Not Another Broken Doll

Chapter 2

“You’re hopeless” Matthias muttered and threw a towel at Chris to bring him back to Earth. “Talk to her one of these days”

“One of these days I will, Matthias, you know it” he said as he carried on preparing the coffee orders.

“Yes, one of these days hell will freeze over too” his friend answered.

Chris pretended not to hear him. Matthias could not possibly understand what was going on in his mind. After all, he was a professional playboy. Chris, on the other hand, he had never met anyone who would distract him so badly from his priorities. For the record, these were his sister’s wellbeing and education, the business, staying the hell away from his paternal relatives, and making sure Matthias didn’t make any stupid decisions that would cost him dearly.

Chris and Matthias had met in school. Matthias was born into a Nigerian family and growing up he faced a fair deal of drama because of the colour of his skin. Chris met him the second day of school, after some boys made fun of him. Chris got into trouble with the principal for beating those boys up, and his parents weren’t impressed either, though his father later confessed he was secretly proud he had stood up for someone in need. Since that day, they had been practically brothers. But then, at age eighteen, Chris became his sister’s guardian and things got suddenly serious. He opened the café after culinary school, and Matthias decided to help him run it. Matthias was never a great cook, but he knew about running business. It was his superpower. That allowed Chris to be in the back doing what he loved and not having to worry too much about what was going on in the other side of the counter.

That was until one afternoon Matthias had to go home early because someone had tried to get into his apartment. Chris had to man the entire place, and then the single most distracting thing in his entire life came in through the door.

She was definitely Mediterranean, with wavy brown hair and a voice that got him by surprise. She had no accent speaking in German, but he could tell by the way she moved that she was not from around there. She had light hazel eyes, which were stained by a practically imperceptible darkness. This slight hint caught Chris’s attention like nothing else ever had. He needed to know her, and he knew she was no princess looking for a prince, so why would he fall for that?

He made it a point to always be around when she walked in with her friends. He knew one day he’d be brave enough to talk to her outside of the café, once responsibilities wouldn’t be so heavy on his shoulders. He was an introvert and gathering up the bravery would take him some time.

Matthias laughed at him from the first day this came to his attention, almost five months ago now. He had actually lost all hopes of his old friend actually ever making a move, but he did enjoy teasing him about it. He was not going to let that go that day at all.

“So… you know her name now” He asked once the café calmed down and they could have a bit of a break.

“What?” Chris lifted his eyes from his phone.

“She’s called Ruth, didn’t you hear that girl with the bracelets?”

“Ah, yes. I think I’ll stick to Frau Spain for a little longer though. It’s not like she’s introduced herself” He said as he carried on texting. Katrina’s name appeared on the screen. Matthias raised an eyebrow. Katrina reaching out was hardly ever good news to her brother.

“In any case that’s a development after… five months” Matthias teased. Chris looked at him.

“I need to go. Can you stay for a bit? Kat is here for a few hours before she heads back to Berlin” his voice made it clear there was no time for puns. “I might need you to bail me out of jail later if that i***t she has for a boyfriend broke her heart again”

“Sure, go on”. Chris did not wait to hear the last word and he was out on his way to the train station. “For god’s sake, Kat, you’ll be the end of me one day” Matthias thought out loud.