Chapter 7
Francy's p.o.v
Oh my god. It's him. The stranger with the piercing eyes. He was sprawled all over the table playing with his coffee mug. Our eyes were locked and I just couldn't get myself to look away.
"Your order." The girl behind the counter said something. "Excuse me your order"
As she poked my shoulder I finally turned around and she handed me my coffee. I made a plan. Pay and leave. Pay and leave.
If he is here and not in class, it means Lucy has called him for the broken equipment. No wait he was with me. There was no way he was involved. But I also said I should be cautious of him.
Damn it. I should just pay and leave.
I paid and turned around with the intention of walking out. I will just glance there. One last glance.
My eyes glanced there and he was still staring at me. Oh my god.
I looked down at the coffee and realized I took a mug because I thought I would be sitting here. Damn it.
I took a look around and sat next to the table closest to me, placing the mug down. I pretended this was all part of my plan. I pulled out my notebook, phone and headphones and laid them on the table.
I glanced up to look at him, but he was looking down at his phone.
Phew.
I took off my coat and made myself comfortable. New plan. Finish the coffee and leave. I glanced up towards him and the moment I turned my head, he looked away.
Pff, I saw you looking don't even pretend now like I was the one staring.
As his head moved and he glanced at me, I looked away.
Damn it. Now I did it.
I put on my headphones and played some music. I tried to avoid looking at him as much as possible, but every second was torturing me. I was curious.
I lifted my gaze and glanced in his direction.
He was sipping on his coffee and doing something on his phone. For a second I thought he would glance my way, but he stared outside the window.
I opened my notebook and sketched some random things.
Should I go and say hi? He did save my cat's life.
But he really looks like he doesn't want to be bothered.
Hey if he wants to talk to me. He can come to me first.
I kept sketching for a bit and got distracted. When it hit me I was still in the café, I raised my head and looked in his direction.
He was done with his drink, but he was still sitting on his phone.
Well, I guess that was it.
I closed my notebook and decided to finish my coffee.
The girl behind the counter suddenly brought out this huge projector screen and the people inside the café started gathering around with the chairs.
This is my cue to leave.
"Do you want to move closer so you can see the movie better?" A waitress showed up behind me suddenly.
"No, I should um.."
She frowned. "It's going to be an older movie so maybe you young kids are not into it."
I flinched as she said old movie. Old movie on a projector, is there anything more aesthetic than that?
"Um, what movie exactly would you be playing?" I asked getting my bag.
"Before sunrise. It's a 1995 romance movie about..."
"Oh...I know the movie." I stopped her right there. I've only seen it a million times. "Well um.. I guess I will stick around to watch it."
And just like that I found myself pushing my chair closer to the screen. I glanced one more time at his table before the movie started but he was no longer there.
At least the pressure was off. I leaned back on my chair watching the screen.
The movie started as on the train to Vienna two strangers meet. The guy Jesse, an American traveling through Europe, makes an attempt to talk to Celine, the beautiful French student going back home to France after visiting her grandmother. He makes her laugh and they have a short conversation as the train soon arrives in Vienna. Jessie drops his bag next to the lounge table where they sat.
He asks her if she would get off in Vienna with him , so he is not a regret in her life later on when she's married and her husband makes her wonder, what could happen if she had just gotten off the train with that guy she met on her way back to Paris.
She takes a leap of faith and they head onto their walk through Vienna.
In the corner of my eye, someone moved a few chairs further in the front seat. It was only a small second when I glanced, but it was him. He never left.
I directed my eyes at the screen.
The pair had made their way through the city, having fun here and there as the sun sets.
"I always feel this pressure of being a strong and independent icon of womanhood, and without making it look my whole life is revolving around some guy. But loving someone, and being loved means so much to me. We always make fun of it and stuff. But isn't everything we do in life a way to be loved a little more?"
As Celine said this, I glanced towards his row. He was immersed in the movie. Then suddenly his eyes locked on mine. I immediately reverted them back to the screen.
They had talked for hours, kissed and stared at each other still self-aware and shy of their awkwardness.
"If there's any kind of magic in this world, it must be in the attempt of understanding someone sharing something. "
My fingers played in my lap. I looked up again and towards him. In the same second, he glanced away. My heart started beating so loud, I focused back on the screen.
People always talk about how love is this totally unselfish, giving thing, but if you think about it, there's nothing more selfish.
Few people stood up and left. I could feel his eyes on me, but I kept staring at the screen.
Céline: You know what I want?
Jesse: What?
Céline: To be kissed.
Jesse: Well I can do that.
They kissed slowly and sensually rolling over the grass. I waited awkwardly until the next scene started playing. I heard more people move and head out. I focused on the screen and nothing else.
Then came the scene when Jessie asks Celine if he can take a mental picture of her, so he never forgets her and that short time they had together. They stare at each other in silence with loving eyes.
As the scene moved on, the waitress came next to my side and urged me to move up the chairs.
Somehow a bit dazed from the movie, I got my bag and moved in the front row. I could feel chills at the back of my spine. I leaned my head slowly on the right and as I did he turned his gaze away.
I watched him for a second and then so naturally his head turned right back and our eyes locked.
It was one moment that neither my heartbeat loud nor my pulse got faster. It was as if everything slowed down and that momentary gaze lasted hours.
We both turned towards the screen.
Lucy's p.o.v
I turned away but I could see on the corner of my eyes, her gaze stayed on me. For a second I was going to focus on the screen but I figured she would turn her head the moment I look in her direction.
Fuck it.I turned my head, but there she was staring at me. A bit dazed, her green eyes piercing through my soul. She looked innocent and sweet.
I turned my eyes away. I cursed myself for the millionth time that I didn't leave when I should have. I was almost out the door, but when I saw how she got excited about the movie my feet couldn't move. I was stuck there wanting to see her reactions.
I made my way to the front of the seats, but she hadn't seen me. She was focused on the screen, her feet tapping underneath her chair and her hands fidgeting.
I glanced back and forth between the screen and her. She smiled at the romantic parts and closed her eyes every time she would be second hand embarrassed by the characters.
Someone had asked me to move a bit further and as I did my chair scratched the floor. I glanced back but her eyes quickly turned away. I tried to focus on the movie.
And now the people were gone, and she was in the same row as me, a few seats away, I was trying to fight back everything I had in me, not to move next to her, not to say hi. Because once I enter her life, it would be ruining everything she thought was pure, burning her ideals down and breaking what she must think it's normal and comfortable.
My life was a mess and chaotic. Did I really want to bring that girl into it?
...
But next thing I knew, I sat next to her.