I got up and walked out of the apartment. I walked around the campus for a while. I saw lots of couples, some in love others in serious lust.
But they were all happy. How long had it been since I had been seriously happy like that? I had been happy with Justin, but something had always been off. Lately, I had begun to think of his as a friend more than a boyfriend.
I loved him, but I wasn't in love with him. And that sucked. With a shock, I realized that I had realized that I wasn't in love with him around the same time that I had bumped into John at the nightclub. Oh, shit I was not going to fall for John again. I made that mistake many times.
I was not going to fall in love with him now or ever. I realized that I needed a sign. I wasn't a religious person in life, but now more than anything I just wanted to know what life was going to get better or worse.
Was that too much to ask for? I walked into a small of campus café, still going over my options about what to do about Justin, John, and life in general. I was shown to a seat, which bought me out of my daydream. The café was small and homey. All the people working there looked genuinely happy, so did the customers.
Well, except one guy. He was sitting on the far corner of the café looking right at me. I pulled my jacket closer to me and was relieved when the waitress made her way over. "Hi darl, how can I help you?" she asked kindly "Um, can I get a caramel latte and a chicken and salad sandwich please?" I replied quietly.
The guy in the corner was still looking my way. His eyes were dark brown, looking almost black eyes. His clothes were‟t out of the ordinary but they seemed dark and ominous. To the naked eye, he looked just like a guy who had a bad day at work. To me… he was giving me the creeps.
"honey? You okay?" the waitress asked concerned. I looked up surprised; I thought that she had left. "Yeah, I am fine," I said with false cheer.
"Ok," she said slowly, "if you need anything just give me a call ok?" I smiled and nodded at her and she left to go get my lunch. I pretended to read the paper that had been put in front of me, but secretly I was looking at him out the corner of my eye. He was still looking.
I felt that feeling of dread and thought about getting the hell out of there. My mind was still having an internal battle with itself when the waitress came back with my latte and sandwich. "Here you go love," she said happily
"Thanks," I said, or I croaked. I was surprised by my voice. I smiled at the waitress when I realized that she was still there. She sat down opposite me and called that she was taking a ten-minute break.
"Okay. You aren't ok! You need someone to talk to. What‟s going on?" she asked briskly "Um, who are you?" I asked incredulously "Oh, yeah! Sorry I am Layla Rose ."
She said "Look, Layla, I don‟t want to be rude but I am fine. Can we leave it at that?" She looked at me considering, "Yeah, ok. But I own this café so I am here anytime you want to talk about it".