Well, What Ever Happened To Romance?

Chapter 4

It was a week and a half before I saw Ben again. It was the same pattern, pretty much on a daily basis: I'd wake up with him on my mind, spend a few minutes in bed hating myself for waking up with him on my mind, and then get ready for work, making sure I looked extra nice just in case I ran into Ben (and a special bonus step: hating myself for doing so).

With today being Saturday, I figured I'd spend some time at a coffee shop to work on a few small internship things, as well as do some people watching, which had easily become my favorite New York pastime. You're never too far away from a coffee shop in New York City, so I walk out of my apartment and wander until I find one just over a block away. I get in line, scrolling through Instagram mindlessly.

"Charlotte?"

I look up, shocked to hear my name. I hadn't run into somebody that knew me in public since I had moved here-- it was a huge city, after all, and I knew maybe 20 people. The same dazzling blue eyes that I hadn't seen in a week and a half, hidden this time behind his hipster-style glasses, smiled down at me.

"Hey!" I laugh. I probably should have come up with something more witty and interesting to say, but at the moment, that's all I had. He held his arms open for a hug, which I graciously accept as I made a mental note to text Angie later.

"What are you doing here? Do you live nearby?" He asked, the both of us inching forward in line.

"I just came to work on a few things for work, and to people watch. And yeah, I actually live about a block away," I say, pointing in the direction of my apartment. "What about you?"

He shrugs. "I usually spend my Saturday mornings here. But I have to say, it's a lot nicer to be here with a pretty girl than it is to be by myself."

For a moment it actually feels like the air has been knocked out of my chest, and it's suddenly a lot harder to breathe. "You're something else, Cook," I laugh. He smirks, obviously proud of his line.

He turns around to order his drink, an iced vanilla coffee, before turning back around to me. "What would you like?"

I shake my head. "Ben, you do not-"

"No no, none of that 'you don't have to pay for me'. I'm not going to pay until you order," He says, sweet but persistent.

I sigh, looking at the cashier's face, who was clearly not amused by us holding up the line. "Ok, fine. I'll have a small mocha." 

"Make hers a medium," Ben says as he hands his card to the cashier.

"Ben," I respond in that typical 'you are unbelievable' tone, even though I was secretly glad I was getting a medium instead.

"Would you mind if I joined you?" He asks after we get our drinks.

"Not in the slightest," I laugh, having assumed that we'd sit together. We find a table for two by the windows, the morning sunlight pouring in on us. "So you live close by then, I assume?" I ask. I pull out my laptop, even though I already knew that sitting with Ben meant that I wouldn't get much done today.

"Yeah, just two blocks north of here."

I nod, sipping my coffee. "Thank you, by the way, for the coffee. And for the company."

He smiles. "The pleasure's mine." He takes a sip of his coffee before continuing. "So tell me about this internship. Are you liking it?"

"Yeah, it's definitely been the coolest month of my life so far. I've worked so hard since I got into college, knowing that this is exactly what I want to do for the rest of my life. God knows how I was even good enough to be picked for this internship... but I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. I have no idea what I'm going to do in two months when I have to pack up and go back home... this city already feels like home to me. But I mean, I'm only 19, so I suppose I have lots of time to come back." I say, probably rambling too much.