The Morning Train

8. 18 and 23

Casper longingly watched Jamie leave them with a nervous knot in his stomach.

"Ahem! So what's your name?" Casper broke out of his staring as he now looked at Gwen in front of him, smiling from ear to ear.

"Casper" Casper answered and Gwen smiled even wider.

"Nice to meet you at last Casper, I'm Gwen" Gwen held out her hand and Casper nervously shook it with his own hand.

An hour later Gwen bid goodbye as she was already running late on a meeting with her boyfriend. Opening his laptop again which had dozed off during their hour-long discussion Casper hadn't thought that it would go this smoothly. Apparently Gwen and Casper both played the same online multi-player action game and they hit it off immediately, talking about the game characters and how to properly use their skills etc..etc..

One look at his laptop however had him widening his eyes in shock and utter dread. He hasn't been able to get anything done as he was constantly interrupted. Sighing tiredly, Casper spent the remaining hours before the cafe's closing time glued to his laptop.

"What are you working on?" Casper jolted awake from his short nap and groggily looked up at Jamie.

"Wha-? oh shit sorry, I haven't had enough sleep these days" Casper straightened on his seat and a paper was left stuck to his cheek from how long he was sleeping on them and he grimaced as he removed it much to Jamie's amusement.

"It's okay we're just closing now, by the way what have you been working on for days?" Jamie asked curiously as she peeked at the laptop.

"It's a paper for one of my classes, the finals are approaching"

"Oh is it that time of the year already? Wait, how old are you again?"

"Eighteen, I'm in my first year of University"

"Wow I've guessed that you're younger but I didn't think you were still eighteen" Jamie said in disbelief.

"You look young to own a cafe too" Casper frowned at her.

"I'm already 23 kid" Jamie smirked down at him.

"Hey! I'm not a kid!" Casper pouted up at her which for some reason Jamie found quite cute.

"Yeah you are a kid" Jamie snickered as she went back to the counter.

"Anyway you gotta pack up now I'm gonna close up in a minute"

Casper packed up his stuff as Jamie went to get her bag. When Jamie emerged from the kitchen Casper was waiting by the door of the cafe, lazily holding up his bag on one shoulder and hair still a mess.

"Let's go together" Casper said with a yawn, and that made Jamie feel something she doesn't know the name of so she just shrugged and soon forgot about that brief tingly feeling.

After closing the lights and locking up the door, Jamie and Casper walked together to the subway.

"So how long have you had the cafe?" Casper asked after another yawn.

"Since I was eighteen"

Casper was very much awake now.
"What?! how?!"

"It was my mother's cafe actually, I got it after my parents died"

"Oh" Was all Casper could say as he processed that information.

"I practically grew up in the cafe, so I know how most things work but I spent the first two years learning all the things about running the cafe from my mother's staffs. After that they all moved to different places while I started to look for my own staffs"

"Wow, that's incredible, to manage your own cafe at that age" Casper said, looking at Jamie in awe.

"Well I had to adjust quickly so I can support myself" Jamie shrugged.

"But still, to be able to do that after the loss of your parents is really amazing. I'm 18 now and I'm 100% sure I wouldn't be able to do that" Jamie snorted at that.

"Yeah I can just imagine you bawling your eyes out with snot and drool all over your face" Jamie shrieked and ran away laughing as Casper slapped her arm and was now chasing her for more slaps.

They were equally exhausted by the time they reached the subway, their laughter dying out completely as they catch their breath. However they were still grinning like maniacs as they entered the train.