It was now mid-morning as the sun rose from the horizon with birds flapping their wings up in the air, gliding through the wind.
A young honey blond women was awakened by a faint ringing.

"'Awn?" she groggily called out, eyes still shut.

Her friend didn't reply which means she was in her own bedroom. The ringing continued on and She
let out a groan. Dragging herself out from the warm covers of her full sized bed, She blindly attempted to follow the trail of rings to find the hidden phone.

After a few seconds and many bumps into furniture, The honey blond managed to find her cell phone behind a few cushions with litters everywhere in the bedroom floor.

she pushed the 'Talk' button and mumbled, "Hello?"

From the opposite end of the line, a cheerful voice replied, "Hey Sere!"

Still half asleep, Serena was unable to recognize the voice. "Who's this?"

"Serena! How could you forget your best friend? I'm hurt!"

Serena 's eyes widened and the sleep was replaced by surprise. "Shauna? Is that you?"

"In the flesh!."

"How have you been? I haven't talked to you in ages!"

Shauna answered with a sigh. "Tell me about it. I'm so sorry. I've been busy with a small job to save up some money."

"Doing what?" Serena asked, lying back down on her bed.

"Well, I'd rather show you in person."

"In...person?"

Serena's voice took on an excited pitch.
"Yup! I'm comin' to Vanville to visit this afternoon!" Shauna said excitedly.

"This afternoon?" Serena spoke.

"Yes ma'am! Kaiwe has some work stuff to take care of for a few weeks so I decided to tag along for a bit. I would've called you earlier except it was all sort of last minute planning on my part."

"Wow!" Serena exclaimed.
She hadn't seen her childhood best friend since they graduated from their separate colleges last spring. As for Kaiwe, Serena had last seen him when he transferred out of her college during sophomore year.

"Where are you right now?" Serena asked.

"On the train ride. I begged Kaiwe to let me use his cell cause mine is bro- Hey! I'm not done yet!" Shauna suddenly yelled as her voice started to fade away. Serena listened as two voices argued back in the background.

"I'm not done talking you insignificant fool of a cousin!"

A grin spread over Serena's face.

"Well you're using up my minutes with your girly chatting!" a familiar male voice sounded.

Serena shook her head. They were just like brother and sister. A scuffle noise was heard before a voice returned. "Hello? Sere? I'll get back to you when we reach the city. My cousin is being annoying! Even at this age! See you soon! Bye!"

Before Serena could get a word in, a click was heard, ending the line.

Well, Serena thought, flipping off the phone.
Deciding not to return to bed, the young woman stood to stretch and begin her morning routine.

After eating breakfast, Serena stepped outside to take a little morning walk. She would have asked Dawn but her friend refused to give up the comforts of her sleepiness, and Serena didn't feel like playing tug-of-war today.

A slight breeze nips the back of Serena 's bare neck and she turned up the collar of her jacket. Stuffing her bare hands inside the pockets, Serena let her feet choose where to wander.

It wasn't long until the decision proved to take her to a local café, which was several blocks away from her house.
Serena slipped in and walked through the crowded people. Weekends were always busy and made finding an available seat extremely difficult.

Finally, her sea blue eyes landed on an empty chair and Serena attempted to quickly push through the people and grab the seat. However, Luck was not with her. Just as she was a few feet away, a male figure swooped down on it.

Great, Serena thought with a dark glare towards the stranger, not really looking at him. There was an empty seat on the opposite side of the small, round table, but Serena wasn't in the mood to chitchat with someone she didn't know.

She turned just as the man lifted a hand to remove his cap.

"Miss Serena?" a voice called out when her back was facing the man. In surprise, she whirled on her feet.

"Oh no."

The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them.
Grinning widely at her was none other than the face of Alvin Ketter! So he was the seat thief!

"Is that any way to greet a friend?" Alvin said in mock hurt.

Serena narrowed her eyes. "I'm sorry sir but you are my client. I do not know you well enough to consider you a friend."

"Ah," Alvin said, setting his cap down on the table. "That can easily be cured."

"Thanks, but no thanks. If you don't mind, I'd like to find myself a seat."

Alvin motioned to the one across from him. "You are welcome to join me."

"I'd rather not," Serena replied and started searching for another table with her eyes. Luck was definitely not with her this morning. "Guess I'll just have to leave," she muttered to herself but Alvin caught her words.

"As I said, you're always welcome to join me. Do you really hate me that much?"

With her body half turned away, Serena didn't know what to do next. She could sit across from him and enjoy a warm cup of coffee, or end up wandering around town. A deep sigh escaped her lips before Serena flopped down on the empty seat.

"You win."

Alvin grinned confidently. "I always do."

Before Serena had a chance to respond, a waitress walked up to their table and held out two menus. "May I take your orders?" she asked while chewing a bubblegum.

Serena pushed the menu away, knowing exactly what she would have. "I'd like a latte, please."

The waitress scribbled down the order before turning to the young man. "And you sir?"

"I'll have what she's having, make it whole milk," Alvin replied, with a flirtatious wink towards the waitress who popped a bubble in response and walked away.

As the waitress left, an awkward silence fell between the matchmaker and her client. Serena was at a loss of what to say seeing as how sitting with this annoying man had not been her original plan.
she shot a sly peek at him as a strand of black hair fell into his curiously wandering dark eyes, at least he was handsome. And it wasn't every day she got to have coffee with such a good-looking man. As her eyes lingered on his structured face, she failed to notice that he was turning his head, until those brown eyes were staring straight into her azure ones.

A spark tingled feeling went through her entire body and blushing, she quickly looked down at the table's peach-colored surface. Hoping that he hadn't noticed her staring, she asked, "So, where are you from again? I know it was on your form but I forgot."

A smirk played on his lips "Pallet Town."

Serena's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? I had a friend who's from there."

"Do tell!"

"Well, I moved away from Pallet to my hometown which is this region." she explained.

Alvin nodded. "Ah I see, so I guess you live in Vanville right."

"Yeah"

"You know I had a friend who moved away from Pallet."

"Really?"

Again Alvin nodded with a smile. "I used to love teasing her and getting her all worked up! You know, how kids are."

Serena laughed. "That's exactly how my friend was to me before I moved away!"

The two shared a laugh just as the waitress came back with a tray, sliding it carefully onto the table and popped her gum once again. "Here you are. Enjoy!"

Serena thanked her and reached for a cup the same time Alvin did. Incidentally, they happened to make for the same cup and as Serena's hands curled around it first, Alvin's larger hand landed on top of hers. For a moment, neither of them moved. Serena could feel her heart beating rapidly and felt the temperature rising in her cheeks.

Without looking up, she quickly slid her hand out from underneath Alvin's and grasped the second cup. Drawing it close to her, to prevent herself from having to say anything.

In silence, the two sipped their hot coffee. Around them, voices chattered away while soft music floated out through the ceiling speakers.

The perfect atmosphere for a casual date, Serena thought, but soon realised, as a blush formed across her cheeks.
WAIT, What am I thinking? she thought wildly and took a large gulp of latte, washing away those unwanted thoughts.

"So did you ever talk to the boy again?"

Surprised that she was being spoken to after a period of silence, Serena coughed before replying. "Not really. I mean, at that age, you don't really stay in touch with faraway friends. At that age, everyone's a friend."

"I know what you mean. I never got to stay in touch with my friend either."

"What happened to her?"

Alvin casually shrugged. "Oh, we went to different schools."

Serena nodded in understanding. "Yeah when my friend moved we were all sad but it happens." A sudden thought came to Serena and she let out a laugh.

Alvin raised an eyebrow. "What's so funny?"

With a chuckle, Serena shook her head. "Ah. I just remembered something. Well...I couldn't tell you."

"Aw c'mon. And we were just getting along!" Alvin insisted.

"Well," Serena said shaking her head again with a smile. "Truth is, that boy was my first crush. I was just thinking about that and wondering why I liked him."

Alvin let out a strangled cough into his coffee cup just as he was taking a small sip. Finally he said slowly, "It's certainly something to think about."

a tinge of blush formed across his cheek with his voice a bit gravelly. However, Serena failed to notice this as her mind wandered back to the puppy love feelings she had as a child. She was about to say something else when a loud voice suddenly crackled onto the overhead speakers.

"Ladies and gentlemen! We have a special treat for you all this morning! Miss Melody Singer will be performing a few of her best loved numbers as a morning surprise!"

Loud cheers and clapping shook the walls of the café.

"Melody Singer!" Serena repeated, her eyebrows raised towards Alvin who was staring into his coffee cup.

"What?" he shouted looking up, unable to hear her over the racket being made by the other customers.

Serena held up a finger and waited for the sounds to die down before she said, "She's my client who was in the shop when you came in."

Alvin snapped his fingers and took a sip of coffee. "That's right! Well, I guess we'll get to hear her sing now, huh?"

With a nod, Serena turned to face the small stage in the back. The interior lights dimmed while sunlight still poured in from the numerous windows and skylights. As the audience settled down, the red curtains were pulled back to reveal the pretty brunette.

She walked up to the microphone, her ruby red skirt swishing above her knees, and opened her mouth as the first notes of the music played in the back.

Throughout the entire song, Serena couldn't help but think back to the conversation with Alvin about their long lost friends. It was true, she and Ash hadn't kept in touch, though they had promised each other to do so. She had thought about him over the years. After all, who could forget their first crush though as she told Alvin, she often found herself asking 'Why him?'.

Oh well. She hadn't seen Ash in years, after moving away, the childish crush was overtaken by her crushes and love for other boys as she steadily grew into a teenager and then a young woman.

Serena's gaze now flickered back and forth between the stage, where Melody gently swayed, mic in hand, to Alvin, who was clearly enjoying listening to the crystal clear voice ringing out over the crowd.

Hmm...Serena thought. Melody was her client. And Alvin was her client. She understood that Alvin liked what he saw in Melody physically and Melody had specified that she wanted a man who was good-looking.

A smile formed on Serena's lips as Melody held a note in the last line of the song and finished with a curtsy.

Serena clapped politely along with everyone else and as Melody disappeared back stage, she quickly turned to Alvin.

"Mr. Ketter?"

He didn't pay attention and continued clapping.

"Mr. Ketter?" Serena tried again.

Alvin turned but still didn't appear to have heard her because he simply went back to his seat, Serena was beginning to get annoyed.

"Mr. Ketter!"

Finally, he jerked at her raised voice and for a moment, she noted a hint of confusion in his eyes. But then his face changed and he shook his head. "Erm...sorry. You were saying?"

"Mr. Ketter, as you have see, Miss Singer is one of my clients and if you are interested..." she let the sentence unfinished and watched his reaction.

It was thoughtful at first and then shrugged. "Sure, why not? She seems nice. And call me Alvin!"

Serena nodded as he downed the rest of the coffee. Now all she had to do was talk to Melody and she'd have this man out of her hair in no time!