You wrote "Don't Forget"

Chapter 2- The Hot Lounge

The nearest coffee shop was The Hot Lounge. I knew it all too well. I paid for every waking hour I spent procrastinating by doing five days of piled-up work in there; alive solely by the courtesy of their suspiciously delicious coffee. I had always wondered whether they put angel dust in it because that coffee truly tasted like it was out of this world. Maybe they did spike my coffee but who cares as long as it managed to be my elixir of life in those stressful hours.

It seemed that Luke had been here before too. As soon as we entered the coffee shop, he walked up to the counter.

"Hey, Stace." He said with a smile to the woman behind the counter.

"Hi, Luke," Stacy said, putting on a smile I had never seen on her face before.

You see, Stacy Williams was known for many things. She was known for being broody, angry, scary, apathetic and giving people the silent treatment. However, she was not known for being a very happy person. I don't think I had ever seen her smile once in all those hours I had spent in here, paying for my tardiness and trust me - I had been in here quite a lot.

Soon, her gaze landed on me and the smile evaporated - as if it had never been there in the first place. The short, formidable-looking woman in front of me, with her lips encased in a cemented straight line was the Stacy I knew.

"Hi, stranger. You come in here a lot and somehow I always miss your name. Maybe you're just that forgettable." She said, her face as still as a statue.

I tried not to let it get to me. This was just who Stacy was.

"Ha, Ha. Very funny, Stacy." I said, sounding unamused.

"I wasn't joking." She said and turned her eyes back to Luke.

She looked from me to Luke, her eyes dancing back and forth, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Oh, you two already know each other." Luke said, with a smile. A genuine freaking smile.

"I don't. I just see him here a lot. Honestly, he's like a pesky bug. Sometimes I wonder whether his social life is non-existent." Stacy said and I wondered why in the world I ever came to this coffee shop in the first place. Maybe it was the low-priced coffee or the fact that no one disturbed me here, or it was simply that I lived just a street down from it.

I also wondered how Stacy managed to keep her customers coming here. With that attitude, anyone would have left right after setting a single foot in here.

I didn't say anything, me buzzing out some nonsense would just prove her point.

Luke cleared his throat.

"Well, Stace. We do have to place our orders. I'll take a Candy Cane Cocoa to go. And what about you?" Luke said, turning towards me.

"Ah. Um...Iced Coffee." I mumbled.

Stacy nodded curtly. Two minutes later, she handed us our cups and shot a smile at Luke.

I fumbled through my pockets, trying to find my wallet when a hand touched my shoulder. It took everything I had in me not to blush when I realized who the hand belonged to.

"Please, let me. It's the least I can do." Luke said.

I wanted to protest. Judging from his clothes it didn't seem like he was rolling in money but soon I figured out that I had worn the wrong pair of jeans and had left my wallet in the other one. Classic me.

So, with a sigh I let him fish his wallet out of his pocket and pay for our order.

"So you said we were taking this to go? Are you leaving?" I said, glancing at him.

"Not me. We are leaving. I thought we could sit- " He was cut off by his phone ringing.

I cursed modern technology. Sure, I didn't have to spend hours washing my clothes by hand or set off on a bullock cart to go to work but technology was way too notorious for ruining conversations.

"Sorry, I have to take this." Luke said, apologetically.

I respectfully turned away, taking a sip of my iced coffee. Out of the corner of my eyes I glanced at him as he talked. The way his face contorted into a wide array of expressions. The way he ran his hand through his hair repeatedly. The way Lucy's leash was there in his hand but only barely. I noticed the rhythmic tapping of his left foot, the furrowing of his right eyebrow and the hushed sound of his voice as if it was the only song in the sea of silence, careful not to disturb the stillness.

The call ended, I turned back towards him.

There was no smile on his face right now.

The color had vanished from his cheeks. The blue of his eyes was washed up, stranded on a shore. His pupils were dilated, panic pulsing through his facial features like a snake slithering just below his skin. His fist was clenched in a tight grip around the leash.

There was something else.

He looked like he would never smile again in his life. As if in a mere second he had become a discombobulated shadow of who he used to be.

"I am sorry." He said, his voice breaking - hurting. A strangled scream hidden beneath the mask of a calm tone. "I am afraid this is not a good time. We can continue this later. I-"

It felt like something terrible had happened but it wasn't my place to ask. After all, I had just met him.

"Okay. Hmm. Wait a second." I said. He looked confused and lost but he stood there nonetheless.

I walked up to one of the employees and came back with something in my hand.

Without explaining anything, I took the marker I had just borrowed and scrawled the ten digits I knew all too well.

"If you need anything, this is my number. Just call me." I said.

I don't know what drove me to write that on his arm. Maybe it was the fact that he looked like he needed someone. Maybe it was the fact that he looked even more lost than before. Maybe it was because the smile which had instantly lit up my world was no longer there. Or maybe it was nothing.

Maybe it was just a stupid and impulsive decision.

But the way he looked at me, his eyes filled with gratitude - with hope. It told me that whatever it was, it was the right thing to do.

He nodded, tracing his fingers along his arm, softly.

"Thank you," He said and with those two words, he called a cab and left.

I just stood there watching the cab drive him away, taking a sip of my coffee, wondering what had happened to him and whether I would ever see him again.