It was my day off, and I was heading back to work. I laughed at myself a little, shaking my head. Just couldn't stay away from this coffee shop, could I? Nope, I couldn't. Hood was pulled up, over my head, protecting my hair from the rain. It wasn't a cold day, but not warm either. The hot summer sun had been covered in a thick layer of black and purple clouds, the humidity this week finally breaking loose with this storm. The rain beat down hard and heavy, making moving outdoors very difficult without some form of wet weather gear. Hence the reason for my heavy, black tenchcoat with the hood pulled up. I didn't own an umbrella, why this was I had no idea, just never bought one. We never seem to need it in Rullen though, it's usually really nice weather, but then you can't have summer go on forever without a little bit of rain. I liked the rain really, it was soothing in a way. Cool and refreshing, everything got washed away with the rain, literally, the air was cleaned by the water.

The little coffee shop popped up at the corner, my pace quickened slightly, keen to get out of the rain. This stuff was ridiculously heavy, almost painful to stand in, and I was looking forward to sitting in the warm and reading my book. Corner-Of-Main was brillinat for that, always heated on less than warm days. They had a small area with comfy seats you could just go and relax in with a hot or cold drink. Very much what I wanted to do right now. Both Noah and my Dad had been called away for the week to do some big job out of the city, they were off plumbing somewhere. I hadn't got the chance to ask where they went to, but it didn't really matter so long as they came back. Under the cover of the roof, I sighed, smiling and shaking the hood back off my head. Light, thin hand pushed open the door, which made the bell on the inside sing. Made me smile even more, I'd gotten very used to that sound in the last few weeks. I loved my job, even if the boss was a bit of a sleeze.

I walked up to the counter, greeting Jake cheerfully. Jake was a really cool Latino guy, very easy to look at, but even better to joke around with. "Couldn't keep away from me, could you Red?" He said, grinning at me while he wiped the coffee grinds off the counter. I grinned back, shaking my head again, "Guilty," I replied, grinning. No, the actual reason for being here was the brilliant drinks. Maybe see Aiden...I slapped myself mentally. There was no point in even bothering to dream of him. I leaned against the customoers side of the counter, looking up at the chalkboard, reading over the selection of drinks, feeling a little uninspired. "What can I get you, Red?" Jake asked, walking over and positioning himself at the till, he had used the nickname he had given me, my bright hair had always made him laugh. "Umm...Could you please...make me a chai latte?""Oh, aren't we adventurous today?"
I laughed and punched him playfully, "Shut up, it's my comfort drink, doesn't make my all hyper like your coffee does," I said, pulling my wallet out. I tossed my coins on the counter, "I'll be sitting over there," I said, pointing over to my favourite little chair set up. Two chairs sitting opposite each other, a small, square coffee table between them, the latest gossip magazines stacked in the little inbuilt shelf under the table. Jake nodded, moving around behind the counter, getting the stuff ready. "Won't be too long, hun."

I pulled the tench coat off before I sat down, dropping in over the back of the other chair. When I was seated, I pulled out a book. It was called The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, a sad book, but very, very good. Normally I read more fantasy stuff, but this had me captured. I found it in the bookshelf at home yesterday, and I was completely snagged. Made me angry and sad, but happy because it's such a genius novel. I flicked it open to the page I had marked and began reading, only looking up to nod at Jake when he set the Chai on the little coffee table infront of me. From here I could clearly see the door over the top of my book, and pretty much the rest of the cafe', it was a good perch. I engrossed myself in the book, leaning forward to pick up my Chai and take a sip. Someone said my name and I jumped, surprised, luckily for me I spilt nothing on my white shirt, that coul have been annoying. I looked up, my book resting against my thigh, my legs all tucked up uner me.

I was just beginning to really get into it, I was up to the part where Susie was in the room with her dad, watching him greive, because she had already died of course. She was trying to give him some sign to show him that she was there with him, trying to make a dead flower on the table beside him come back to life. The curse of being dead apparently, the flower in her world bloomed, but the one in her father's stayed dead. Ultimately a very sad part of the book, desperate, so filled with love. My face twisted, expression sorrowful, when you started reading a book, you got attachted to the characters. Possibly not a god idea, falling in love with fictional characters could be very unhealthy, oh well! The chai was in my hand, I lifted it to my mkouth, about to take a sip when someone said my name, I jumped, instinctively jerking the cup away from my body so the chai didn't slop all over me. It must've been my lucky day, not a drop on my white shirt. The rusty brown skirt I wore was also fortunate today, remaining unstained by my drink. It was a flowly summer skirt, gypsy like, one of my favourites. Head looked up to the face who had addressed me, I smiled.

Aiden! How funny to see him here, how very nice. Brow cocked in an amused way as I studied his drenched clothes. I've said it a milion times before, but I really like Aiden, he's a nice guy, genuine. Quiet and a bit secretive, but then he probably has a good reason for it. I'm not really the nosy type, and I probably don't need to hear what secrets he's keeping anyway, some stuff, like family stuff, is too personal to share with others. It kills me when people are constantly asking questions, insisting that getting it all out is the best way. Yes, sometimes it is, but often it depends on who is listening and the person telling the secret. I like to tell people my thoughts, I like people a lot, but I also understand that everyone has preferences. Noah, for example, is more quiet than I am, if somethings bothering him, he keeps quiet about it, so I tell him to write it down and burn the paper he wrote on. That way no one knows the secret, but it's off your chest. What he said took me a second to recall, I grinned, nodding. "Yup, I just can't stay away from this place. You don't seem to be able to either though, so it's okay." I remained light and warm, resting the cup on my knee, setting the book down on the coffee table.

"You're looking a tad damp, forget your brolly?" I asked, laughing. Yeah, he looked like a drowned rat, it was cute, and funny to see. I'd hate to be in that position, I'd have to go home to change clothes or something, I couldn't stand being soaked, I'd get cold and annoyed. Yes! I to get annoyed. It watched him for a moment, head cocked slightly, should I invite him to sit with me? Get him a drink? Maybe convert him to chai latte's? Well, it was worth a shot, and even ifhe said no, he wouldn't be nasty about it. Not that that kind of stuff bothered me anyway, getting shut down and embarrassed were things I could brush of with no trouble at all. "You wanna join me? I was just reading, but it's about to make me cry so I honestly don't mind," I said, voice encouraging.