Found in Darkness

Chapter 16

ELENORA

Mondays.

They're rough. Out of all the days in the week, I'm always the most tired on Mondays, which is why I'm at the cafe around the corner from my place waiting for my order.

I pass the time looking up why Mondays are so hard on my phone. I had no idea there's an actual thing called Monday sickness. Who knew?

Chuckling to myself as I skim through hilarious memes about Mondays, I sense someone pass by and sit down across from me; I look up and find Rico smiling.

"What do you have going on right now?"

"Hi, I'm fine, thank you."

He chuckles, as he looks around. "Hi, how are you?"

"What do you want?"

He laughs again. "Man, we can never do things in the proper order can we?"

I raise my eyebrow. "We or you?"

"Nora!" The barista calls out my name. I stand and grab my coffee with a pleasant smile then walk out without looking back.

"Dammit, Elenora, why do you have to be so difficult?" Rico mutters when he catches up to me.

"I'm sorry, my personality rubs you the wrong way. Oh, wait, no I'm not." I sip my pumpkin spice latte. "Weren't you the one who said we should limit our interactions? Yet here you are again." I start to take another sip but he pulls it out of my hands and takes a drink.

A passerby jumps back and scurries away to avoid the spraying coffee. "Yech! How can you drink this shit?" He walks over to a nearby garbage bin and tosses it.

"Hey!" I walk towards the trashcan but he grabs my hand and pulls me in the opposite direction.

"You weren't seriously going to dig that out of the garbage, were you?"

"No." I try to get him to let go of my hand. "What are you doing? Let go of my hand."

"We're in public and people need to see us together, remember?" He explains and I let my hand go limp which makes him laugh. He has one dimple on the left side of his cheek but not on his right.

"I thought it was only for planned events, not normal day to day outings," I mumble as I look around feeling self conscious. He's dressed in a suit and a wool coat to keep warm in the brisk weather; while I'm dressed in an oversized sweater with leggings, mid-calf boots, and a beanie.

"It will sell the image if we're seen doing day to day things," He explains. "I'll take you to the best coffee place in the city."

"I happen to like the coffee at that cafe."

"That's because you haven't tried something better," He grins at me and I focus on his dimple again. "You'll see."

The walk is silent but I'm surprised it's not uncomfortable. I look up and take notice of clouds stretching over the sky. I need to take a drive into the country, this would be a perfect chance to see all the beautiful colors.

"Why are you smiling like that?"

I glance over at him and see a smirk on his face. "It's not because of you if that's what you're wondering. I was thinking about how I need to drive out to the country to take pictures of all the fall colors."

"Hm." He walks to a door and I look up at the sign, Nero Cafè. He gestures for me to walk in after he opens the door. The strong coffee aromas as well as the sweetness from the pastries they sell overwhelm my senses as I step inside.