A Love Like Ours || m.f.

11

"Got ya!" he shouted

"Fine whatever." I snickered and waited for the next round to start.

"Another round?" he asked

"Why not?"

He gave me a sweet smile and continued to find a prop and hide.

"No cheating!" he accused

"I'm not!" I laughed as I finally spawned into the world.

"Ah shit." Mark mumbled

"In a little trouble?" I opened the door to the online house and peeked inside.

"No not at all." he sighed

I walked into the first room and was met with a washing machine stuck inside another washing machine.

"No trouble? Are you sure?"

"Oh just get it over with already!" he dramatically sighed with a slight grin dancing on his lips.

"How about I give you a second chance? You know I don't like pity-wins." I made busy work picking up random props and setting them next to the washing machine disaster.

"It's not a pity-win. It's an 'marks-an-idiot-win.'"

"Oh whatever." I giggled as I shot his prop out of existence.

"Alright guys! That was prop hunt with (y/n). Next time we'll have you on with Bob, Wade, and Jack." He looked back at me and smiled.

I looked up from the laptop and returned the kind smile. "I can't wait."

"Good."

I waved to the camera with the happiest smile I could possibly muster. I was in such a good mood. He finished his outro and turned off the camera.

"How does it feel to play games and make people happy for a living, because that was probably one of the best things I've experienced." I stated

He spun around in his chair to face me. His small grin was growing ever so slightly into a big smile.

"I feel like the luckiest guy in the world to be able to do what I do. It's awesome."

I nodded and thought about his response for a bit before standing up.

"Where you going?" he asked

"I'm gonna go make lunch."

"Ok." he propped himself in his chair so he could place a gentle kiss upon my lips.

"Thanks for being in the video. It means a lot to me."

___

"I'm heading to work!" I hollered from the front door, waiting for Mark's response from our bed.

That lucky duck. He got to sleep in.

"Yeah, yeah, Seeya later." his morning voice resounded through the small apartment.

I sighed and walked out of the door into the chilly morning, pulling the door shut tight behind me. I paused for a moment, placing my hands and my forehead on the  cold frame of the door. Another day another dollar, I can do this. My mind wanted to walk back into the apartment and curl up next to Mark under the covers. I could picture it now, his arms thrown over my body, gently snoring on the pillow, his warmth radiating off of his bare chest, his ruffled morning hair. Ugh. I pushed off of the door and carefully made my way down the steps.

I walked the short length to the café and unlocked the door. I was the first one there- like always. First one to get here, last one to close. Usually. I preoccupied myself with wiping down the counters and turning on the coffee machines. After about fifteen minutes of cleaning the place up, Darcy my boss walked in.

"You beat me again. I don't know why I'm surprised, you get here before me every morning. You do know we open at 6:15? Honey, it's 5:45."

"Yeah I guess I just like coming in early, to tidy up the place a bit before we open." I lied

Ok it wasn't that much of a lie. It's true, I'd rather be at home with Mark, but there's something about getting to work early and watching the light from the morning sun pour in through the open windows. That's just who I was, a sucker for sunlight. It puts me in a good mood, even after waking up at an ungodly hour.

She looked at me skeptically before rounding the counter. Darcy was a nice boss. She was average. Not too nice, not too mean. She let me have holidays off and most of the weekends because I worked so hard during the week.

"I appreciate your help." she finally said, pulling the freshly made pot of coffee from the machine.

After finishing up the cleaning, I plopped down at one of the booths and stared outside at the busy street. It was like this for a while, until it was finally time to open up for the day.

"As for Shailene- I don't know what I'm going to do with her." Darcy chuckled.

Shailene was one of my coworkers and Darcy's niece. She was constantly late. Right as Darcy said her name, she quickly entered the coffee shop.

"I-I'm here. Sorry." she sputtered, clutching her wrinkled notepad in her hand.

I shook my head and smiled, taking one last peek at the street. She scowled at me, her eyes rolling back into her skull as she saw me sitting. Shailene wasn't necessarily a friend of mine. I did my best to ignore her negative mood and sloppy work. She was only working here because her aunt gave her the job, and something tells me she won't be working here long if she keeps this act up.

Darcy shook her head with a long breath as I made my way to my spot behind the register. We had the businessmen and women who don't have any time except for in the mornings come in first. Then we're pretty busy for a while, and at eleven thirty-ish we get a girl named Missy. She comes in every day with her pet husky -that she has to leave outside- so I don't get why she brings him. I shouldn't complain, he always brightens the café's mood.

We have quite a few other daily customers as well. I was making an order for a sweet old lady when a younger aged girl walked through the door. She sat down at the front counter and looked up at the items we had listed on the chalkboard menu. I watched her as I walked past, setting the cup of coffee on the old lady's table. She caught my glance and smiled. Her smile was slightly... devilish? It curled up at the corners a little too far and the stressed wrinkles around her eyes proved to me that the smile was fake.

I resumed my position behind the counter when I heard her voice. It was smooth and calming, causing an odd and unsettling feeling in my stomach.

"Hey. (y/n) right?"

What?

"Um yes?" I answered skeptically. "How did you know my name?"

"Can I order?" she asked, obviously changing the subject.

"Sure." My gaze lingered on her a second longer before I pulled out my notepad to take her order.

She rambled off some mixed latte drink and I copied it all down just like I normally do, but I couldn't get the uneasy feeling out of my mind.

"You didn't answer my question." I stated, setting her coffee in front of her.

She smiled up from her cup after hearing me talk. It was that same unpleasant grin that I saw before. I didn't find comfort in her smile like I would in others. I found fear.