Chance Encounter (5)

Devin sighed as he looked at the girl in front of him as she looked around the store to check if anyone was there. Ever since the rumors that spread several months ago, he couldn't help but feel guilty.

It was his fault that his employees weren't strict enough on the no cell phone policy and allowed something like that to happen. If he hadn't been so careless, she may not of had to suffer such an injustice.

Knowing he couldn't sit there for too long because he had to go back to work, he put his hand on her shoulder and shook her gently to get her attention.

"So Aria, what can I get you?"

"I just want my usual." Aria smiled at him and got a grin in return as he stood up.

"Right. Don't know why I even ask."

As she sat there waiting, she heard a ding from her phone and checked what it was. Seeing that it was the Dean again, she opened the message to read it.

'Aria, where are you?'

'I'm at the Monocled Rabbit, I'll be back at my dorm later.'

'Okay, don't forget that you'll have to tell your new roommate about her schedule and where everything is.'

'I know, Dean Maple.'

'Good.'

After setting her phone down, Aria watched the cars drive along the street. She wondered what it felt like to drive, if it would feel as limitless as it looks.

While she was watching the cars she saw someone weave through the cars on a motorcycle and followed him with her eyes until he disappeared around the corner. Even though all she saw was a glimpse of his body, she couldn't shake the image from her mind.

It was like a video on repeat, him shooting down the street over and over.

Several moments later, Devin walked back up to the booth with her hot chocolate and coffee cake and placed them down in front of her.

The smell of the food made her smile, and she set to taking her time while enjoying every single taste. Despite frequenting the cafe she only ordered her usual once a week, the other times she went she simply ordered a coffee.

When he'd first offered her her usual, she had expected Devin to bring her out a coffee because that was what she ordered most of the times she went. To her shock, he had brought her the hot chocolate and coffee cake and smiled at her like he knew a secret.

Almost a month of asking insistently later, he had revealed to her that he called it her usual because whenever she came in and got it, she smiled more and clearly enjoyed it while when she got a coffee she looked like she hated it. She had asked him why he paid enough attention to her to notice that and his explanation was what had made her keep coming here over all other options. Devin had simply smiled at her and said that paying that much attention to customers was just the first step of his success.

Even though it was an ordinary response, it seemed extraordinary to her, because her entire life she had seen most people simply give all the work to their employees and relax. His answer had shown her his care for his customers and made her want to support people like him instead of the other cafes she had tried since.

As she was nearing the end of her coffee cake, Devin walked over and sat down across from her again.

"Don't you have work?"

"The Monocled Rabbit closed 5 minutes ago."

"Oh." After replying, she took another sip of her hot chocolate and looked around.

"You know, most people would say it's polite offer to leave after the owner came over to tell them the store was close."

"You want me to leave?"

"No, no. I consider you a friend at this point."

"Me too." Aria put down her empty mug and stood up, getting ready to leave.

"I know something's wrong, don't leave me worried like this."

She sighed and sat back down across from him and clutched her hands.

"I'm getting a new roommate."

"In the second to last month of the school year?"

"The dean told me she's from a really rich family and that they made an exception."

"You'll be fine, even if she's a monster you only have to deal with her for a little bit."

"Yeah... I guess. Thanks Dev. Having someone to talk to is so nice."

The moment she finished speaking, he pulled her into a hug and then spun her around and pushed her out the door, waving at her. Aria waved back and smiled to herself thinking about how much better things have gotten over the past couple months.