Always There

Chapter Sixty-Three

Chapter Sixty-Three:

Lexi's POV

"Thank you so much, Lexi. It's always a pleasure chatting with you."

I beam at Eleanor, the old lady who comes by the cafe frequently, as she takes her cup of coffee from me with a gracious smile on her face.

Well, I don't think she's actually that old. I would assume that she's probably in her mid-sixties, as her children are in their thirties and early forties. She also has three grandchildren, whose names I always manage to forget no matter how often Eleanor mentions them.

"You're very welcome, Eleanor. Are you heading out now?" I ask her.

I watch as she gently shakes the several shopping bags that she's holding in the hand that isn't occupied by her latte. "I have a little bit more shopping to do. My youngest daughter, the one without children, is coming to visit tomorrow and I've been out buying her a few presents. I've been doing a little bit of shopping for myself too, or course."

At this, she winks at me, and I'm unable to stop myself from chuckling.

"All right, Eleanor. Have a wonderful day, and enjoy your shopping spree," I tell her with another genuine smile.

After Bryce and I broke up, I had a really hard time finding things that made me happy. There were far too many days that went by where I didn't smile once, which I think was because my head was always filled with thoughts of my ex-boyfriend.

Kennedy was the one who encouraged me to get a job. Although my depressive episode where I had an especially hard time getting out of the bed in the morning only lasted about a week and a half, I had a bit of a hard time getting my mind away from Bryce. School just wasn't enough to occupy me, and so having a job gave me another way to spend my time when I wasn't attending class or doing schoolwork.

I absolutely adore my job. Although I figured that working would be good for my mental health, I really didn't anticipate loving it quite this much.

Of course, making my own money is a wonderful feeling as I no longer have to financially rely on anyone else for little things such as going out for dinner or shopping at the mall.

The part that I think I love most, though, is that my job makes me feel needed. While all my friends go out and party on the weekends, rather than feeling like I'm wasting my time by staying in my dorm room alone, I go to work, and when the cafe closes, I go home and sleep so that I can be up for my next shift in the morning.

Today is shockingly quiet, despite it being a Saturday afternoon. Since the cafe is just a few blocks down the street from Columbia University—which means that I'm slightly terrified that Bryce may walk in the door one day—the majority of the customers that stay and sit in the cafe are university students here to study.

Because yesterday was the last day of exams at Columbia, most of the customers we've had today took their food and drinks to go, and only a few people are scattered around the seating area, lounging in the armchairs or sitting at a table with their laptop open in front of them.

Yesterday was my last day of school, too, which means that I've officially finished my first year at Juilliard. This year certainly was very eventful, and it flew by incredibly quickly despite all of the absurd things that have happened to me, but I'm very thankful for all the experiences I've had.

I know that I'm a completely different person than I was before I began attending school in September.

"Take cafe of yourself, Lexi. You have a lovely day as well," Eleanor tells me with another adorable smile before she turns around and walks away from the counter, heading towards the cafe door.