picked up the sugar bowl again and was close to spilling it for the second time.
'I don't think I ever will,' she admitted, 'but my parents are going home and I don't like being alone here. Besides, I have to start looking for a job, so it's good to go back home. Also my boyfriend has been asking me when I will be home like twenty times already,' she concluded.
'You have a boyfriend?' his voice sounded slightly different and this time he did spill the sugar again.
'Yes, we live together actually,' she said trying to plaster a smile on her face. She saw that he wasn't really successful in cleaning up the sugar again and she playfully flicked the sugar in his direction.
'Hey, you are making a mess!' he exclaimed while sulking about his sticky fingers. There was almost as much sugar on his fingers as on the table.
She glanced at him. 'I don't think I'm the one who is making a mess,' she smirked.
'Not funny,' he pressed his lips together, but a slight smile was visible and it didn't take long for him to grin and show his perfect teeth. 'I give up,' he sighed, trying to lick his fingers clean.
Keira couldn't keep her eyes off him licking his fingers, she felt a lurch in her stomach and her eyes widened. Him sucking on his fingers was not an image she would be able to forget quickly and she tried not to let out a whimper. Sebastian on the other hand had no idea what he was doing to her and smiled happily while showing her his clean fingers.
'So I won't see you around anymore then?' he said while drying his fingers on one of the napkins. He sounded slightly disappointed and he leaned back on the table.
'No, I don't think so. Maybe in the winter?' she answered. She definitely wanted to come back.
'You come here also during the winter?' he asked cheerfully.
'Yes, winter is even better than this. I mean, going down the slopes and feeling the adrenaline is amazing. Also everything looks better covered in a metre of snow,' she sniggered.
'You ski?' he sounded surprised. He had tried to balance his chair on two legs, but he almost toppled over after hearing that.
'I used to, but the last few years I've been snowboarding. I like that more,' she remarked. 'And you?'
'I love myself some snowboarding,' he grinned while imitating the movements of standing on a board.
Keira laughed and shook her head. 'You're silly!'
He sighed and gave her an apologising smile. 'I guess I am,' he said trying to sound sad. Chuckling at himself he checked his watch and raised his eyebrows. 'We've been here longer than I thought, I have to get back home though,' he said with a sigh.
It had been fun sitting here with Sebastian, so she was a bit disappointed that he had to go. She hadn't noticed how relaxed she had felt, not once had she worried about anything. It had felt the same like spending time with Abby or Tom and she was bewildered that she could feel that way while being with a stranger. He wasn't exactly a stranger anymore, but he neither was someone she knew, so she would go with stranger anyway.
'Oh, before I forget,' he bent down to grab something from his bag, 'here's your wallet! That's why we're here in the first place,' he said.
She had almost forgotten about that. 'Thanks!' she replied while taking the wallet from him. 'Now I can pay', she smirked.
'No, I'll pay, hang on,' he put his hand in his bag again. After a few seconds he sat back up looking rather embarrassed. 'I think I forgot my wallet,' he said in a tiny voice.
She laughed, he was really something. 'Don't worry, I have you covered,' she chuckled and put the right amount of money on the table before standing up.
'I owe you one,' he said while hanging his bag on his shoulder, 'next time I'll pay, OK?'
'Deal,' she answered and shot him a lopsided grin. She really hoped there would be a next time, although she knew she was going back home and that it would be very unlikely.
'It was nice to meet you Keira,' he said while holding the door open so they could both get outside. He definitely was a gentleman.
She felt a bit nervous suddenly being alone with him. 'It was nice meeting you too, Sebastian,' she replied hesitantly.
'Call me Seb, everyone does,' he grinned and he put his hands into his pockets. His eyes were still focused on Keira and he gave her a playful wink.
'OK, I'll do that,' she chuckled. Seb sounded good, she could get used to that. She didn't think Sebby would go down very well, so she would stick with Seb. 'Maybe until next time then, Seb,' she smiled while locking eyes with him.
'Yes, until next time,' he said while running his fingers through his hair.
With a slight awkward wave they both went their own ways, while peeking over their shoulders to get a last look of the other. Once they locked eyes and they both grinned, they waved again and continued their journeys home.