Fleur-de-lis

Die Cry Hate: Side A

Jonathan's p.o.v.

"Ow! Shit." I murmur, burning my lip with my coffee.

It was my lunch break and I needed a pick me up. I woke up hung over today which was becoming an all too familiar feeling. I only got through half the day before my night started to catch up with me.

"Can I get you anything else?" The waitress asks as she passes by.

I initially was going to tell her no and let her continue to do her thing but she was cute and getting a date would brighten my day a bit.

"A pretty girl to talk to would be nice." I smile at her.

It takes a split second for my words to register in her head but once they do, her cheeks flush. "Oh...uh...I-" she stammers, suddenly nervous. "I'll be right back." She practically squeaks before scurrying away, too nervous to give a proper response. Over time I'd come to realize that I had a ridiculous amount of charm. There weren't many women or men that I couldn't get flustered with just a glance. It was my super power I suppose. Regardless, the next move was hers and I'd give her a minute to figure out how she'd play it.

I go back sipping my coffee, smiling, knowing that she'd come back to shoot her shot. While I was admiring my own God given talent, I just barely notice the figure of a woman nearly walk past my table but then stop and sit down as if something here had caught her interest. I look up from my cup to see who had invited themselves to my company.

"Natalie!" I nearly shout.

She smiles at me and brushes some of her hair behind her ear. "Hey, Johnathan."

My heart picks up it's pace. How long had it been since we split up? "Wh-what are you doing here?"

"I'm actually doing some work in the area." She answers. "Was just picking up an order when I noticed you sitting here."

"That's great. I'm sorry." I say, unintentionally using contrasting tones when speaking these two sentences.

"Don't worry about it. People run into their exes in public sometimes, it's not a-"

"No." I stop her. "I'm sorry about when we broke up." I manage to exhale and let the anxiety pass. "You didn't deserve that. I was just kinda going through some shit. I'm still kinda going through shit, now."

"Well...it might be easier to go through it with someone." She places a caring hand on mine.

I wanted to. I really wanted to, but...

I muster the strength to pull my hand away from hers. "You shouldn't be so quick to forgive me. You deserve better than me, Nat. You'll just end up being a third wheel in the relationship between me and my demons." I admit.

Natalie looks at me with sad eyes. "I understand."

I wondered if that was even true. Did she really understand? Or did she just say that to comfort me out of pity?

Natalie gets back up to retrieve her order. I watch her with guilt weighing heavy in my chest as she leaves. I wasn't ready for anything serious yet. That much i've come to understand.

The sound of a hand thumping down on the surface of the table surprises me a bit.

"Oh. Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." The waitress from earlier apologizes, her hands claspped over her mouth in embrassment.

I chuckle. She was adorable and it lifted my mood a bit. "No worries. You didn't really scare me, you just caught me off guard." I assure her.

"Anyway, here's my number." Her words come out rapidly as she slides a piece of paper over to me.

A grin spreads across my face as I read the number. I was confident that this would be fun for the time.