The Coffee Date

Chapter 4 - Meet Company

'Deep breath in, deep breath out.' This is what the little voice in Hazel's head had been saying for the past half hour as the nervous female stood by her door, fingers curled into tiny fists.

She was entirely dressed for the occasion, despite the occasion not needing to be dressed up for. Tight black jeans, an overly-large erythraean sweater-shirt with white polka dots, white sneakers, a gold seagull necklace she had purchased at a discount store (fake of course), her hair down against her shoulders perfectly waved, and of course her signature large black glasses resting against the bridge of her nose. Today she had decided to put on a little bit of makeup; not a lot but enough to feel good enough to go out in public and feel confident about how she looked. The "natural look" as many internet celebrities had called it. Hazel always found that odd since she considered "natural" to mean wearing no makeup at all. But clearly she wasn't in enough with the mainstream crowd to know any of terminology regarding that. Regarding anything for that matter.

She groaned, her head flopping backwards as she allowed her eyes to stare at her cracking ceiling above her. Why was this so difficult? She had done this yesterday. This was just going out, getting some coffee, then coming right back home. Why did it always take her so long to push herself out of her own door? The last time she had gone out it was amazing. She met someone who had gone out of their way to give her a small gesture of kindness. So why is it, after being so happy with gaining her courage then, she couldn't do it a second day in a row?

"He's probably not even going to be there."

Her distant and quiet grumbling had awoken her feline friend, sneaking forwards and sitting behind her owner and tilting her head curiously as she watched her writhe in anxiety-ridden self debate.

"Why should I go? Why don't I just go out and get some coffee from the store. Grinds. Then I won't need to worry about this anymore." Her orbs closed, fading shut and hiding from the world. "I won't need to leave my house for at least a week." The brunette hugged her arms, standing in that position as her thoughts churned and mixed in her head.

This shouldn't be as difficult as it was. She was second-guessing herself as she often did when she was stepping out of her comfort zone. She hated going out, but yesterday had proven that it didn't always end in disaster. That a lot of good could come from going outside for even half an hour. Everything can change. Your self-confidence, your shyness, the way you view your own world and the worlds of others. In one simple outing all of that can change.

Her eyes opened, raising back up to the wooden oak door only three steps out of her reach. She couldn't over-think it. She just needed to go. Over-charge her brain. Before she could think too much about it she needed to make her decision. Act on it. Fast. Now.

Grabbing her purse from the side-table and snagging her keys from the tiny bowl in the corner, the brunette dashed for the door throwing it open and closed behind her. She was doing it. She was racing her brain. Before she had too much time to think, to analyze, she was already down the stairs and out the front door charging down the sidewalk. This was it. This was her day. She was forcing her brain, herself, to get outside and to try just a little harder. With enough luck, maybe it could work. Her mother always used to say that the brain is capable of anything. Loving, changing, growing, shifting, hurting, healing, living, dying.

Today, Hazel was experiencing it all.

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The groggy and tired blue eyes scanned the papers for the fiftieth time in the past few hours, a groan escaping the male's lips as he leaned back in his seat and rubbed his face with his hands. His legs stretched out under the desk before him, allowing the tense and aching muscles to sigh with relief.