Now that the pleasant thoughts have escaped her mind her reality of being a cafe girl sunk back in. "Hey Lilith, you know you get paid to work?" Casey makes a comment only Lilith can feel the sarcasm from.
Lilith let out a deep sigh, grabbing the trays from Casey's outstretched hands. "They don't pay me enough to be here," she muttered under her breath, still trying to shake off the remnants of her daydream. The warmth of that mysterious stranger's touch had lingered a little too long, leaving her cheeks faintly flushed. She was grateful that the dim lighting of the cafe concealed most of it.
Casey, her best friend for years, raised an eyebrow at her, clearly noticing her half-hearted response. "Yeah, well, you could at least pretend to be awake while you're here," he teased, nudging her lightly with his elbow. "What's going on in that head of yours? Another fantasy about Mr. Tall, and Mysterious?"
Lilith rolled her eyes. Casey always seemed to know when her mind wandered off into romantic daydreams, something she had tried and clearly failed to keep from the world. "Maybe," she said with a sigh "But this time, he wasn't just some random guy. I swear, I've seen him before. I just... I can't place where."
Casey shook his head, his mouth curving into an amused grin. "You truly are hopeless too many rom-coms, That's your problem." He grabbed a dishcloth and started wiping down the counter, his casual demeanor contrasting with her distracted thoughts.
Lilith didn't respond right away. Instead, she took a long look around the cafe, letting the familiarity of the place settle over her. The booths, the warm glow of the hanging lights, the soft hum of chatter from the few patrons was a scene she knew all too well. But at the same time she never experienced it wasn't enough. She was meant for something or at least, someone she liked to think so.
"One day," she said, more to herself than to Casey, "I'll find this random man that appears every once in a while."
Casey chuckled, tossing the dishcloth into the sink. "You say that every day. Maybe one of these days you'll actually do something about it." He winked at her, clearly enjoying how easy it was to get under her skin.
Lilith shot him a look, but there was no real heat behind it. He had a point. She was always waiting, always dreaming, but she rarely took any action to change her routine. Still, something about today felt different. That dream, or whatever it was, had felt real, like the boundary between fantasy and reality had blurred for just a moment.