My Missing Tune

Part 3

One week later

Rosie
    We are sitting on the purple bench sharing a cinnamon bun. The air has gotten slightly colder, and the leaves are quickly fading to different shades of yellow and brown. But we are warm, nuzzled in our coats, laughing at our stupid pastimes.

     Grayson secretly loves vibrant colors, despite his monotone appearance. He plays guitar and has published all but no books before, though he has faith that the current novel that he has been working on is going to blow Eurydice away. He's easygoing and takes things slowly. I could use a break from my hectic life.

Maybe he is the one.

I mean he has got to be, let's be honest, we were trying to ignore our notice for each other for months. Hm.

    "I still think you should add some romance into it. I mean come on, you can't not include a little bit of love." I say like it is the most obvious thing to do to a story, "Our people would hate you." He smiles but raises an eyebrow as if to test my limits.

    It's nice talking to him, away from work. This little purple bench is pretty ours now.

    "Well, who says I wasn't planning on adding any?" He's teasing me, but his cheeks look pinker than a second ago.

    "Hmm. Okay, I can officially confirm that I will be purchasing one of these books when you're done writing it." I take another bite of my cinnamon bun, laughing to myself. He nods his head, then looks at me, smiling fading. My stomach starts fluttering. I look away first; I can feel my face heating up.

    I should probably be getting back to work. I glance back up at him, except he's fidgeting with his coat pocket. Oh God, I made it awkward.

    "Hey." He looks up at me, "I have to get back." I nod towards the cafe.

    "Oh yeah, of course." He reaches for my paper cafe bag, crumpling it into a ball, "I've got it, don't worry." I brush the flyaway hairs behind my ear and start to stand up, "Thank you." I grab my earbuds out of my coat pocket, then I lift my right one up to my ear. He nods his head towards them, "What are you listening to?"

    I don't even have to check. I know by heart that the next song is by OneRepublc. My favorite band since I was a kid.

    "OneRepublic." He visibly freezes, focusing on me.

Odd.

    "Have you heard of them?" Though he only gives me a curt nod. He looks sort of awkward, standing still, like he wants to reach out or something.

    I reach out and take the paper bag out of his hands. His hands are cold as his fingertips brush against mine. I stop, hovering my hand next to his for a moment. I snatch it out of hands, snapping back to reality.

    "Sorry, uhh. It was a pleasure talking to you, as per usual Rosie." His hand falls back to his side.

    "Bye Gray." I turn around, put my other earbud in, then hit play, OneRepublic's soft lyrics fill my ears.

    "Steady hands just take the wheel. Every glance is killing me."

Those words.

    I steal one final look back at him. He's still standing in front of the bench, looking straight at me.

Some Time Later

Grayson
    Time flies. The trees are now bare, the ground covered in frosted leaves. The trash can next to my bench, our bench starts to fill with sweet-scented paper bags from the cafe.

Her favorite color is pink, very specifically, peach and salmon mixed into one shade. She treats the cafe like it's her home since her own home doesn't feel all that much in her opinion.

Her laugh is absolutely contagious, and I can't quite seem to want to leave her when she has to go. I stick around on the bench, waiting for her to get settled back into her next shift. Everything is perfect. Except, I can't shake this feeling of dread inside me.

    I am starting to fall in love with her. But what if she isn't the one? How am I supposed to leave her?

    I need to know now.

Rosie
    I think I love him. But what if he isn't the one?

Shit.

    Why did I do this?

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Hola lovies!
OK , the next part is going to be the final wrap up of this short story, but it does not mean that I will not be writing an epilogue because these characters are my absolute favorite. 🥰