Cece Writes A Book [COMPLETED]

Chapter 15 - "We can't keep meeting like this."

Cece stared at Barista Boy. She hadn't seen him since she had tried to talk to him in The Thinking Cup but had been interrupted by Malcolm's return. She had been so busy chasing her muse around she hadn't set foot in The Thinking Cup all week.

An involuntary smile spread across her face as she realized there had been something missing from her week and it had been him.

"Hey!" she said as she approached the coffee bar. He looked up and his eyes went big in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

Barista Boy looked around for a moment before his gaze landed back on Cece with a new understanding.

"Working," he said, suddenly looking like he would rather be anywhere but trapped behind the coffee bar.

Cece took in his appearance for the first time and realized that not only was he wearing the same maroon vest as the servers, but his usually unkempt hair had been brushed into a neat style.

"I didn't know you also did catering," Cece said.

She could sense his want to end the conversation but talking to him felt like a breath of fresh air after the week she had been through.

"I don't," he said. She knew he wanted to leave it at that but she just smiled and waited. After a moment he finally gave in. "My friend works for the catering business and their barista called out sick this morning. He knows I work at The Thinking Cup and I happened to be available this morning."

"Well, I'm glad the other barista got sick," Cece said.

Barista Boy looked taken aback for a moment before he finally relaxed his shoulders. Cece watched his expression soften and as she thought about how much better she liked the relaxed look on him, Wesley James popped into her mind.

"We can't keep meeting like this," Wesley James said with a smile that told Millie Kate he hoped the opposite was true. She had once again been taking a break from a party and he was once again showing up late.

"We can't?" Millie Kate responded.

Wesley James's eye grew bright at her playful words and he took another step towards her. He gave a careless shrug and Millie Kate smiled at the one movement that seemed to tell her exactly who he was. "I fine meeting this way if you are."

It was a simple statement but Millie Kate could hear the weight underneath. He wasn't just going along with a joke, he was asking her a bigger question. If Millie Kate never had to leave this side porch with Wesley James then she knew what her answer would be. But...

"Millie Kate. There you are," Cannon said, coming around the corner behind Wesley James. Millie Kate's attention jumped to Cannon's expectant face but not before she saw Wesley James's expression fall.

"Me too. I'm don't mind the extra work," Barista Boy said, resting his arms on the counter as he leaned towards Cece, "plus, I've always been curious how this side of the population lives."

"And what do you think of 'this side' so far?" Cece asked.

Barista Boy moved his gaze about the party and Cece joined him, trying to see it through his eyes. Once upon a time, it had been all glittery and shiny to her: the wealth, the excess, the clothes.

Now, all she could see was the backbiting, the gossip, the petty games. In that moment she realized it didn't matter what Malcolm had given her and her writing, there was nothing in this world she wanted, including Malcolm.

"At first glance, there are things one could be envious of," Barista Boy said, keeping his words low and only for Cece, "but once you get past the shiny veneer it seems..."