The Crazy Kind

Chapter 1: Iris

Do you ever stop and ask yourself, "How the hell did I end up here?" You make just one little mistake somewhere, that you'd probably never notice until it's too late, and soon enough, you find yourself in some truly ridiculous situation, questioning how the hell something as mild and simple could lead to something as absurd as this. Honestly, it could be anything. Maybe you dropped a coin or two into some random drain and now you're a few cents short of paying your parking fee. Maybe you took a wrong step on the sidewalk and, oh dear, you've broken a bone or two on the tumble down. Maybe you spelled your passwords incorrectly when you were setting it. Whoops! Looks like your social media is dead to you. Or maybe, and I speak from experience, you screwed up the one job you had at your workplace.

The workplace, by the way, would be a small coffee shop on a mostly unnoticed and unused street. Not much, I know, but hey, gotta get money somehow, right? It's quite the shame, actually. Caleb, the owner, did a pretty great job making the place seem nice and welcoming. In fact, it's probably one of the better ones on the street, and yet, there's hardly any business. Today was no different. There were only two people there excluding anyone working there when I arrived. Behind the counter stood Caleb, bent over what looked like some new, state of the art coffee machine, apparently trying his best to figure out how to make it work. Upon hearing the sound of the wooden door closing, he looked up from his work, gently placing it on the marble counter like it was the most precious thing in the world. His gaze lingered for a few moments until finally, he waved me over to where he was working.

Had it been just a random person off the street, they would probably have been a little terrified. Okay, maybe more than a little. Gonna be honest, Caleb looked like the kind of guy you'd want to run away from if you thought he was pissed at you. Apart from the fact that he was a six foot three, two hundred pounds of muscle monster of a man, he also just had that face where you just couldn't quite figure out if he was ecstatic or infuriated. I'm lucky enough to have been working with him for a few months now. That's long enough to realize that while he could definitely be stern, especially on matters concerning his work, he was actually quite friendly and jovial.

I quickly made my way over to where he was still fiddling around with the machine. If there was one thing Caleb was truly terrible at, it was technology. That man couldn't find the power switch on anything if it had a note on it saying 'Press here for power'. After a few more attempts, he let out a sigh of defeat and turned around, holding the coffee machine high as if he were holding a chicken by the neck.

"Hey, kid. You know your way around devices like this, right?" He asked in a hushed tone. I guess he wasn't quite ready for the world to know his weakness in the field. Oh crap, I guess the secret's out anyway. Sorry, Caleb.

"Yeah. I suppose I do," I replied.

"Well, here's an idea. You deal with this while I go sort out some other issues in the back." Before I could say anything, he unceremoniously dropped it onto the counter with a resounding crash and headed off to one of the rooms in the back. All eyes in the room stole a glance in my direction due to the sudden noise. Great. Just great.

With nothing else to do, my undivided attention was focused on the coffee machine, if it could even still be called that. It had fallen apart on impact and now looked more like a pile of scrap with wires and buttons stuck out at odd angles. Yeah, this one may be a little too far gone. I gave it a shot regardless. Who knows, right? Maybe this mangled piece of junk could miraculously live to brew another day. The next hour or so of my day was spent trying to piece the busted machine back together. When I'm done, I examine the result of my efforts one last time. Yeah, it seemed about right. At least I think that's what it looked like. I didn't get a good glimpse at it before it met its untimely end. All that was left to do was hope it still worked.

The sound of the door creaking open brought my inspection of the machine to an end. My heart skipped a beat at the sight. In the doorway stood a rather attractive man in a dark leather motorcycle jacket nicely complimented by ripped, faded black jeans. Perhaps a smarter me would have realized that he was dressed like a bad boy who would bring nothing but trouble, but that part of my brain seemed to have stopped at that moment. I stared as he casually strode over to me, not even noticing when he finally came to a stop just across from me. He just stood there for a few seconds before clearing his throat and pulling me straight back down to reality.

"Are you just gonna stand there or are you going to take my order?" A smug grin spread across his face as he said it. Pompous bastard, wasn't he?

"Oh, I'm sorry," I could feel my face heating up as I stumbled over the words. Pompous or not, there was no denying that this man was pretty hot. "What can I get you?"

He let out a light chuckle at my awkwardness. Oh, that laugh. That heavenly, amazing laugh. It only made it so much easier to get lost in those dark eyes and chiseled face.

"Why don't you surprise me? Just make it quick, yeah? I'm in a bit of a hurry." That final statement was accompanied by a subtle but noticeable glance at the door like he expected something to happen. Nodding as I got to work, I decided to make some idle chit chat to pass the time.

"In a hurry, huh? What's the rush?" I questioned, only for his face to scrunch up in some unreadable emotion.

"I really don't see how it's any of your business, lady." He leaned in and met my gaze, stone cold serious as he said the words. By this point, the drink was fully prepared so I decided it was best to wrap up this conversation before he got more annoyed.

"You're right, it isn't. Anyway, here's your drink." Just as I said the words, I tripped over the cable powering Caleb's precious new coffee machine. Why was that there? That shouldn't have been there! My eyes widened as I watched the paper cup containing a burning hot beverage fly out of my hand, sail through the air before finally hitting the man's chest with a splash. Oh crap.