Roommates & Soulmates

Ch159: Paige's Red Jacket

Paige's alarm went off and she groaned. It was Saturday! So why was she waking up to such a noise? Oh yes, that's right, because Clary's made her agree to this stupid blind date. The idea of getting up and dressed just to sit in a coffee shop for an hour and be stood up made her want to pull the covers up over her head and stay there till Monday. Then again, maybe she was being too optimistic. It was entirely possible the guy would show up late, be terrible and ruin her day. Then there was always the chance he'd be gross and hit on her in all the least flattering ways possible. She wasn't a great beauty by any standard, but Paige had attempted dating enough to know she was beautiful enough to get the wrong kind of attention.

The snooze button ended and her alarm went off again. It was either get up and go, or text and cancel. Paige had never stood anyone up and she wasn't about to start now. Then again, by that logic cancelling last minute wasn't much better than no showing. With a great sigh, Paige forced herself out of bed.

But she drew the line at dressing up. If he didn't like her in her bootcut jeans and t-shirt than it was his loss. After brushing her teeth and washing her face, Paige threw her hair in a ponytail and headed out. She was sure Alec was still sleeping, and suspected Magnus was already on his way to the museum. How that man worked so much she had no idea, though the few times she'd pointed it out to him he'd disagreed, saying she worked just as much since she kept cooking for them. In the end they'd agreed to disagree.

It wasn't too hot, and really Paige could have just walked to the cafe, but what was the point in owning a vehicle if you didn't drive it, right? Besides it was Saturday morning, which meant there were so few cars on the road that driving was much faster and more enjoyable. Putting her car in park, Paige checked the time. She'd made it with time to spare. Feeling sure she was here before him, Paige walked in and moved toward the counter to order her drink.

To her great surprise she saw a man sitting at the table in the corner with the bright red jacket her mystery texter told her he'd be wearing. Suddenly flustered, she didn't indicate that she'd seen him. Instead she focused on ordering a drink and gathering her thoughts.

She was at least ten minutes early, which meant he'd been even earlier. Suddenly feeling like this date might be worth getting out of bed for, Paige paid for her drink and went to stand by the counter to wait for it.

She still wanted to pretend she hadn't seen him. He was so early! It had her slightly flustered. She'd never been on a date before where the guy was so punctual. All the other coffee dates Paige had previously attended the guy had either been super late or texted to cancel literally minutes before he was supposed to arrive.

Glancing over again for just a moment on the pretence of looking for a napkin, she took in more than just his bright red coat. He didn't look super tall, though sitting down she couldn't quite tell. He had dirty blonde hair, but there was a reddish sheen to it. His features were soft, and he looked nervous.

Collecting her drink, Paige moved towards him.

"Red jacket right?" she said, unsure.

"Oh!" he said, seeming surprised. "Um yeah."

Paige sat down, taking note of the fact that his drink was half finished. He'd been really really early.

"Wow," he said. "Hi."

He seemed flustered, which was making Paige feel better about her own silly flustered actions while ordering drinks.

"Hello," she smiled at him, taking a sip of her latte to have something to do with her hands.

"You're early," he stated.

"As if you can talk," she replied. "You were here before me, and you've basically finished your drink already."