Scream 4

Chapter 13

You needed more coffee. You needed the caffeine, the bittersweet taste and warmth to fight off the onslaught of negative emotions swirling through the pit your belly as you reminiscened on days long past.

Jed, ever maintaining his role as gentleman, saw to your needs. He raised his hand and called for the barista, who seemed more than happy to spend another minute of her life near him. The girl hastily grabbed the few dollar bills her previous costumer left on the counter, stuffing them in the pocket of her apron before marching over to your table.

At first you thought Jed to be above flirting with those type of women, until you caught him sweep his eyes appreciatively over her curvy body before settling on her face.

He offered her a charming smile to which she reddened right down to her collar. "Two more coffees."

She giggled like someone would when their crush asked them out on a first date. "Of course! You'll have them in a few minutes, Jed."

"Thank you," Jed thanked her graciously with a curt nod of the head. Mariette spun around on her heels, and from out of your peripheral you swore you could see Jed's thin lips twist into a fine display of repulsion the split second her back was turned to him.

The disgusted look was gone as soon as it was there, so you didn't think much of it, but it did tell you that the writer for Roseville's Gazette certainly had certainly not been making advances. A minute ticked by where all you did was stare at the small television mounted on the upper corner of one of the poster-riddled walls, one of those oldies, before letting it shift towards the pastry case.

Behind it was the blonde, paceing the length as she was facing the long row of coffee machines and espresso grinders to prepare your order. It was only when someone cleared their throat that you stopped looking.

"Don't feel so guilty about an event you had no control over." Jed sat with his chin propped on the back of his hand, professional concern etched on his features. His tone was a light one, meant to be comforting.

"What?" You blinked, confused, until it clicked in your head that he was picking up the conversation from where you left off. "Oh," upon realizing that he was waiting for an answer, your eyebrows rose and then dipped as you let slip a little contemplative sound. "Well, I–"

The clacking of heels on the floor prevented you from saying much else as the barista came back with your drinks, in china service this time, small, dark and swirling caramel-colored brilliant crèmes on the top. 

Judging by the sneer plastered on her caked features, she didn't seem too pleased.

"Here you are." She sweetly put down Jed's cup in front of him with a soft clank as it hit the surface of the table, making sure to blink slowly at him in a way that she thought to be seductive.

Once she faced you, the façade quickly faltered and she put down the coffee just that little bit too hard so that it splashed over the edge of the cup, and bits of it hit the front of your chest.

"Oh!" She gasped in overexaggeration. "I'm so sorry about that!"

Great. Just wonderful. Not only were you feeling down, but now you were also humiliated in public. Several costumers glanced into your direction, curious to see how this was going to unfold.

Her nasty smirk didn't make you feel any better, and neither did her hollow apology. All you did was grab a nearby tissue from the tissue holder to dab most of the wetness away, but the light brown stains were still very much visible. It was almost as though some higher power was punishing you for wearing white today.

You took a peek at Jed who looked up at her from under the fall of his well-kept hair. His eyes were now hard and cold as ice and you could tell that the sudden interruption was most unwelcome.