It was another glorious day and Keira felt somewhat annoyed for having to stay inside, she much preferred to be outside and go to the lake. But here she was, serving customers and cleaning tables. It was almost two o'clock, so she still had one hour left before she could go home and it felt like time was going slower than normal. This day had been one of those days you should have called in sick, because everything had gone wrong. She had served the wrong coffee to the wrong customer thrice and she had even dropped an entire cake on the ground, not good at all. Her mind had been elsewhere the whole day and it was showing in her work, to the annoyance of her colleagues.
'You're dreaming again.'
Someone had tapped her on her shoulder and she recognised Elsa's voice. 'I'm sorry!' she said quickly.
'It's not your day, is it?' Elsa grinned and she threw the cloth she had used to dry the clean mugs over her shoulder. Her blonde hair was messy and she used her now free hands to tie it up in a neat ponytail.
She sighed and sat down on one of the stools. 'I guess not, I'm sorry for being such a useless colleague today.'
'We all have our off days, I once accidentally spilled coffee on a customer, so...'
'I know, it can always be worse,' Keira chuckled. Spilling coffee on a customer was something she hadn't done yet and she intended to keep it that way. She didn't even know if Elsa was serious or was just trying to make her feel better.
'Has it something to do with the fact that your guy hasn't been in yet?' Elsa shot Keira a knowing look and winked.
'Of course not!' Keira answered defensively.
'Are you sure?' Elsa smirked and Keira's quick answer told her anything she needed to know.
'How do you even know he hasn't come in yet?' Keira had folded her arms and was eying her colleague suspiciously.
'Oh come on, we all know by now! You are all sunshine and laughs when it's almost eleven and you always take your break then to spend it with him,' Elsa said. 'We're not stupid, you know,' she added trying not to laugh at Keira's upset face.
'We're just friends,' Keira tried to reason with her colleague.
'Yeah and I'm the pope,' Elsa answered with a big grin on her face. She turned her back to Keira to help the customer that had just came in.
Well, they were just friends. Is it so bad to like hanging out with people? It was true she was always looking forward to the moment Seb would come in and they would just sit and talk, but that didn't mean it was because of Seb. Just having someone to talk to and spend time with was something that made her feel normal. Now Abby and Tom were so far away she didn't have the luxury to visit them whenever she wanted. Talking on the phone was nice, but she missed spending time with them. That's why she was thankful to have Sebastian now, he filled in those gaps perfectly and he was actually really funny. He had a lot of stories about his friends and himself and they had no problems of running out of things to talk about, even boring subjects like politics he could make enjoyable to discuss. It was true though that he hadn't came in today and she didn't know why. He hadn't said anything yesterday and she kind of felt let down. She knew she was kidding herself, because he had no obligations whatsoever to come in at all. It's just that she had been looking forward to it and she was curious why he hadn't showed up. Had something happened to him or was he busy doing things elsewhere? She sighed and washed her hands, no it definitely wasn't him who made her so clumsy today. With that thought she went to help Elsa with the waiting customers, but she caught herself eyeing the clock every five minutes.
'One Americano, please,' he said while watching the girl behind the counter topping up the muffins. She was quick and accurate and it was just like he was watching himself. He tried to fix his messy hair and smiled when Keira turned around and spotted him.
'Hey, you're here!' she said in surprise and she accidentally dropped one of the muffins she was holding.
Yes,' he answered. He could see Keira's blonde colleague shaking her head and giving her a wink. There was clearly an inside joke going on here and he could see Keira's cheeks turning pink. It looked rather cute, he thought while trying to find his wallet.
When she had picked up the muffin she quickly made sure the other ones were safe. 'You weren't here this morning?' she said while shoving the muffins unceremoniously in their basket.
'Something came up, so I wasn't able to make it,' he said with a sorry look on his face. Christian had called him this morning and there were some things he had wanted to discuss. He had to reshuffle a few sponsor events and he had wanted to make sure he was able to attend them. This wasn't the first time for stuff like this to happen, there was always a lot of reshuffling going on. If it wasn't at the racetrack, it would be with the sponsors or in the factory. He envied Christian for keeping track of it all and still making sure the team ran like clockwork.
'Ah, that explains it,' she said and her eyes looked a little bit lighter. Also the corners of her mouth had lifted slightly and she dodged an attempt of her blonde colleague to poke her.
'So, are you going to make me a coffee any time soon?' he smirked and he pointed at the coffee machine.
'You're always so impatient,' she grinned, but she had already grabbed an empty mug.
'And you're always so slow,' he shot back but he made sure to give her a slight smile. He was not always impatient, maybe a little, but not always.
'You're lucky I only have five minutes left, otherwise I would have taken fifteen minutes to get you your coffee.'
He raised an eyebrow and caught her eyes. 'You're almost done?'
'Yes, you're my last customer today, so I hope you feel special now,' she grinned.
'You always make me feel special!' he exclaimed. He felt his cheeks burn a little, but he hoped it wasn't visible for anyone else. He could hear the blonde colleague sigh in exasperation and she giggled when she whispered something in the ear of the guy who was filling up the coffee beans. They both were giggling now and they made Keira clearly feeling uncomfortable. He didn't get the joke, so he was staring from her to her colleagues and back again with a questioning look on his face.
'Don't mind them, they have been kept inside for too long. That makes people mental,' she said while giving them a deadly glare.
'So, I was going for a walk in a bit,' he started and he wasn't sure exactly why he was saying that. 'Do you want to join me?' he asked before he could decide not to.
She looked up from the coffee machine and blinked. 'OK, I guess,' she answered and she nervously tugged on the sleeves of her shirt.
'You don't have to if you don't want to,' he added, because she didn't look so sure.
'I want to,' she quickly responded, 'I mean it sounds fun, I love walking around here.'
'OK, I'll wait here until you're done,' he said while pointing at one of the comfy chairs.
'I'll make sure to be quick,' she smiled.
'You can go right now, if you want,' said the blonde girl with a funny expression on her face. She pushed Keira towards the backroom to indicate that she meant what she had said. Her eyes locked with the ones of the brown haired colleague and they both chuckled.
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'Wait up! I can't go any faster,' panted Keira. They were walking up a hill and Seb looked like he was some kind of professional athlete, not a single drop of sweat was visible on his face. She on the other hand was almost dying and her legs felt like jelly.
'You can't be tired already?' he shouted back from a bit further up the hill. He had stopped walking and was now waiting for Keira to catch up.
'I'm sorry that I'm not a Duracell bunny,' she yelled and then put all her effort into closing the distance between her and Seb.
'Those ears and tail would look good on you,' he grinned and he put his arms behind his head to indicate bunny ears.
'You're so funny, I can't stop laughing,' she said with a straight face.
'Oh come on, can't you just pretend I'm funny?' he pouted.
'Not when I'm climbing up a hill and almost die in the process.'
'It's a very small hill, you can't die here.'
'Watch me,' she bit back and grabbed her side. 'I've got bruised ribs, remember?'
'Nah, let's not die today, save that for some other time,' he grinned and held out his hand. 'I'll drag you up this hill, don't worry.'
She looked at his held out hand and was hesitant to grab hold of it. Being uncomfortable with having to touch someone was holding her back, but the fact he could help her end this torture made her wanting to accept his offer.
'I won't bite, I promise,' he said after he had seen the look of doubt on her face.
She narrowed her eyes and tilted her head. 'Are you really, really sure of that?'
'Yes, I promise,' his mouth twitched when he said that and his blue eyes sparkled innocently.
'Alright then,' she sighed and grabbed his hand. She could feel the warmth of his skin and it felt like fire was spreading through her body. His hand was soft, but his grip was firm, just like she had imagined it to be. She realised she was holding her breath and she could see he had noticed that.
'You alright?' he asked and concern was visible on his face.
'Yes, don't worry. Let's climb this hill!' she pulled on his hand and tried to signal to her legs that they had to keep going. It was torture, but in some way also very enjoyable. Seb had brought her to places she had never been before and the surroundings were stunning. He also clearly enjoyed the walk and she found herself more often than not walking behind him. It gave her an opportunity to look at him and she didn't mind one bit what she was seeing.
'We're almost at the top, so hang on,' he tried to encourage her. His strong arms were able to drag Keira up the hill and this time a few drops of sweat were visible on his face. He was also panting when they reached the top.
She felt her jaw drop when she looked around her, it was beautiful. The valley they had came from was illuminated by the sun and it looked like a scene from a film. It wouldn't take much to get her spinning around with her arms in the air and singing something about hills being alive with the sound of music.
'Was the climb worth it?' Seb glanced sideways and a satisfactory smile was playing on his lips.
'Yes,' she gasped, 'it's the best view I've ever seen.'
'I thought you would like it,' he nodded appreciatively.
'You were right, thank you for showing me this.'
'It was my pleasure.'
They sat down on the bench that was positioned next to the path. Seb grabbed a bottle of water from his bag and passed it to Keira. 'Here, drink,' he added.
'Thanks,' she said with a grateful smile. She grabbed the bottle and took a large sip, this was exactly what she needed at the moment. The cold of the water cleared her mind and she could feel her heartbeat slowing down again.
'I'm always prepared,' he said while taking a sip himself.
'I've noticed. How come you're so athletic?' she asked while lifting an eyebrow. This was something she didn't understand, how was it possible to climb this hill like it was nothing? The only time he seemed to have to make an effort was when he had to drag her along. She could see him frowning and his eyes glazed over. He made a nervous impression and his hands were playing with the zipper of his bag.
'I like to work out, keeps you healthy you know?' he said with a nervous grin and it was obvious that he was avoiding Keira's eyes.
'I guess,' she answered. She had the feeling that he was not telling her something and that made her worry. Did he not trust her or was he ashamed of something? It hurt a little to know that he felt the need to keep this from her, but a small voice in her head told her that she was being a hypocrite. She herself had chosen to keep her story from him, but in her case it was about keeping David out of trouble. Was it the same for him or didn't he trust her after all?
'Let's enjoy the view,' his voice sounded afflicted. His eyes had darkened a bit and the frown was still visible.
'Yeah,' she answered not really knowing what else to say.
They sat in silence for a while, the sun was still shining but the temperatures became more pleasant over time. The miniature cars that were visible in the valley showed that life never stopped, even when you tried to hide from it. The sound of wind touching the trees was the only thing that broke the silence and time passed without them even noticing it. Then suddenly another sound was audible and they both looked up. Keira's stomach rumbled again and she looked mortified.
'You're hungry,' he said. It was not a question, but a confirmation of what they both already knew.
'I haven't eaten much today,' she admitted. She had forgotten to eat lunch, because of the chaotic day she had gotten herself into. Normally she took better care of herself, but somehow her body had forgotten to give her the signals to eat.
'Proper nutrition is very important,' he said sternly, but a small smile played on his lips.
'Yes father,' she grinned.
He glanced at his watch. 'It's almost time for dinner, we've been here longer than I thought.'
'That's what this magical place does to you,' she said in a dreamy voice.
'We can go grab dinner somewhere in town if you want?' he asked her.
She blinked and was almost certain she had misunderstood the question. 'What?'
'Dinner, you and me, what do you say?' he repeated his question while leaning back against the bench. He put his arms behind his head and stretched his back so that his shirt rode up exposing his toned abdomen.
She forgot what the question was and her eyes were fixed on the small bit of exposed skin. She had envisioned how his body must look underneath that shirt, but to actually see it showed her that it was even more toned than she had expected. She couldn't tear her eyes away and she felt her stomach lurch a little.
'So?' he had noticed her staring and when he sat up again his shirt returned to its original position.
She swallowed and felt slightly disappointed when he had sat up again. 'What was the question again?'
'Your thoughts are clearly elsewhere,' he grinned and he gave her a wink, 'but what I asked was if you would like to grab dinner somewhere.'
This time she understood the question and she was sure that it was really what he had meant to say. 'OK, but where do we go? I have never been out to eat here before,' she said hesitantly.
'Really? You've missed out then,' he replied.
'If you say so.'
'I'll show you one of my favourite places then, come on,' he stood up and gestured Keira to follow him.
She was glad that they only had to go back down again, that was a lot easier than climbing. This time it was easier to keep up with Seb and her feet didn't hurt as much. Seb was busy on his phone, he was furiously typing and he almost tripped over a stone. Trying to direct him in the right direction she observed his facial expressions. It went from exasperation to anger and from confusion to frustration. She didn't understand what was going on and found it wise not to investigate. After a few minutes he shoved his phone firmly into his pocket and when he looked at her he smiled again. Her knees wobbled a bit, but she wasn't sure if that was because of exhaustion or the way Seb had just smiled at her.