French

3

"Adalie." Mia says breathlessly while gripping my arm tightly. 

Mia ended up spending the night and by the time we got to sleep, we barely managed to get four hours of sleep. Mia crept out early this morning to open the café, and by the time I dragged myself out of bed I was running awfully late.

Now as I race into the café Mia has cornered me in lightening speed.

"What? What's wrong?" I say worriedly.

"Nothing." She says dismissively. "Look over there." She tilts her head subtly.

I glance around the room. "What?" There's nothing out of the ordinary.

She looks pointedly at one of the tables. I follow her gaze to see a guy sitting at the table she's looking at.

"What? It's just a guy." I say impatiently.

She rolls her eyes at me. "Go walk around his table and look at his face. I swear he's the hottest guy I've ever seen in my life."

This is what she ran up to me for? A hot guy?

"Don't be silly Mia. I'll look at him when I take him his bill."

She looks ready to protest but I cut her off. "No. Now go serve customers, this is a business not some place to ogle at hot guys." I say firmly but not unkindly.

She sighs dejectedly. "Fine."

I shake my head at her fan girl ways.

I get to work, seeing as it's mid morning and the early commuters have passed and the lunch time rush will only start later, I take the quiet time to catch up on some admin.

I go sit at one of the tables in the corner so that I can still keep an eye on the café.

About an hour later the café starts filling up again so I wrap up my paper work and get to helping with the customers.

I notice that the supposedly "hot" guy is still here. I may as well look I think before walking over to the table.

"Can I get you anything else sir?" I ask the mystery man whose face is concealed by a newspaper.

When the guy looks up I almost gasp in shock. He's probably one of the best looking guys I've ever seen. Definitely top 10.

He's got gorgeous hazelly brown eyes and wavy pitch black hair pushed up into a quiff.

His jaw is chiseled and he has light stubble scattered across his face. Even though he's sitting down I can tell he's tall and well built from the look of his arms and shoulders. He's probably around my age or a little older, but I can't be sure.

I can't help the fleeting thought that crosses my mind, that while he's wildly good looking, I'd still be inclined to choose Atticus over him.

He flashes me a charming smile and says, "no, thank you, I've been here all day. Just the bill please."

I nod and hurry away, feeling his eyes follow me away from the table.

Mia nudges me quickly. "He staring at you." She whispers.

I keep silent and prepare his bill. I take a deep breath before walking back over to him.

He pays and I start saying, "thank you, have a good day sir-"

"Oh no, please do not call me sir, I'm way too young for that." He cuts me off laughing.

I smile at him. "Sorry."

He shakes his head. "That's alright. What's your name darling?"

I blush at the nickname, no ones ever called me darling. 

"Adalie." I say, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear.

He smile once more and stands up, extending a hand. "I'm James." My suspicions were right, he is tall. 

We stand in silence for a moment before I clear my throat. "It's nice to meet you, I've really got to get back to work though.."

He takes this as his cue to leave. "I'll see you around Adalie."

I know Mia is watching me so I keep my face carefully blank and go to help other customers.

It hits me then that everything I observed about James, I compared to Atticus. I shouldn't have done that. James is one of the best looking guys I've ever seen and he seemed mildly interested in me, I can't be so picky. I resolve that if James comes around again and shows some interest in me that I will be friendlier. Besides, I met Atticus once... Who knows if I'll ever even see him again.

Still... he isn't Atticus. And it's obvious that that's who you want, a snarky voice pipes up in my head. 

The day drags on after that. Customers come and go. Mia chats to me. My mom calls.

I have been watching the clock all day since James left, waiting to be able to go home. Everything was boring after that interesting encounter.

"Hello." A deep voice says from behind me, as I am making a coffee behind the counter.

I freeze. That voice is one I've been thinking about for the last few days non stop.

Mia looks confusedly between the two of us, the slice of cake she was just about to put on a plate held suspended above it.

I turns around slowly to face Atticus, who has a gorgeous smile on his face.

Seeing him in daylight, he's even better looking that I remember. Those eyes.

"Uh, hi. What can I get you?" I say, keeping my voice level.

He looks into my eyes. "Adalie."

I struggle to keep my face blank. The way my name rolls off his tongue gives me shivers.

"Atticus is it?" I say, as if I could forget his name.

He smirks. "Yeah. How lovely to see you again."

I smile, almost getting distracted, before asking again. "What can I do for you?"

He looks at the menu. "I'll get a tall latte and a blueberry muffin to go please. Oh, and your number." He adds cheekily at the end.

I roll my eyes. "Nice try, a latte and a blueberry muffin." I call to Mia who's still looking between us as if she didn't know I could talk to an attractive male. I don't blame her, I didn't think I could either.

Atticus gazes at me with those electrifying eyes and I struggle not to fidget.

"So do you work here or is this your café?" He asks curiously.

"It's mine." I say shortly, trying to keep the pride I have for my café out of my voice.

He looks impressed and nods, leaving us in silence, which is surprisingly not awkward at all.

The impressed look on his face makes me feel warm and happy, and I realize his approval means a lot to me.

Before the silence can get awkward I let my copper hair fall forward to cover my face and get busy wiping the counters and tidying up.

"I couldn't help but notice your rather lovely accent, are you from France?" Atticus breaks the silence.

My face-still covered with my hair-heats up.

"Uh, yes, I'm from Paris." I say quietly and self consciously, now very aware of my accent.

Atticus laughs. "Don't be afraid to speak now love. And as much as your hair is very pretty, I'd much rather see your even prettier face."

I'm sure my face now resembles a tomato or something of the sort but I reluctantly lift my head and look at Atticus.

He smirks, but it isn't mean or anything, just hot honestly. "Much better Adalie."

Before I can speak Mia quickly slides the latte and muffin across the counter and dashes off. I finish the transaction and Atticus pays and takes his food.

"It was nice to see you again Adalie." He says smoothly.

"You too Atticus." I say softly.

I offer a small smile, realizing I've been kind of rude and quiet this whole time.

Atticus' face breaks into a flawless smile, making me really happy I smiled at him and brought that smile to his face.

"I'll be seeing you soon." He promises.

My heart warms at the thought.

"Okay." I say. I watch him walking away, so confidently.

I sigh and rest my arms on the counter. I cannot believe he appeared again so soon. And better looking than the first time, if that was even possible.

"What the hell Adalie, why didn't you tell me about that fine piece of meat?!"

I look up startled at Mia. I guess I should have told her the story, since nothing even remotely this interesting ever happens to me.

After finishing telling Mia the full story, she's staring at me with a creepy smile on her face.

"What?" I say, kinda creeped out.

"This is amazing! You're both so gorgeous and it's obvious you like each other! Ah, young love." She teases me.

I smile and slap her on the arm playfully. "I don't know. He seems very charming, I wouldn't be surprised if that's just how he acts normally with all girls." I say with a frown, really disliking the idea.

Mia looks uncertain. "I don't know. Maybe. He is very good looking so I'm sure he gets lots of attention from all females but to me, he really did seem interested in you."

"I wonder. Why me? I don't even act that interested around him." I ponder.

Mia looks very disapproving. "That's not very nice. He's hot! And if you want him to stick around, you're gonna have to start showing some interest soon or he'll get tired of chasing you, even though you are gorgeous."

We get back to work but Mia's words way on me. I do think he's handsome. He does seem nice. And maybe a bit interested in me. And he could be the adventure I've been longing for.

I decide to invite Mia over after work for some takeaways and Netflix. It's time I made a girl friend and Mia is definitely at the top of that very short list of possible candidates.

When we're settled in our sweatpants and happy tucked into our Chinese food on my couch, Mia starts telling me about her childhood and a past boyfriend, and it's actually really funny and interesting but my mind is constantly drawn back to Atticus.

I sigh.

"What's wrong? I can see something's bothering you." Mia asks gently.

"It's just Atticus. I can't stop thinking about him. I know I sound like a love sick puppy but there's genuinely something so interesting and mysterious about him. I want to get to know him." I say.

Mia looks pleased at my words and a sly grin takes over her features. "Don't worry Ads. When the time comes for you to sweep him off his feet, I have a plan."

I laugh at her. "Okay, whatever you say."

She looks intently at me. "In fact, we need to start getting you into the hang of going out and being social."

I don't know if I like where this is going...

"So," she says excitedly, "we're going out tomorrow night."

Well, this should be interesting..