Before Us [Wriolette]

Chapter 1: Coffee

**Hi! This is my first story! I'm exited to hear what you think**

Wriothesley looks down at his phone. Ever since he was sent undercover for the investigation, he and his girlfriend, Rachelle, have been struggling. "As long as you call every day, we shouldn't have an issue," he recalls. She said that and yet, if he didn't recap every conversation he had any given day, there would be an argument. "How can I trust that you aren't cheating on me?! You could easily have a girl in your apartment every night!" Honestly, if it weren't for what he was about to tell her, he might have gone crazy enough to do so.

The college café is small, even with GPS it was hard to find. Wriothesley was sitting at a small table near the window so that he could watch for Rachelle. This wasn't the first time she visited the campus, but it was probably going to be the last. Bored, Wriothesley glanced around the café, hoping to see a familiar face. Unfortunately, the only person he knew there was his law professor, Neuvillette. He quickly decided against calling him over, and settled for resting his face in his hand as he watched the streets.

He heard from the counter: "Order for Wreyothesaley-" he sighed, giving a small wave, "Wriothesley. That's for me," the barista gave an apologetic smile as she hurried to give him the two drinks. The woman, whose name was apparently Navia, as he could tell from her badge, opened her mouth as if to say something. However, Wriothesley beat her to it, "No need to worry about your pronunciation, 'happens all the time," he gave her a comforting smile, causing Navia to laugh. "Let's just say I apologized, for the sake of your tip," she whispered, leaned over just enough so only he could hear her, still grinning through her large sunglasses. Wriothesley let out a hearty laugh. He was planning on retorting back with a witty remark, but out of the corner of his eye he could see the dark green hair he was supposed to be watching for. He quickly straightened himself up and thanked Navia, who was already busy with another customer.

Knocking on the glass, he caught Rachelle's attention. Although she had been expecting some sort of signal, he supposed this must have been to abrupt, seeing as she jumped a solid four inches into the air out of fright. Just as he was about to wave her inside, he swore he could feel a gaze upon his back. Whipping his head around, he was greeted with nothing. There was no one looking even remotely in his direction. Strange. Either way, he'll have to worry about that later.

As Wriothesley turned back around, his eyes met with Rachelle's. "Who were you looking at!?" She said, tone fiery but in a rather quiet volume. "Ah, nothing," he replied, "I just thought someone was looking at me," not a lie at all. Unfortunately, she didn't seem to believe him. "We both know why we're here. If you're going to end this relationship, do it quickly!" Wriothesley was shocked. He had never mentioned this to her before. "Well, yes. You are correct about my intentions," he sipped his tea nervously, "however, I had some lines planned-" "don't bother!" She interrupted. Rachelle promptly took the lid off of her coffee and poured it directly into Wriothesley's tea. Not allowing him to get a word in before she left, she turned and slammed the door behind herself, the bell ringing on the door frame.

Luckily, minimal attention was drawn to Wriothesley, making his life infinitely easier. However, one pair of eyes was glued to his drink. Oh lord, it's Neuvillette. Looking at the mess that his drink transformed into, he noticed the river of coffee flowing off the table. Iced, at least. 'Shit,' he thought, as he grabbed a handful of napkins and began sopping up the puddle that he had become. He looked over frantically, as if a cry for help, but Neuvillette had already seemingly averted his attention back to his phone. Giving up on that front, he attempted to gain Navia's attention - really just for extra napkins. He failed to gain her attention, but another one of the employees seemed to notice him. A man of few words, he walked over calmly with two handfuls of napkins. "You're a lifesaver," Wriothesley practically groaned as he spoke. The other man nodded in response and sauntered back to his post at the counter.

At this point, he had gained the attention of a few of the other customers, but none of them seemed to know the context of his situation. Their glances and whispers were paid no mind by Wriothesley, although he most definitely noticed them. Using most of the napkins to wipe down the table and himself, he finally noticed the pitiful state of his drink. Wriothesley adored tea, and this was the only cafe in a 30-mile radius that made his favorite blend. His warm, delectable tea, now tainted with the bitter and unhealthy iced caramel latte that Rachelle had requested. Letting out a defeated sigh, Wriothesley held some of the soggy napkins over the top of the cup, as to prevent a spill. Picking it up slowly, he narrowly avoided dumping more of the wretched mixture onto his already damp clothing. Wriothesley was proud of himself for ending his relationship (if you consider him to be the one who ended it) but every other aspect of his day has blown to total shit. By the time he had ambled his way to the nearest trash can, the drink had completely mixed into one and the napkins may well have been part of it. Carelessly tossing the cold monstrosity into the bin, he directed his attention to his long-soaked clothing. Acknowledging his situation, he weighed his options, "clearly I cant wear these clothes for the rest of the day, but what other option do I have?" Wriothesley lived 40 minutes away from the campus, and his next class was in an hour. 'wow,' he thought, 'I suddenly regret not living the dorm life.'