IF WE NEVER MET AGAIN

IF WE NEVER MET AGAIN Chapter 1 By the time Elena got off the train, it had already started raining. Not the heavy kind that made people run for shelter, just enough to leave the sidewalks wet and shining under the streetlights. The kind of rain that settled quietly into your coat and stayed there. She adjusted the strap of her bag and checked the time on her phone again. 6:41 p.m. Great. Marcus was going to be irritated. Not openly irritated, though. He never actually said much when she was late. He just had this way of looking at her that somehow made her feel guilty anyway. Elena shoved her phone back into her pocket and crossed the street quickly, keeping her head down against the cold wind. The café was only a minute away now. She could already picture the warmth inside. The smell of coffee beans. The soft music Marcus insisted made customers spend more money. Honestly, she needed the shift. Rent was due in less than two weeks, her university payment portal had sent her another warning email that morning, and her mother had called three times in one day pretending she “just wanted to check in.” Which usually meant: Do you need money? Because I don’t have any. Elena sighed quietly to herself. Her thoughts were so loud she almost walked directly into someone. “Oh... sorry.” She stepped back quickly, her shoulder brushing against a man standing near the corner outside the café. At first, she barely looked at him. Just another stranger in a dark coat standing in the rain. But then she noticed the coffee stain spreading slowly across his sleeve. Her stomach dropped. “Oh my God.” She looked up properly this time. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t even see you.” The man glanced once at his sleeve before looking back at her. “It’s fine.” His voice was calm. Almost too calm. Most people would’ve sounded at least slightly annoyed. “You sure?” Elena asked. “Because that definitely wasn’t cheap coffee.” That made something shift faintly in his expression. Not a smile exactly. Just something softer. “I’ll survive.” Elena let out a small breath through her nose, embarrassed. “Still. Sorry.” For a moment, neither of them moved. Rain tapped lightly against the pavement around them while people passed without paying attention. The man looked like he belonged somewhere quieter than this. Dark coat. Hands in his pockets. Hair damp from the weather. There was nothing dramatic about him, but something about the way he stood there made everyone else seem louder somehow. He noticed her staring and Elena immediately looked away. Right. Creepy. “You work there?” he asked after a moment, glancing toward the café behind her. Elena turned slightly. “Yeah.” “You’re late.” She looked back at him. “I know.” The corner of his mouth moved slightly this time. Definitely amusement. “I should go before my manager starts acting like I ruined his life,” she said. “That bad?” “You’ve never worked in customer service before, have you?” “No.” “That explains a lot.” Another pause. Strange. The conversation should’ve ended naturally by now, but it kept hanging there between them like neither of them knew how to leave it properly. Finally, Elena stepped backward toward the café door. “Well… sorry again.” “It’s okay.” She nodded once before pushing open the door. Warm air immediately hit her face. Marcus looked up from behind the counter the second she walked in. “You’re late.” “By one minute.” “Three.” Elena rolled her eyes slightly and tied her apron around her waist. “Nice to see you too.” “You’re covering Amelia’s section tonight.” “Of course I am.” Marcus pointed toward the tables near the windows. Elena grabbed a notepad and started toward them, already forcing herself into work mode. Smile. Orders. Repeat. Most evenings passed exactly the same way. People typing on laptops. Couples pretending not to argue. Students sitting too long after ordering one drink. Nothing surprising. Which was why seeing him again twenty minutes later felt weird enough to make her stop walking for a second. The man from outside. He was sitting alone near the window now, jacket folded over the back of his chair, one hand resting loosely against a coffee cup. Elena stared for half a second too long before forcing herself to move again. Okay. Fine. Coincidence. People came into cafés. That was normal. She walked over slowly. “What can I get for you?” His eyes lifted toward hers. Recognition appeared immediately. “You work fast,” he said. Elena frowned slightly. “What?” “You apologized outside and disappeared before I could answer properly.” “I said sorry twice.” “You still left quickly.” She blinked once. Was he always this direct? “Most people don’t continue conversations after being assaulted with coffee,” she replied. That actually made him smile a little this time. A real one. And annoyingly enough, it changed his entire face. It wasn’t dramatic or charming in an obvious way. It just made him seem suddenly more human. “I’ll keep that in mind.” Elena quickly looked down at her notepad before she could stare again. “So… what do you want?” “Whatever you recommend.” “That’s risky.” “I’ll survive.” There it was again. That calm tone like nothing really surprised him anymore. Elena wrote down the order anyway. “I’ll bring it over.” As she turned to leave, his voice stopped her. “Elena.” She looked back immediately, confused. Then realized he was reading her nametag. Right. “You never asked mine,” he said. Something about the way he said it made her oddly aware of the space between them. She shrugged lightly. “You never offered it.” A quiet pause. Then: “Adrian.” The name fit him too well somehow. Clean. Simple. Difficult to forget. Elena nodded once. “Well, Adrian, your coffee will be out in a minute.” She walked away before he could answer. Behind the counter, Amelia immediately noticed her expression. “What?” Elena looked up. “What do you mean, what?” “You have that face.” “What face?” “The one you make when a man is attractive and annoying at the same time.” Elena nearly dropped a spoon. “I do not have a face for that.” “You absolutely do.” “He’s just a customer.” Amelia glanced toward the window. Then back at Elena. “A very attractive customer.” Elena ignored her and focused on making the coffee instead. But annoyingly, she could still feel him sitting there. Not staring exactly. Just present. And somehow that was worse. By the end of her shift, the rain had stopped completely. The streets outside looked quieter now, washed silver under the lights. Elena stepped outside, exhausted, already thinking about going home and collapsing into bed. Then she noticed him again. Across the street. Standing beside a black car, one hand in his pocket. Adrian looked up the moment she walked out. Like he had been waiting without really waiting. Elena stopped without meaning to. For a second neither of them moved. Then he nodded once toward her. Not flirting. Not smiling. Just acknowledging her. And weirdly enough, that felt more intimate than if he’d tried to be charming. She probably should’ve kept walking. That would’ve made sense. But she didn’t. She just stood there, holding her bag tighter than necessary, watching him across the road like she was trying to figure out if she was imagining things or if he really had somehow become part of her entire day. And the annoying part? He was still looking at her like he had all the time in the world. Like she was the only thing happening on that street.