Coffee Shop ✓

Cloud Nine ✓

C H A P T E R . F I V E

Monday morning, Cara arrives at The Attic at 7:30. Her ginger hair is in a messy ponytail, but she still looks stunning to Thomas. She's obviously not in quite a rush today since, as Thomas knows now, her class starts at eight in the morning and she's got enough time to get a coffee, have a little chat, and have no need to sprint to uni. Cara stands at the back of the short line after sending a grin towards Thomas.

Trying not to be too obvious, Thomas serves the customers a little faster than he normally does so he can finally get to Cara. He speaks a little quicker and taps on the screen of his cash register a little faster. Three more customers to go. One more.

"Good morning!" Finally. Cara's cheery voice fills his ears and Thomas immediately grins. He greets her back before asking for her order, and this time he talks more slowly than he normally does.

"Sedici Caramel Latte, please." Cara replies. Thomas notices how she has been ordering a caramel latte ever since the first time she had tried it. It's a favorite drink now, perhaps?

After handling the money and the receipt, he gives Alfred the order. "Slept well last night? You're not late for uni today." Thomas asks conversationally as Cara steps sideways so the next customer can order.

"Yeah," Cara laughs, "my alarm actually did its job today!" Her response doesn't register in his brain right away, though, when Thomas realizes that he hasn't drawn on a cup for her. He frowns at that and Cara notices. Her smile disappears and turns into a look of concern. "What's wrong?"

Thomas shakes his head. "Nothing, sorry. I just haven't drawn on a cup for you today..." He trails off.

Cara doesn't say anything at first, she just pulls open her handbag before taking out a notebook and flipping to a blank page. Thomas doesn't notice since he still has one more customer to serve. Cara sifts through her bag once again before taking out a pen and placing it on top of the notebook. "Can you draw something on here for me, then?"

When the last customer has finally stepped aside to wait for his order, Thomas looks down at the notebook and pen. He glances at Cara briefly, pondering, before taking the pen and quickly doodling a faceless girl hugging two cats, one big and one smaller. He scribbles in messy handwriting, 'Cara, Sugar, and Ginger' before placing the pen back down.

Cara admires the drawing for a moment, a smile on her face and her Caramel latte already in hand. "Thank you." She says sincerely to Thomas, looking at him with her sparkling hazel eyes.

+

Tuesday afternoon, Cara stays a little longer in The Attic. She sits on a comfortable couch in the second floor, studying up for a quiz. Since Thomas's shift ends at six, he doesn't get to talk to Cara until then. Thankfully, she's still well engrossed in one of her books, reading up when Thomas comes up the second floor with his backpack and his grey knit sweater on.

"Hey, Cara," he greets softly, as to not startle her while she's deeply focused on something and isn't paying attention to her surroundings.

Cara looks up from her book. "Oh! Hey," she says with a grin. "I've got this Lit quiz on Thursday, and I've got a few homeworks so..." She motions towards the countless books on the table with a slight chuckle.

"I hope I'm not disturbing you?"

"Not at all! Come, sit down!" Cara points towards the cushioned chair across her. "I would actually love a break. I've been reading up for about three hours straight now, and I had classes until 2:30." Cara huffs. "Busy day."

Thomas takes a seat, placing his bag down on the ground by the legs of the table. "Same here, honestly. All I do is work in this coffee shop and then work on a landscape painting I've been working on for about three weeks now. I need a break." He shakes his head. "I honestly don't know what's going on with me. It just won't seem to flow out, you know?"

"Oh, I understand that feeling," Cara hangs her head back with a sigh. "I've been writing this novel for two years and I'm just stuck in the middle. I know how I want it to end, but it's like the words just won't... pour out of me!"

"Right? And, when I'm not trying to work on the painting, I'm able to draw all these other things such as a vase in my kitchen or the view from a rooftop overlooking a city."

Cara gasps, "I know! It's like you can finish everything but your main work! It's awfully stressful." She takes a sip of her Caramel latte—which she could've gotten in a Sedici mug, but she took a to-go cup instead (and Thomas managed to doodle the entrance to a forest for her)—before saying, "Anyway, let's not talk about the stress. Let's talk about something relaxing instead. What's your favorite book?"

Thomas takes out a bottle of water from his backpack to take a sip, suddenly feeling thirsty after seeing Cara with her beverage. "I'm not much of a reader, honestly."

Cara raises her eyebrows. "Really?"

To avoid any questions on why he isn't a reader, Thomas throws her question back at her. "What about you? What's your favorite book?"

"Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell!"

+

On Wednesday morning, Thomas receives a text from Cara saying, 'meet me at The Attic, 11am?' Of course, Thomas agrees. He wouldn't want to miss a chance to hang out with Cara. He doesn't have to work and Cara doesn't have uni today, so Wednesdays might just be his favorite day of the week.

When he arrives at The Attic, Thomas stands on his tiptoes to scout the first floor with his eyes and find Cara. It takes him about a minute to see if she is there or not since there are two more ginger-haired ladies who show quite a resemblance to her, but just as he is about to head to the second floor to check, he feels a poke on his sides and he turns abruptly, startled. Then Cara's laughter fills his ears and he curses. "I can't believe you just startled me and saw me jump like a scaredy-cat."

Cara simply sticks her tongue out. "Hey, I've got an idea for your painting! I realised after our chat yesterday that you might just need more inspiration. It happened to me with the novel I'm writing."

She drags him up to the second floor and they sit on single couches across from each other.

"What's your novel about?" Thomas asks curiously after setting down his bag on the floor.

Cara bites her lip, squints her eyes, and tilts her head to the side, deep in thought. "Sorry, I'm not telling." She shrugs.

"That's unfair!"

Cara simply laughs in response to that. "Anyway, what have you got planned to paint? Because there's this park we can go to with this thicket of trees and the sunset looks gorgeous from there. It makes a great landscape painting."

Thomas thinks it through. That is very helpful, if he experienced a breathtaking image that he could base his painting off of. Maybe he should just not bother with a landscape painting and paint Cara instead. She is breathtaking, after all...

"If you'd like, we can go there this Saturday? I still have a lot of stuff to do for Uni the rest of the week." Cara says, her eyes hopeful.

With no hesitation, Thomas says yes.

Cara grins, the smile reaching her eyes. "It's a date, then." She stands up and gives Thomas a kiss on the cheek, leaving him frozen in surprise. "Sorry if this meeting was short, I have a project to finish with a partner for uni. Didn't want to text these to you. See you on Saturday!"

Thomas walks home feeling like he's walking on cloud nine.

=

qotd: are you a cat person or a dog person? if neither, tell me your favourite animal/s!

andie's answer: i love both cats and dogs! i used to have a pet dog named spike (he was a labrador as big as six-year-old me) and now i have a cat named riley :-)