Mr. Babydoll and the journals of his inner blizzard [peterick]

II

The following day, I got to work a little earlier than usual. I didn't know why. I just woke up at 6:00 am and I hadn't been able to fall back to sleep after that. I was filling the coffee machine with water, when i heard a familiar voice from behind:

"Hey Pete! Pete the Treat! How's it going?"
Brendon Boyd Urie, an old school acquaintance of mine, stood in the middle of the shop and I surely hadn't seen him in a while. I didn't think of that as a particularly bad thing.

"Hey Bren" I greeted him and forced a smile.
Brendon used to work in the same shop but he quit a year ago, leaving town to study abroad. "This town slowly murders you as time goes by." he had told me on the old bridge back then before he left. Just recently he had quit the entire plan. According to his own words he had "found the right people." I didn't question it any further. Brendon belonged to the type of people who were certain that the world was made to revolve around their story. He was still one of the more bearable ones and he was happy with it.

"Wow , This place has really gone to shits" he noticed, his hands on his hips, observing the small empty café in all it's invisible glory. I would've disagreed with him if he weren't right.
"It'll be a coffee for me." he let me know after he was done with his examination of his surroundings. He put on that smile that he seemed to carry with him at all times.That's the kind of smile everyone falls for.

"Sure, as long as you pay for it buddy." He handed me the money and i turned on the coffee machine. " How is life?" I asked while the hot, dark liquid poured out of the roaring machine into the cup

"Oh it's great. I met a guy in Berlin a few weeks ago. We got wasted at a summer party, we talked all night and he offered me to join his band."
I handed him his cup and he smiled thankfully. The strong smell of coffee latched onto his leather jacket.

"How romantic." I remarked purely as a joke and he did laugh, but in the way he looked away and by the sweetness of his laughter, I could tell that there was something he didn't tell me.

"What's his name ?"
"Ryan. Why is that important?" Brendon replied and quickly took a sip from his coffee.
"But all jokes aside. He's a lyrical genius. I'm sure we'll get really far with our band." he added and I decided to believe him. He was always uptight in some way and I could be reading into things too deeply.

"Lucky. I'll just be stuck here until I either get struck by an idea or a meteor." I said dreamily while playing with a coin in my hand. Suddenly the little bell above the door rang, introducing another costumer. The coin dropped on the floor and rolled somewhere under the counter where it stayed.

The dark blonde guy from yesterday just walked into the shop. I would've preferred the meteor, to be perfectly honest. I wondered if he had noticed me going after him yesterday.
"Are you okay?" Brendon asked, completely unaware of what was going on. His voice was so far away and I couldn't move, but I still managed to gesture him to shut the fuck up. I didn't want to get lost again.

"I'd take a cappuccino."the dark blonde ordered when he reached the counter. I noticed that he simply wore a black jacket instead of the denim one. He also wore a fedora and his hair was less messy with tiny snowflakes gracing them and his shoulders He must've been out of town. Did he live around here? "Uhm... sure. To go?"
He shook his head. " I'll drink it here." He spoke perfectly as if he'd practiced it in front of the mirror.
"Alright, take a seat I'll bring it when it's done." That was my every day line for every single costumer, but this time my voice was shaky, I could imagine the snowflakes on his shoulders breaking into tiny pieces. The guy nooded and made his way to one of the tables. I think he didn't remember me.

I didn't notice how I kept staring after him until Brendon snapped his fingers in front of my face. " Hey dude are you still with us? How about you start finishing his order?" I didn't like the slightly amused tone lacing his words. My hands started to work with the coffee machine just on their own. In the corner of my eye, I could tell Brendon was about to start a conversation, which would tie knots around my wrists and pull me into places, I wouldn't be able to get out of.
He leaned over the counter and lowered his voice. "Do you know that guy?" he asked, pointing to the guy by a quick tilt of his head in that direction. "You look uncomfortable."