Rockstar Romance

SIX

I wake up way ahead of time and my heart is beating at super speed right away. It's crazy how your whole life can be turned around in less than 24 hours. I jump out of bed.

Today I take the time to pick out a nice, clean outfit from my closet: a short faded jean skirt over black tights and a hot pink sweater that will go nicely with the pink and white apron I'm gonna be wearing when he sees me later at the Parlor. I pick out a black and pink Frocks pin and attach it to my sweater. Then I remember I don't want him to see me as a 'fangirl' and quickly put the pin back into its drawer.

I do my hair, put some earrings in (small pink globes with glitter on them) and contemplate putting on some light makeup but decide against it. He liked me yesterday when I was not wearing any makeup and apparently he watched me quite closely. If I put makeup on today he will notice, and I don't want to come across as 'trying to hard'. I grab my lipgloss on the way out though. Since he already showed interest in my lips, I will do my best to keep it that way.

Commuting to the mall is easy today. It's Sunday, so the subway is pretty much empty. I'm not crazy about Sunday shifts. Most stores in the mall are closed anyway, only the drugstores and food court are open, and the few customers that do drop in usually do so in the afternoon. So it can be very boring and a seven hour shift easily feels twice as long.

Nevertheless, today I am energized, giddy and excited. I get to work half an hour early, put on my apron, fix my hair in the mirror and apply a genereous amount of lipgloss. I store it in my apron, just in case.

I use the extra time to wipe down all my countertops and utensils and make sure everything looks perfectly in order. Then, following a spontaneous idea, I put some fresh creme donuts on a paper tray and bag them up. I grab a marker and write 'for Lucas – with extra powdered sugar' all across the bag. After a second of hesitation, I add a wonky little heart for good measure. I take a deep breath because my heart just started beating faster again. I'm gonna see him any minute now!

When the giant pink diner style wall clock jumps to 9:00 am, I am ready behind my counter, on tiptoes, scanning the food court for a tall figure with messy brown hair.

I realize I may be in for a wait. Of course I checked the band's official schedule last night, but they didn't have any public events listed. But he seemed to be off to rehearsal yesterday, and I have no idea how long these would take on a Saturday. He probably went to bed late, him being a rock star and all. I wonder if he may come towards the end of my shift so we can hang out longer. My heart almost jumps out of my chest.

10:00 am passes without any major events. I sell a couple of coffees and cupcakes.

At 11:15, Elton stops by to get coffee for himself and Mrs Lee.

„Hi Bea“ he smiles at me. „You look very nice today!“

I blush slightly and beam at him „Thank you Elton! It's a beautiful day!“ I get their coffees ready and pack them an extra bag of goodies on the house that probably won't sell today anyways.

„Wow, thanks!“ he looks at me gratefully. I don't know him well, but I'm just guessing he faces some of the same struggles as me and doesn't say no to free food.

„I'll bring you some fried noodles later if you want. You like the chicken ones, right?“

„Oh that's super nice of you, but it's not necessary! I have a date later!“ I burst out without thinking about it.

He seems genuinely happy for me „Oh, that sounds great! It's an awesome day for a romantic walk in the park or something. Spring is here, right?“ He winks at me and strolls back towards the vietnamese place where Mrs Lee is already waiting for her coffee.

Me and my big mouth! But I hope my accidental prophecy will come true!

12:00 and 1:00 pm pass. At 2:30, Elton and Mrs Lee close down the shop. To them it's not worth staying open for Sunday night business. „Have a good night, and good luck on your date!“ Elton shouts over to me as he leaves.

At the Pastry Parlor, business starts picking up a little. There are a few moms and grannys who are either too lazy or too busy to bake for their families and guests, so they regularly come by on Sundays to pick up baked goods from the Parlor. Another two hours pass and my boss comes in to take over the last few hours of the day and check our weekly orders. I don't know what to do. Ususally I'd get out as quickly as possible on a Sunday, but today I don't want to. Obviously. I don't want to miss Lucas. He said he was coming, right? I suddenly remembered the question mark he put after 'See you tomorrow?' Maybe it wasn't meant as a polite invite, maybe he meant it like 'I might or might not stop by'? My heart drops.

When my boss asks if I would mind staying an extra hour, I gladly agree, but disappointment has started to make its way into my heart.

It's 6:00 pm.

One hour until the mall closes down.

I have cleaned and prepared everything there is to clean and prepare. There literally is nothing left for me to do. My boss pops his head out of the back room. „Bea, thank you so much for staying the extra time, and thanks for covering for Mel! Take whatever you want from the shelves, I'm taking whatever is left to the shelter later.“

I don't tell him I literally begged Meg for the shift. I grab a paper bag and wrap half a loaf of my favorite artisan bread, and two whole wheat rolls. Then I remember the bag for Lucas and take it with me also. Maybe I'll still bump into him on my way out?

I find a seat at the far end of the food court, and sit down in a way that allows me to keep an eye on the Parlor. He might still show up, right?

I wait with a heavy heart. I don't understand why he flirts with me like he did, basically asks me out and then doesn't show. Maybe I was right after all. Maybe he only realized later that he really doesn't find me interesting at all. Maybe he really just liked the donuts.

Then another thought hits me: If they had a long day of rehearsal yesterday, the musicians probably went out for some drinks afterwards, right? What if he met someone else? Some fancy beautiful barbie doll girl that is a far better match for him than dull old me?

„Attention all shoppers. Attention all shoppers.“ The mall announcement wakes me from my miserable thoughts. I check my phone: Ten minutes until the mall closes. I pick up my stuff and slowly make my way outside. It really is a warm spring day, so I spend 15 more minutes on a bench in front of the mall. When security finally shutters the front entrance, I give up and make my way home.

My thoughts are all over the place. I don't understand why Lucas didn't show. What if something happened to him? What if something came up and he couldn't make it? What if he's coming to the Parlor tomorrow and I won't be there because I'm at College?? Panicky, I reach for my phone, but then I stop myself. No, no way, I am not missing out on school for the slim chance of him coming in on a Monday. It's bad enough I missed a full day of studying today, even though I can really use the extra cash. I have an exam coming up on Wednesday and I had planned on going through most of my notes for it today. Now I'm gonna have two very late nights tomorrow and Tuesday, trying to catch up on everything. It would have been well worth it if I had gotten to see Lucas again. But things being as they are, I feel cheated.

When I get home I store the bread and donuts in my little pantry. I take out my earrings and change into some more comfortable clothes. With a deep sigh, I sit down at my table. My thoughts have been on a sickening carousel ride for the past few hours and I decide it stops now. I take a quick shower, have some fresh bread with cheese and go to bed early. -Tomorrow is gonna be a new day!

Watson cuddles up on the bed with me. He likes to sleep close to my face and I let him. His warm, purring presence is comforting and takes away some of my loneliness.