Falling at a Coffee Shop Part II
Been quite a while since I've written anything, but I really wanted to try and move the story along between Jay and Wes. I hope to write a bit more often from now on, so hopefully something serious can happen :3
Coffee Shop 2: Gotcha
"What's that old rule again," Wes thought as he stared blankly at the plain white ceiling, "I think it's wait three days, or maybe a week?" Wes absentmindedly toyed with his phone, flipping and spinning it around in his paw. "I don't wanna wait so that he'd totally forget about me," Wes continued, "but too short and I'd probably look crazy or obsessive." Truth be told though, Wes was being obsessive. Since the conversation with Jay, he found himself unable to think about nearly anything else. It was now Monday afternoon, so it had been a little more than two days since that morning in the coffee shop. While in class earlier that day, Wes' mind raced with thoughts of, "What if I look like an idiot? But, what if we really hit it off or something?" His mind would roam further, "He has such an amazing smile," he blushed thinking about Jay, "I wonder what he looks like nak... no... no, don't be like that." Unconsciously, Wes shook his head clearing those thoughts from his mind. His attention would snap to only momentarily during his lecture periods, and he would scan the room seeing if anyone noticed his constant daydreaming. Luckily for him, no one had seemed to notice. These thoughts continued to fill his mind up until now as he lay on his bed, his mind still wrestling with the distractions.
"Just forget about it," Wes tossed his phone to the side as his mind moved to thoughts about all he had to do this week. Since Wes' constant distractions had plagued his mind for the entire weekend, he had fallen a bit behind in his work. His head pounded from thinking about how much he had to do tonight. Now that he thought about it though, the headache was probably from skipping his normal coffee ritual as he was too nervous about running into Jay. Regardless, Wes knew he had to get busy as he quickly popped out of bed. Grabbing his phone and bag, Wes headed for the door, leaving his apartment as he walked down the hallway toward the exit. Pushing through the exit door, Wes was immediately greeted with the needle-like chill of cold rain drops hitting the fur not covered by his clothing. "Great," Wes sighed deeply as he quickly pondered going back to his room. He grimaced as he knew he wouldn't get any work done in his apartment, and even worse, that he didn't have an umbrella to grab. Wes let out one more discouraged sigh, but then started to walk towards campus. After a few steps, Wes heard a door from a nearby apartment building shut hurriedly. He chuckled as he thought that maybe someone was behind in their work just like him.
Wes continued down the sidewalk, but picked up his pace as heavy gusts of wind chilled him to the bone. Wes's body tightened and scrunched up as he did his best to keep his neck or anything warm against the miserable conditions. Despite his increased pace, Wes was forced to stop at an intersection as cars filed past on the busy street. Shivering at the corner and with his eyes fixed on the ground, Wes could hear someone pad up next to him, and the cold sting of falling rain drops abruptly stopped. Looking up, Wes saw that an umbrella was now shielding him from the rain. He smiled weakly. A familiar voice filled Wes' ears, "Good afternoon." Wes looked down from the umbrella; his gaze met by Jay's smiling face. Dumbfounded, Wes simply stared until Jay motioned for the two of them to walk as the traffic had finally cleared. Neither of the two spoke as they crossed the street, and only the sound of foot paws on wet concrete could be heard.
Jay broke the silence, "How have ya been? Haven't seen ya around, still been getting your morning fix," he chuckled. However, this only served to remind Wes of the dull throbbing headache he suffered all day now. Wes chuckled, and quickly lied, "No, just been really busy, I guess?" A weak and sad smile covered Wes' face. Jay looked, smiling right at Wes, "Ah, yea that's understandable," Jay turned to face down the path, "School is school after all." The painful silence resumed as the two continued down the sidewalk.
Wes' mind raced as he tried to find some other excuse to give, or at least something to break the silence. His shoulders drooped as he only managed to utter a distant, "I'm sorry." Jay turned and looked inquisitively at Wes, "Um... it's okay," he answered questioningly. Wes began to rub the back of his neck nervously as he felt shame and embarrassment flood his cheeks with red. "I-I mean I'm sorry I haven't called o-or anything," Wes spoke with his eyes fixed on the ground. Jay chuckled sweetly, "Oh! No worries at all! Like ya said, you've been busy. But now I can't help but think that you are actually interested in more than just buying coffee from me." Jay chuckled and nudged Wes teasingly. Wes hid his face from a mixture of embarrassment, but moreso to hide the shame he felt from Jay accepting his lie.
Looking ahead Jay spoke, "If you want, I could be the one under the pressure to call?" He turned and looked at Wes; his genuine smile plastered on his face. "O-okay," Wes trembled. "Here," Jay says as he handed Wes his umbrella and reached into his pockets, fishing out his phone. "Hmmm?" Jay hummed teasingly. Wes smiled quickly, but brightly as he rattled off his number. "Gotcha!" Jay smiled and winked teasingly as the two approached another intersection. Jay's strange choice of words rang in Wes' head. A simple "thank you" would have seemed at least a little less weird then "gotcha."
Breaking Wes' train of thought, Jay asked, "I'm guessing you're heading to campus?" "Yea, still a little bit busy I guess," Wes responded with a little more vigor in his voice than earlier as his tail swayed gently from side to side. "Well, I'm headed to the shop, so I hope to be seein ya," Jay smiled as he began to part around the corner of a building. Jay walked a short distance before turning around saying, "I've got the third shift this evening, so I'll be closing the place down. I wouldn't mind it if you swung by for a chat though." That same sweet happy smile still spread across his face. Wes fumbled with his words as nervousness took hold again. At least he didn't have anything to allow for his annoying tapping habit at the moment. "I-I dunno, kinda depends," Wes spoke shyly. Jay smiled as he turned his head waving his hands dismissively, "Hey no worries at all. Offer's open if all goes well, but..." Jay pointed at Wes' paw, "I'd like to get my umbrella back sometime." Wes shut his eyes tightly, grimacing at the spot he is now in. Wes peeled an eye open slowly just to catch sight of Jay walking away, clearly giggling to himself. Jay's strange choice of words from earlier ring once again in Wes' head.
"Gotcha..."