A Light in the Dark // Flicker Series Part I #wattys2019

Begin Again

CHAPTER 1
EVIE'S POV // BEGIN AGAIN

"Morning Evie!" The voice of my friend Beck rings out over the door chime as I enter his coffee shop.

Evie, a nickname i've had for as long as I can remember. It's short for Evaline, pronounced like it looks Eh-va-line, like a line in the sand. It's a difficult name for people to grasp, so i pretty much just tell people my name is Evie.

"Morning!" I say, walking over to my usual table next to the counter.

"Give me just a sec and i'll bring you a cup of coffee!" Beck says and I give him a thumbs up as I take my laptop out of my bag and start setting up my work area for the morning.

Let me explain what's going on here.

My name is Evaline Michaels, professional talent manager under Capitol Records Nashville. My client, Beck Avery —Country singer, new to the scene after winning a singing competition two years ago. This cafe is his, fittingly named Beck's. By day it's a cafe, by night it's a music lounge; pretty much every basic white girls dream, and Instagram heaven.

So my daily office is a coffee shop.

Unlimited inspiration, people watching and coffee. It's a win all around.

Beck is my best friend. We work really well together and his coffee shop is the perfect atmosphere to work in. I sit at the table next to the counter so he can work the counter and serve customers and we can work in between. We talk about work or any random crap that comes to our minds, which makes him my biggest distraction some days. But before you jump to any conclusions... No, Beck and I are not romantically involved, at all. This isn't one of those stories where the best friend turns out to eventually be the boyfriend; we really are just best friends.

Beck and I met when he opened the cafe after we graduated from college. We were fast friends, and my small circle of friends welcomed him quickly as he fit in perfectly with all of us. Prior to Beck my best friend doubled as my boyfriend, Jaxon. He and I had been friends since we were kids before getting romantically involved our senior year of High School. That all came to a screeching halt 6 months ago, however, and i'm still trying to recover from losing someone I had known almost my entire life.

The next best thing to a best friend is an older sister. Mine, Nora, is my rock. She's the typical older sister, more uptight than my younger sister and I, but she is the best person you will ever meet and someone I am grateful to have in my corner. We've always been incredible close. We had our sisterly squabbles, but mostly we've been best friends.

Nora is a journalist and she's spent the last year covering stories all around the world. She's practically been in a different country every month, if not every week. This was the trip of a lifetime and I couldn't be happier for her, however i'm giddy with excitement as she is due to arrive home today and i've missed her immensely.

We've called and texted and video chatted non stop for the last year, and I even went to visit her for two weeks after my break up, but nothing compares to having her home and in the room down the hall from mine in the house we share. It's been quite lonely without her.