𝙾𝚗𝚎𝚒𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚊

Chapter 2

Despite my discouraging thoughts, I slowly approached the enormous building and headed to my first class, economics. I realize it may be a useless class to be taking unless I wanted to become an accountant or financial planner - really anything along those lines, which being honest, wasn't necessarily something I was leaning towards, thus why I deemed it pointless. But hey, it was still only my second year. Consequently, I didn't have a strong view on what I wanted my future to look like quite yet. Therefore, I hadn't felt overwhelmingly perturbed about taking an Econ class, as it may unexpectedly prove useful in the future.

I entered the enormous auditorium, taking in the rows and rows of seats filled with students. I felt like a fish out of water, a complete outsider. Though a large portion of the students weren't fully acquainted, I mean after all college is a lot bigger than high school, most people were still cozying up to the person next to them, or seeking out a familiar face. I however, had absolutely no intention of making friendly conversation. Being the shy introvert I am, I had come to accept the fact I would miss out on the whole "college experience", as I missed out on the typical high school experience.

I searched for the most deserted spot before taking a seat in the back corner, already dawning over how lonely this year really will be.

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Throughout the day everything seemed to go by in slow motion; faces indistinguishable, others laughter and conversations only an annoying buzz flowing through my ears. Everything a complete haze. For the first time all day, a wave of relief surged through my body as the last class came to a close. I gathered all my stuff, and sped out of the classroom, not sparing my professor, nor classmates a second glance. As I got into my car I closed my eyes and tried to regain some composure after the stressful day, as it was also my first day working as a barista at a coffee shop near downtown.

I let out a sigh before turning the key in ignition. The dashboard read back in green glowing numbers "4:04" I had about half an hour to get to my new job.

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Before I knew it, I had already reached the coffee shop, 15 minutes early in fact. Staring at the archaic brick building with a tacky neon sign, hung just above the doorway, reminded me of just how depleting the day had already been. I decided to  play some music and just relax for the few spare moments I had before it became imperative I go in and start my first shift. I watched as every customer came and went, coming to the realization of just how much bigger the population here was compared to my dull old town. There, you would see the same high school group of friends, the same three middle aged men, along with the occasional mother or senior couple just swinging by to pick up some food. Either way, it was always the same faces, everything so predictable. Here though, in the past 10 minutes I saw at least 8 different people coming and going. All of them resembled different types of contrasting features, separating them as unique individuals. At last, I had to leave the safety of my car and go to work.

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About two or three hours had gone by, it was so unusually busy I could barely comprehend who I was talking to, or analyze a single thing about them. Then when things began to slowly die down, and approach the 8:00 mark, I noticed the slow transition of the shop becoming quite desolated. There were a couple people still around, a couple in their forties, on what I presumed to be a date, along with a few university students studying on their laptops, yet starting to pack up.

Suddenly the bell to the shop rang and my eyes landed on a tall, dark haired man strolling in. He appeared much older than me, most likely in his late 30's. His sophisticated, dark exterior made him appear superior to every other ordinary person left in the cafe.

His chocolate brown hair was gelled and fluffed perfectly, albeit a few fly aways, most likely the result of him running a hand through his hair. This along with his 5 o'clock shadow added a rugged aspect to his appearance, making him look even hotter. He had on a fully black suit that accentuated his shoulders and made them appear quite broad, though he was more a lean build.

I smiled, showing I was ready to take his order.

"Black coffee, please" he stated rather direct, his cold eyes boring into mine.

"Coming right up" I smiled, ignoring the goosebumps that trailed up my arms from his piercing amber eyes and the intimidating dominance portrayed in his deep tone of voice.

Though, I've never been aware of the silence while getting other customers orders, for reasons unbeknownst to me, the silence suddenly felt quite suffocating between me and this complete stranger. Despite my sweaty palms and suddenly bone dry mouth, I felt obligated to at least make an attempt at friendly conversation to ease the awkward tension.

"Little strange to be ordering coffee this late. Big plans for the evening?" I casually asked looking down, ringing up his order before heading towards the coffee pot to pour him a cup.

"No, not tonight." he replied sternly, his answer furthering my confusion.

I didn't realize till I looked up finally to hand him his coffee that instead of scrolling through his phone or being lost in thought like other customers usually are, his gaze had been set on me the entire time. He looked me up and down before grabbing his coffee cup and making eye contact with me for what felt like an eternity.
It made be slightly uncomfortable and unintentionally squirm under his harsh stare, that was silently reminding me just how inferior I must appear to this alluringly attractive and obviously wealthy, grim business man.

Though, you deal with the occasional bad customer, usually everyone's intentions are good hearted enough, or at least as good hearted and mundane as your actions can be when just buying a coffee. Yet, whatever was behind those hazel orbs was anything but good intentions.

Just from the dark look in his eyes, I could tell his mind was one filled with impurity.
For a second I had a crazy thought pop into my mind and almost wondered if I just had a run in with the devil himself, based solely off the sheer coldness that seemed to emit off of him.

The way he had observed me left me with a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. I was bewildered as to how such a minuscule interaction could be capable of causing me to feel so unsettled.

"H-have a good night" I stuttered out, causing his lips to twitch into a half smirk, before turning around and heading towards the door.

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Finally it was 9, closing time. I wiped down the counters and started to lock everything up. I was beyond exhausted and just wanted to be home, asleep in my cozy bed. I grabbed all my stuff and headed out the front of the shop, locking the door behind me.

As I was about to head towards my car I heard a loud noise come from the side alley. It came from where we kept the trash. I slowly started to approach the dark alley to investigate;

"Um, h-hello? Is anyone else out here?" I called out, my voice slightly shaking.

My question was met with silence. If there was anyone out there, I wouldn't want any interaction either way, so I pushed my worrisome thoughts aside and walked back towards the door to make sure it really was locked, that was until I heard a loud bang and footsteps.

My initial instincts were to sprint to my car, so I did just that, tears already prickling at my eyes, as the empty parking lot made me painfully aware of how alone I was. This is it. I'm totally going to die.

I quickly regretted my previous decision to park farther away from the shop as I feared whoever was chasing me would definitely have an upper-hand and catch up to me due to my short stature that wasn't carrying my body nearly as fast as I needed it too.

Finally I reached my car door and scrambled through my bag to find my keys, adrenaline still furiously pumping through my veins as I poured myself into the car, quickly locking the doors. I exhaled shakily, still deathly afraid to look up and see who was chasing me. When I eventually moved my eyes back up though, I was shocked to find not a soul in sight...