It's just coffee. It's just coffee. It's just coffee.
I let out a breath, smoothing my shirt out in the mirror.
I'm wearing light blue ripped skinny jeans, white high heels, and a white loose tank top.
I never wear high heels. I love them, but Ashton never liked them.
I grab my soft pink Calvin Klein purse.
My nails and toes are painted. My blonde hair is down. It only goes just past my shoulders, but it's naturally wavy. I have mascara on and a little bit of eyeshadow, and that's it.
I make sure I smell okay and then walk out of my apartment, locking the door.
I walk downstairs to the Jeep, unlocking it.
I'm fifteen minutes from the café, and it's 11:44.
Nervous, I start the Jeep and leave, driving carefully to the café.
It's downtown and there's no parking around, so I park down the block.
It's 11:58.
I walk the seven or so minute walk to the café with my earbuds in.
I walk in, pushing my sun glasses up, pulling my headphones off.
It's 12:06.
The moment the door shuts, Spencer is standing there, waiting.he was on time.
"You're six minutes late." He says.
"I'm sorry." I say.
"It's okay, I was just teasing."
I walk over to him.
He pulls out a chair for me.
What the hell?
I sit down, and he helps me in.
That's so nice. I look at him, confused.
"What do you want? I'm buying."
"That's not necessary." I say.
He walks up to the counter, and a couple of minutes later he comes back.
He has two drinks.
"I got a French vanilla latte for you." He says. "And a chocolate chip cookie."
That's what I had at the airport.
He was paying attention.
"Thank you." I say.
"You're welcome." He sits down. "I like your shoes. My friends wife would probably fight you for those."
He likes my heels.
"Thank you." I say quietly, sipping my coffee.
His jacket.
I press my hand to my forehead.
"Spencer?" I ask. He looks at me.
"Yes?"
"I forgot your jacket at home."
He laughs, throwing his head back like a little kid. I smile nervously.
"I'm so sorry, God, I'm so stupid. I'll go get it right now. Are you mad?"
"Whoa, it's okay Audrey, I'm not mad." He says. "Sit down, drink your coffee."
"You remember my name." I say shyly.
He hesitates.
"I never forgot your name." He says. "I lied...because it's been a month and I've been waiting for a call from you. I had a contact for you in my phone with no number for a month."
"Really?" I ask, surprised.
"Really." He says. "So tell me, what did you do with the ring? I like a good reality show."
I cringe.
"The ring...is sitting in a drawer in my bedroom."
His face falls.
"What? Audrey! Why do you still have it?"
"I don't know what to do with it!"
He laughs quietly, shaking his head.
I laugh nervously, sipping my coffee.
He lets out a breath, sighing.
"I was hoping you would do something. Throw it in his face..." he trails off.
I shake my head.
"No, I haven't."
He nods.
"Well why not?"
I pause.
"Can we not talk about him? I don't..." I cringe, shaking my head.
"Yes, yes, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up." He sips his drink and changes the subject. "What do you do for work?"
"I'm a pharmacist."
"Really?" He says, interested. "That's cool. So you know a lot about medicine?"
I nod.
"I know every medicine approved by the FDA and I can tell you the side effects for anything."
"Lexapro. Go."
"Depression medicine. It can cause drowsiness, dizziness, insomnia, nausea, upset stomach, gas, heartburn, constipation, weight changes," I laugh a little. "Uh...dry mouth, yawning, ringing in the ears, decreased sex drive-" I giggle. "And impotence or difficult having-" I pause, whispering the last part, shielding my mouth from everyone with a smile on my face "-an orgasm!"
He throws his head back laughing until he has tears.
"You're lying!" He accuses, grinning. I smile.
"I'm not lying. Look it up!"
He pulls his phone out and types, and a moment later, he looks up at me.
"You're like a dictionary! Let me think of something else...hold on." He starts typing on his phone again.
"Levi-the-Roxanne?" He asks.
I laugh.
"Levi-thy-roxin?" I ask.
"I think so." He smiles.
He's really cute when he smiles.
"That's for hypothyroidism and enlarged thyroid glands, and thyroid cancer. The list with that one is way too long."
He nods.
"Okay." He closes his phone and puts it away. "Favorite color?"
"Red. You?"
"Blue."
"Figures." I say. He laughs.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You're just a basic guy. You like football, don't you?"
"Yes." He says. "I was a quarterback in high school. I'm a teacher at the college and I went to college on a football scholarship."
"Wow." I say, surprised. "Your parents must be proud."
"They are. They're great people. They'd love you."
I smile.
We talk about anything and everything, sharing my cookie. The coffee gets cold and the sun moves to the middle of the sky, and then the other side.
We talk about our favorite places and Australia and what it's like to be in the foster system, and what it's like to have parents. We walk about our brothers and I talk about Kendall, and he talks about his friends and I tell him how I've got none. We talk about exes and how neither one of us have had sex, him because he just hasn't found the person he wants to do it with and me because I'm waiting until I'm married.
We talk about how we want kids and the kind of person we want to marry. We talk about our favorite holidays and our favorite season, and I admit that the day he took me outside to see snow, that was my first time, and he sits there and thinks about it for a while and he can't wrap his head around it.
We talk about pet peeves and embarrassing stories and favorite food and favorite movies.
The sun is shining so brightly into the café, it's making my eyes water.
"Can I ask you something?" He asks.
I nod.
"If you met somebody now...who was the definition of the man you want to marry...would you date him?"
I study him, pondering the question, and then I shake my head.
"No." I decide. "I would wait until I'm ready. I would wait until my unfinished things are finished."
"Name an unfinished thing." He says.
"My engagement ring."
He nods slowly.
We're quiet for a moment.
The pauses between conversations aren't awkward, they're comfortable.
He laughs softly.
"You need to get rid of that ring."
"I know." I say.
The sun is so bright.
"God, what time is it?" He asks, looking down at his watch. "Holy shit, it's 7:30!"
"No it's not!" I say, grabbing his wrist to look at it.
Sure enough, his watch reads 7:30.
"Wow." I say.
"Well I'm starving and you owe me a jacket."
"I do owe you a jacket." I say.
"Let me walk you to your car and then I'll follow you to your apartment so I can get my jacket. Is that okay?"
I laugh.
"That's fine."
We stand up and he pushes in my chair.
He throws out my trash when Ashton used to use shove it at me.
He holds the door for me and I thank him, and we walk side by side down the street.
Even with heels on, he towers over me.
I walk on his right, the street closest to me, and he moves around me.
"Why did you move?" I ask.
"I'm not comfortable with you being closer to the street." He shrugs.
We walk in silence to the car, and I open my mouth to tell him everything he does that's so great that Ashton never did, but he starts talking.
"When I was a kid, I used to watch The Santa Claus with my parents and brother. What did you watch?"
"That...and the grinch." I say. "Oh, and the one with the train..." I hesitate.
"The Polar Express?" He asks.
"Yes!" I snap my fingers. "That's the one."
We reach my Jeep and I stop.
He looks at my silver beauty in confusion.
"This isn't a Ford."
"I know." I say. "I sold it."
He checks out the Jeep.
"How many miles?"
"It had 46 but I drove across the country so now it's almost at 50."
He checks it out.
"It's nice. Leather?"
"Cloth. I hate leather. It's too hot for leather."
He smiles.
"Well I like it. How about you text me your address and head home. My car is about a mile in the other direction and I don't want you to have wait that long."
He's so thoughtful.
"Oh, I'll just drive you to your car." I say.
"Well," he starts.
"Please?" I ask.
He studies me for a moment, and then he gets in the Jeep.
I get in too, starting the engine.
There's a huge stack of CD's in my center console, which is open.
"Can I look?" He asks, pointing to them.
I nod, putting my seatbelt on. He puts his on too, and I drive down the street.
"Daughtry." He says. "I've never met someone with so many Daughtry albums. Are they rock?"
I nod.
"Yes. What do you listen to?"
"Rock...a lot, really, but mostly rock. Which is your favorite album?" He asks, holding up all of them.
"The green one. It's just titled Daughtry."
He presses the eject button and the Leave This Town CD comes out and he puts it back in it's case and pops in the green one.
"Which is your favorite?"
"Over You." I say. "It's relatable right now, but Used To is my favorite.
He checks the back of the case and changes it until the song starts, turning it up. He put on Used To.
I turn the car around.
"Where are you going?" He asks.
"I'll bring you back to your car later." I say.
He shrugs.
"Is that okay?" I ask.
"That's fine." He says.
So we drive to my apartment and we listen to Used To.
When the song ends, he changed it to Over You.
I listen to the lyrics.
Now that it's all said and done
I can't believe you were the one
To build me up and tear me down
Like an old abandoned house
What you said when you left
Just left me cold and out of breath
I felt as if I was in way to deep
Guess I let you get the best of me
Well, I never saw it coming
I should have started running
A long, long time ago!
And I never thought I'd doubt you
I'm better off without you
More than you, more than you know
I'm slowly getting closure
I guess it's really over
I'm finally gettin' better
Now I'm picking up the pieces
From spending all of these years
Putting my heart back together
'Cause the day I thought I'd never get through, I got over you!
You took a hammer to these walls
Dragged the memories down the hall
Packed your bags, and walked away
There was nothing I could say
And when you slammed the front door shut
A lot of others opened up
So did my eyes, so I could see
That you never were the best for me
Well, I never saw it coming
I should have started running
A long, long time ago!
And I never thought I'd doubt you
I'm better off without you
More than you, more than you know
I'm slowly getting closure
I guess it's really over
I'm finally gettin' better
Now I'm picking up the pieces
From spending all of these years
Putting my heart back together
'Cause the day I thought I'd never get through, I got over you!
Well, I never saw it coming
I should have started running
A long, long time ago!
And I never thought I'd doubt you
I'm better off without you
More than you, more than you know
Well, I never saw it coming
I should have started running
A long, long time ago!
And I never thought I'd doubt you
I'm better off without you
More than you, more than you know
I'm slowly getting closure
I guess it's really over
I'm finally gettin' better
Now I'm picking up the pieces
From spending all of these years
Putting my heart back together
Putting my heart back together
'Cause I got over you, I got over you, I got over you
The day I thought I'd never get through, I got over you
The song fades into silence.
"Has he called you?"
"Every day." I say.
"Really?" He asks.
I nod.
"I've been ignoring him." I say.
He flips through songs for a while and then stops and let's one play. Home, that's the song.
We pull into the apartment complex and I park and get out.
He follows me.
We go up to my apartment and I unlock the door and go inside.
He follows me in, and I shut the door.
I go to the back of my door and grab the coat.
This coat is a message to me and I really don't want to give it back.
I walk out of the bedroom and up to him, reluctantly holding his jacket out to him.
He looks down at it, hesitating.
"Keep it."
"What?" I ask.
"It looks good on you, and if you really wanted it out of your house, you'd have called weeks ago. So keep it. Let's order in. Do you like Chinese?"
I stare at him.
"We don't have to if that make you uncomfortable."
"No, that's fine."
He sits down on the couch and I grab the takeout menu off the fridge, sitting next to him, I make sure to keep my distance. We pick what we want and order, and then start flipping through movies.
"Oh, screw it. You pick."
"Anything?" I ask.
"Anything." He nods.
I walk over to my TV stand and pull out the snappiest romance movie I can find.
The Notebook.
"Seriously?" He asks.
"Seriously. I'm going to take these heels off though and change." I say.
I go into my bedroom and shut the door.
I take my makeup off in the bathroom, showing my true face with freckles. I put on white and red pajama pants and a white long sleeve shirt.
I brush out my hair and stretch, walking into the living room.
"You're even shorter without heels." He says.
His shoes are off.
I laugh, reaching for the remote when somebody knocks on the door.
He stands up and opens it, taking the food from him and paying him.
"Table or in here?" He asks.
"In here is fine." I say. "Just try not to make a mess please."
He nods and sits down at the coffee table on the floor.
I sit next to him on the floor and press play on the TV once we pass around the food.
We sit and eat until we're done eating and then we throw everything out and move to the couch.
He sits with his feet on the coffee table and I lay on the other end of the couch with my feet bent out, but enough where I'm not touching him.
I get a blanket for me and one for him, rolling onto my side.
The sun goes down all the way and neither one of us make a move to turn a light on.
The I've been fighting tears the whole movie, but when they climb in bed while the wife is lucid and die together, I sit up with my hand over my mouth.
That's so fucking sad, but so beautiful. I have tears streaming down my face.
"That's so beautiful." I sniffle.
"I know." Spencer says. "It's the most beautiful thing ever."
But he's not looking at the TV.
Yeet what do you guys think? I'm loving this story
~Sam