Walking through the streets of Hatchetfield is a dull activity. For Paul, it's his only escape from work as he trudges past boring people and boring buildings. Strolling through quickly, he stops suddenly and turns right, where he heads into Beanie's.
It's a relatively small coffee shop, and it certainly isn't popular with some quite horrid reviews. Some say it's the coffee, some say it's the workers. Paul isn't a people person, but Beanie's is far more quiet than the loud bustling business that is Starbucks.
Taking in the familiar surroundings he peers to his left where there is a small table tucked away in the corner. He has claimed this spot so he pulls out the chair closest to the window and sits down, taking out his laptop and a few papers. As he sits there, silently doing his lifeless work, a small cough from in front of him knocks him back into reality.
"Ahem."
As he looked up he was greeted by a small girl. Her hair was roughly thrown up into a loose bun, and the bow on her apron was very uneven. She looked tired and bored, but she had a job to do.
But of course Paul recognised this girl. "Hey Emma." He said nervously, tucking away his work to face her.
"Hello Guy Who Doesn't Like Musicals." She chuckled. "What brings you to this fine place this lovely afternoon?" Emma smirked as she pointed outside, where the dark clouds began to envelope the sky around them and shed raindrops onto the land.
"I just need a break." He sighed. Emma gave him a sympathetic look which made Paul's heart melt. It was quite obvious the real reason he was at Beanie's was to see Emma, the girl who made Paul feel less alone and also made him feel gushy on this inside.
"A black coffee it is!" Emma said. Before turning away, she asked "so what are you working on?"
"Just usual crap." He laughed lightly. He enjoyed it when she took interested in his work. "I can't catch a break from anything anymore."
"I feel ya'" Emma replied, patting Paul gently on his shoulder, causing butterflies to erupt in his stomach.
"EMMA!" A shrill voice screamed from the other side of the room. "HURRY UP!"
"Geez, Zoey!" She yelled back. "Thought you were on vocal rest!" Emma gave her iconic smirk again before turning back to Paul. "I'll be back in a moment."
As she sauntered away, Paul sat dumbly staring at Emma. He really liked her, despite the fact they barely knew each other. He liked that she was persistent and stood up for herself, but was also kind to him and didn't push him on his bad days. As she worked behind the counter, Paul smiled as she swiftly manoeuvred around creating his coffee.
Her gaze slowly rose up and she caught Paul's stare. She blushed slightly and smiled. Paul felt his face go red and quickly looked away, fumbling with his papers.
When Emma arrived back over, she quickly passed him his coffee and left suddenly.
Paul took this as a good time to head back to work, but as he grabbed his cup he noticed small black sharpie had been scribbled on it.
It was a phone number, and underneath was the words "call me" and a small heart that was barely visible.
Paul gushed quietly, and gathered up his items to return to his work space. Just as he was about to leave the door, a small hand tapped his shoulder.
Emma pointed to his cup. "Don't forget." She smiled and quickly went back to work.
