𝖈𝖎𝖗𝖈𝖚𝖘 𝖆𝖈𝖙

1



CHAPTER 1

𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖑𝖔𝖔𝖘𝖊 𝖑𝖊𝖆𝖋𝖑𝖊𝖙

I WAS FINALLY IN NEW YORK AGAIN, sitting in my favorite restaurant, eating my favorite meal. Del & Richie's idea of a vegetarian sub was so greasy and stuffed it always had me wonder if they were secretly feeding me one of their regular sandwiches and making me betray vegetarianism. The Loose Leaflet felt like a cheat meal in my kind of strict diet plan, but was I going to stop eating it? Fuck no.

I've ordered that sandwich, pickle fries, and homemade peach tea every time I'm in town since I first stumbled upon this place about two and a half years ago. Del and Richie both knew me by name, and if they knew we were coming, they made sure they had fixings saved for me(not that anyone really got the Loose Leaflet - it's a fucking deli).

Honestly, I felt like I didn't have many nice constants in my life. My job made me travel almost half of the year. If I wasn't traveling, my work kept me in a building with my coworkers hours on end so we could prepare to travel. The people I worked with were the only friends I could make since our schedules were too complicated for others to accommodate. The apartment I rent ends up collecting dust since I'm almost never there anymore. I loved my job, I truly did, but sometimes I wished I could have something just a little bit normal.

That's why I consider eating a very suspiciously unhealthy vegetarian sub sandwich by myself in NYC was my normal.

Until I was interrupted.

"Wait, that's the Loose Leaflet? I see why they call it that," I heard a male voice say from not too far away from me. I always sat in the 3rd barstool closest to the entrance so I always overheard what meats and cheeses customers would choose and employees making jokes about said customers' choices in meats and cheeses. Besides taking my order and the occasional greetings and life updates from the owners, no one really talked to me.

But lunch rush was over and I was not only the only one sitting at the counter where the voice came from, but I was also definitely the only one eating the Loose Leaflet. Del was at the front today, his ever so loud voice answered the man's question.

"Absolutely! It's not a favorite, but we gotta make sure everybody can eat here. But it's her favorite, she gets it every time she comes in, right Autumn?" They were definitely talking about me. Mid-chew, I looked up from my meal wide-eyed and prayed to any and everyone above that I didn't have anything on my face. Loose Leaflet is definitely known for excess shredded lettuce. Sandwiches from here were messy in general.

The guy Del was talking to was handsome as hell. He was a few inches taller than me, looked to have a lanky body, and was pretty pale. He was definitely in the awkward stages of growing his hair out, but the natural waves he had made it work. His face was the most angular thing I've ever seen, but his dark brown curls softened those features out in a way.But nothing could soften the stare he had in his green eyes or the smile growing on his lips at the sight of me. He looked familiar somehow, but I've also never come into contact with a guy like him.

All I could give was a close-lipped smile and a nod. My skin was thankfully dark enough that neither of them could see the burning I was feeling on my cheeks. If I knew I was going to see a guy like that when I was getting ready, I wouldn't have worn some old athletic leggings and an old college sweatshirt my coworker gave me after he dropped out of said college(thanks, Riley).

He glanced at my half-annihilated food again, at me, then back at Del. "I guess I'll have what she's having." When he turned his body completely away from me to probably pay for his meal, I sighed in relief and thought I was in the clear to go back to my own.