Unexpected

Chapter 7

Alec

The coffee shop on Thursdays is not as crowded as on weekends. Only a handful of people are present, enjoying their evening. I see some sophomores from UCF, relishing coffee over small talk, and a couple at the back corner, closer to where I am, enjoying their coffees while holding their hands, laughing. The scenery brings back memories from the far corner of my mind, something I forgot I used to have. About a year ago, I was the guy who was holding the hand of a girl, a girl who he thought was his forever. Longing to feel that again sets heavy on my already aching heart. Even though I came here today with a made up mind, I miss what Olivia and I used to have, full of life, full of happiness.

I don't know how or why I was suddenly being flooded with the images of big chocolatey brown eyes, with an equally beautiful face to accompany them. I happened to meet the owner of those eyes as an accident. An accident that was painful, but the aftermath being refreshing.

Refreshing is one of the many thoughts that comes to my mind when I think of Tara. I cannot say that I haven't thought about her since the incident. I even texted Alana to ask how Tara was doing a couple of times, making up false excuses. I had to lie about a dinner at our apartment on Saturday, saying my mom reminded me to keep up the tradition of weekend dinners with family. Since Alana is my only family here in Florida, I chose that as an excuse to text her and subtly ask about Tara. A tiny part of me hope that Alana would bring her to the dinner on Saturday. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd be feeling these kinds of emotions towards another, while I am supposed to feel these toward my girlfriend.

A girlfriend who is late.

I looked up to see the front door of the café being opened. I think I have started to hallucinate from the amount of time I keep thinking about a particular person I only met once. Cause I thought I saw a shadow of long midnight black hair entering the shop. When I raised my head, hoping to get a clearer view, my vision gets blocked by a red-clad body. I looked up to see Olivia standing in front of me, with a grin on her face, sporting a look that is too much just for a casual meeting. Though I have to say, nothing about this meeting would be casual, if this goes the way I am thinking.

"Hey, baby." Olivia bends down and gives a light kiss to my cheek, and sits down to my side. I see that her lipstick has been smudged in the corners of her mouth, which is certainly not caused by a small kiss on the cheek. If I know one thing about Olivia, it's that she hates when her make up isn't spot on.

"Hey," I spoke. Not knowing what else to say.

"Were you just looking for me?" she asks with a smug smile on her face.

"Huh?" I replied, confused. Then I realized what she was asking. "Ah, yeah yeah. You were late so I was wondering where you were." I lied.

"Oh, I was caught up on something," she said, distracted. "So, why have you been texting this whole week to meet me? Did you miss me that much?" she asked me with a knowing smile.

I bit my tongue hard, not wanting to start an argument like this. At least not this soon. "I wanted to talk to you about something," was my hesitant reply. "Let's order something first. What'd you like to have?"

"I'd rather not have anything right now; this stuff is too sugary," Olivia said with a flick of her wrist.

"Right..." I contemplated. "I guess then, we can talk,"

"What is it?" she asked. However, without waiting for my reply, she spoke again, "Do you know that I was chosen as the person to be presented by our best artist for a promotion video? She said my face is flawless and I am the most suitable amongst every other girl in the academy to be honored with this opportunity. I mean, I can see why she chose me, but I can't wait till the video's out. It would give me good publicity, might even catch me some modeling gigs."