Silver Iron

Page 40

We walked into the small cafe and felt the heat hit our cold faces.

I took in a long breath and then let it back out as I started smiling.

Winona ran to Pietro the only person in the line who was ordering. She spoke to him and then pointed at me.

He turned to look at me for a second before returning his gaze back to Winona and nodding.

He ordered something else and she gave him a total.

I felt bad for intruding so I walked up to beside him and told her, "put that on Alana Stark's tab please".

She looked up and her eyes widened as she gave me a random salute and then she said giddily, "yes, of course, ms. Stark!"

She put it on my tab and then called for someone to hurry and make them the best they could.

Pietro turned and said: "you didn't have to. You know that, correct?"

I shrugged and smiled a bit as I asked, "why wouldn't I though? I love being the center of attention and making flashy entrances."

He laughed a bit as he stated, "you sound like your father".

I shrugged and said, "what can I say except, I got that passed down."

Winona chuckled and handed me a drink and a chocolate chip and banana muffin.

She told me happily; "Of course that's the thing that got passed down".

I shrugged and said, "it's funny, he's the one who passed down basically everything to me. The family name... my eye's... the hair color. The only thing he seemed to have forgotten to pass down to me is... well..."

I looked up at them putting on a happy front and raised my cocoa into the air as I called; "cocoa away, cheers!"

I watched as they raised theirs as well and we smiled at each other before bringing them down a bit and drinking them.

We began walking to Winona's place and we all talked here and there.

When we finally had made it to Winona's house I said goodbye to Pietro and watched as they said goodbye. He kissed her cheek and then waved a final goodbye.

She turned around to face her front door and unlocked it.

Smiling she pushed open the door and walked in.

I followed behind her, when I got in she shut the door again and locked it.

I walked a bit farther into the apartment and felt the heat start warming me up.

Winona took her coat off and put it on the hook while smiling.

She got over to me and said, "let's finish our snacks".

I nodded and I walked towards her dining table.

When I noticed she wasn't following me I turned around and saw her standing there expectantly.

She motioned to me as if I forgot something.

I tilted my head a bit to show her I was confused and she laughed as she asked: "aren't you forgetting something? Why are you still wearing that sweater? You're going to be pouring sweat".

I chuckled after releasing an oh of realization. I took the sweater off and tied it around my waist as I told her, "It's not really mine so I don't want to forget it".

She waved it off and said, "okay, that's fine with me. Come on".

We headed to the table and sat down, she started eating and I stared at the two chocolate chips that were staring back at me on the pale yellowish color of the muffin.

After a second or so I came back to reality with a small shake on my shoulder.

I looked up and saw a concerned but amused Winona with a mouthful of muffin.

She finished chewing it and then swallowed. She questioned me, "are you okay?"

I nodded and smiled again as I told her, "yeah... yeah! Yeah, I'm fine, the muffin just... it just looks too good to eat is all!"

She shrugged and said, "okay then."

I laughed a bit before starting to eat the muffin displayed out in front of me.

The muffin was still warm and it tasted like happiness.

After I finished my muffin I went to finish off my hot chocolate when I caught gazes with Winona again and laughed awkwardly.

She was staring me down as if I had said something about her kid who was playing baseball and missed all three pitches.

Her gaze softened and then she laughed as she said, "you look like you're missing something, or you feel guilty!"

I continued drinking my hot cocoa and when it was all gone I told her, "something... something like that Win".

She gave me a really confused face and I just smiled as I told her, "don't worry about it. It was a long time ago. Let's just do something like do a puzzle or something and head to bed."

She just blinked a few times before saying dumbfoundedly; "uh, yeah... sure".