Vicious Romance

Chapter 4

I walk into Whole Foods, a gust of cool air hitting my face as the sliding doors open. I climb over the small grate that stands between me and the land of groceries, and I make my way down the small aisles, searching for the infamous coffee cart.

When Calvin originally pitched the idea of coming here for coffee, I laughed- not because I doubted his taste in coffee, but because I wasn't ready to officially start this assignment, and meet Noah. I didn't want to take a step into the store until I absolutely knew what I was doing.

Why didn't I memorize his schedule before I came here? Then I would've known whether or not I'd bump into him.

I'm so disorganized for this case, ugh. I barely know my plan of attack, let alone when I'm going to execute it. I need more time- something that seems to be rare in this case.

I really wish that this wasn't the place to come to for coffee- but life is all about taking risks, and starting this case unprepared, seems good- at least for the time being.

Wow. The lack of caffeine in my body makes me so reckless. I make a mental note to myself to order a coffee brewer, so I could make my own coffee, and not go through this kind of withdrawal again.

Walking through the fruit aisles, my fingers brush against the smooth, yet hard surfaces of the counters, outlining each indentation as I make my way to the back of the store. Satisfying.

I spot the large coffee cart in the corner of the store, and luckily there's no line tailing it.

I approach the cart, and patiently wait for the barista on the other side to look up from his phone to take my order.

Several seconds pass, but he doesn't look up yet. I begin tapping my foot, impatience taking over my body.

Nothing.

What was this guy doing?

I clear my throat.

Nothing.

I peer at his name tag that is almost hidden by his shoulder and see that his name is Phil.

I clear my throat once again, and call his name.

He looks up from his phone, and his empty eyes stare at me until he shakes his head and plasters a fake smile on his face.

"Sorry about that, what can I get you today?" Phil says as he shoves his phone in his pocket.

I smile sweetly at him, and tell him, "One coffee, please. Two pumps of hazelnut with some milk."

He stares at me in confusion for a moment, then proceeds with the order without objection.

As he struggles to find the right ingredients and machinery to brew the coffee, I take out my phone from my wristlet and begin scrolling through the pictures I took before, of the assignment file.

As I'm leaning on the cart, someone else comes to the cart and calls out to Phil.

"Phil, my man!" he exclaims, as I hear the loud clap sound emit from the direction. I don't bother looking up. It's probably a high five of some sort.

"I was wondering when you'd get here. You're late today," Phil responds, excitement barely showing in his voice.

"Sorry, sorry, I got caught up. Problems in paradise," he says with a laugh. I could feel the annoyance coming off from Phil before he said his next words.

"Whatever. You want your usual?" Phil asks as I hear him taking out a fresh set of coffee cups and lids.

"Yeah," the man responds.

The man and Phil continue their conversation regarding coffee and get sidetracked to talk about... whatever they're talking about. I could honestly care less about where their conversation was going to lead.

I peer up at Phil to see how he's handling my order, and just by the way his hands are moving, I could tell that this experiment is going to be a failure. He's doing it all wrong, ugh. He's too distracted.

I want to correct him, but at the same time, I don't want to come off as bossy.

Just ignore it Hally. Ignore it. You can't control everything that happens around you.

I divert my attention back to the screenshots on my phone, zooming here and there to retent something more about this case while hopefully figuring out why I'm being watched.

After what feels like forever, I hear Phil snapping lids on coffee cups, and calling out to me.

"Excuse me, ma'am, your order is ready," he says with uncertainty.

I look up from my phone and smile, as I mouth thank you to him as he places the coffee on the ledge that separates the two of us.

I open my wristlet to take out some cash to pay for the coffee as I hear Phil announcing that the man's order is ready. I hear him place the full cup on the ledge, next to my order.

I can already smell the caffeine. It's already getting to me. Hopefully, I'm underestimating Phil's barista skills. I need this to turn out well, I can't waste any more time searching for good coffee. And it would be nice to have two good coffee selling places around "home".

I finally pull out the cash and hand it over to Phil as I turn my neck to get a look at the man. I can't see his face because his back is to me, and I figure that he's probably getting some money to pay Phil.

He's wearing a plain white t-shirt, that is draped with a Whole Foods apron. His brown hair is messily spiked, and I could see the small tattoos on his arms move up and down as he scuffles through his pockets, trying to find something.

Wait.

Could it be?

No.

Just no.

It couldn't be him. It shouldn't be him. What were the odds? Other Whole Foods workers could shop at the local coffee cart, not just him. Right?

Oh please don't be him, don't be him, don't be him.

I'm not ready for this yet.

I take a deep breath in, as I take my coffee from the ledge, and hope that I can make a quick getaway so I don't have to face my new nightmare... if this man happens to be Noah.

My prays are ignored, and before I can move, I see the man turn abruptly from his spot, his elbow colliding with my coffee.

A small gasp leaves both of our mouths.

The liquid pours over my somewhat bare chest, and the only thing I can feel is heat. It burns too much. The smell of caffeine is no longer appealing but is suffocating as the smell creeps up to my nostrils.

"I'm so sorry! I'm such a mess, I didn't see you there!" the man lets out in worry.

I look up from my chest, and suddenly I hate my life and where it's led me to.

Because my nightmare has been brought to life.

The man that stands in front of me is the one and only, Noah Bailey.

Frick.

A/N: Yess, now things get interesting.

I love creating conflict in my writing 🥰

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