Art and Coffee
My ass hurt.
I had been sitting on this bench for almost an hour staring at a dot. Like literally a smudge on a white canvas, with lines from each corner in different shades of black, that is being sold for 3,000$. I mean, I could literally make a more beautiful smudge painting than the one I was staring at. I tap my pencil lightly on my journal as I continued to stare at the painting. I turn to glance at Paige's side of the museum, it was crowded with people and she stood in front of one sculpture she had made, talking to the people who hovered over it. Everyone in here seemed to have that look of sophistication, with narrowed eyes and speculating looks. Paige turned to look at me and waved. I waved back. She looked so excited and happy, as she should be. Her dreams were coming alive. Moving to New York two years ago has finally begun to feel like a good idea.
I stood up, discreetly rubbing my bottom. For a museum, they had pretty low comfort chairs. Not that the museum was where people could sit around. I glance at the painting again, narrowing my eyes. I finally gave up after a few minutes and began to walk towards the museums swinging glass doors. They made a 'woosh' sound whenever people walked through them. I give a quick glance at Paige who was busy entertaining her fans before stepping out into the busy streets.
My eyes squint at the sudden light as I fish my phone out of my coat pocket to tell Paige I was going to go back to our apartment and I would see her at dinner. I walk through the busy streets, my heels making a clicking sound as it hit the pavement. It has been two years since we decided to move here, right after graduating from law school. Yep, me and Paige were lawyers. We took the bar exam and passed two years ago but when we got to the big NYC, we both took a different path. We were art majors before law school, so basically we were a weird duo who seemed lost at those times. Now, however, we were finally seeing a clearer picture of what we wanted to do in life.
I was an author, well, I will be when my book gets published next month. The day that I got the news that my book was getting published, me and Paige went out to party and luck was practically on our side for that very night, Paige had met the owner of that museum. They hit it off pretty well talking about art which ended up with the woman coming home with us to see some of Paige's works. She was impressed, two months later Paige had her own exhibit.
I smile at the thought as I walk towards a cafe to buy a cup of joe. The familiar chime rang in my ears as I opened the door. The girl at the counter beamed when she saw me. I was a regular here and so they practically knew my order before I even get to the counter. The buzz of excitement inside the cafe was new. Usually, the cafe would be quiet and would have an empty table or two, but now it seemed jam packed with girls from ages 16 and above.
"Good day, Danny. The same?" The girl at the counter asked, her name was Jenny. I give her an absent minded nod, watching as the girls seem anxiously waiting for something.
"Rumor has it an actor is coming by today," she said as she leaned over the counter to look at what I was staring at. I grinned at the thought. Don't they see actors in the streets or malls here? I guess even they have their fan girl moments. I take out my wallet and fish out the money I owed and pass it to Jenny.
"Wonder what made him want to have coffee in such a public place and it being known and all." I say as the barista, his name was Leo, handed me the cup with a smile.
"Rumor has it that it's because he is shooting a film near these parts and refused to actually have coffee brought to him." Jenny explains as she continued to lean over and watch the restless group of girls before me. I wondered for a moment who it could be, remembering how I used to fan girl with Paige all the time with our actor crushes. They were, in fact, one of the many reasons we chose NYC. Somehow though, as the years went by we started to focus on anything but them. I could almost laugh at the thought. I still had photos of Lee Pace in my phone and I am pretty sure Paige had not deleted her pictures of Luke Evans. I mutter my thanks to Jenny as I walked out of the cafe. Sipping on my coffee, I walked away from the cafe when moments later cheers erupted from it making me spin around. The actor must have come in already. I chuckle lightly as I continue to walk towards our apartment. I preferred walking over taking a cab or the train.
I search for my phone and could not find it in any of my pockets. Then it hit me. I must have left it in the counter. I was seriously not enjoying the idea of going back there, especially now since it would probably be crowded and noisy. With a reluctant groan I march back towards the cafe.
I was right, of course. From the outside, I could already make out the crowd that was scurrying about inside. I roll my shoulders back, as if I was preparing to use sheer body strength to push through the hormonal group of teenage girls. I hold on to my cup and march with determination. I notice two gruff looking guys by the door as they seemed to hold back a forming crowd outside the cafe. Can they not see there is barely enough space to actually breathe inside that place? I suddenly felt a slight dislike for the actor. Causing such a commotion. Whoever he is.
Both men stop me as I finally fought my way through the crowd. I stood tall among them and in that moment I was relieved I chose to wear heels today. I was almost in level with the men.
"Sorry, miss. We can't let you in yet," Baldy said sympathetically with a small smile. I would willingly accept this if it was not my phone that was left.
"Well, could you maybe just get my phone for me then?" I ask, putting on my best 'kind and in need of help' face. He seemed to consider this for a moment as he looked at his partner, who had a very thick mustache. I waited patiently and when Baldy turned to me again, I looked at him expectantly.
"Maybe after?" He asked and I find myself letting out a defeated breath as I was being pushed and pulled with the crowd.
"Woman with very hot coffee here!" I warn, raising my coffee but no one seemed to care as they continued to push through. It happened too quickly. I lost my footing and fell forward just as the doors of the cafe open. My free hand instinctively tried to grab the closest solid object within my reach, and in this moment being the tall man that exited the coffee shop. My grip on my cup tightens as I grab on to his sweater. He seemed to react instinctively as well as one of his arms hook under my elbow to prevent me from falling further. I felt the hot liquid spill on my left shoulder. Through the shock I managed to loosened the grip on my cup and it spilled all over my solid saviour. The two men react a bit too late as I suck in a breath, feeling the hot water seep through my coat and into my blouse. I feel an arm around my waist as I am pulled violently away.
The girls shouting seemed to increase as my eyes travel from his waist to his eyes. I felt my heart dive down as my jaw seemed to go loose as my mouth falls open.
No freaking way.
He stares at me for a moment as mustache man seemed to push the girls off him. I leveled his gaze. I would know those eyebrows anywhere.
"I am terribly sorry," he starts, his brows curving into a frown. He takes a step forward as I tried to relearn the english language.
"I- I, uhm," I stammer as he takes out a handkerchief from his pocket, handing it to me. My eyes drop down to the cloth offering. My hands shakily reach for it.
"Are you alright?" He asked and I realized I had not spoken or even said a single word except for 'I'. I dumbly nod my head and my eyes finally fall down on the coffee spill on one side of his sweater.
"I am so sorry," I started, my eyes growing wide as he seemed to be too focused on my well being. There were two other men following him from behind, and all four of them, including Baldy who stood behind me, created a sort of circular barrier around us. He chuckles lightly and I feel like the world had gone topsy turvy.
"No worries, it is entirely my fault for being so stubborn," he gives me shrug before glancing back at the coffee shop. The people were shouting and calling for him as he seemed to be unfazed by the whole thing.
"Mr. Pace," Mustache man calls as he quickly blocked a girl that was practically trying to climb over his hand. I hold back a laugh as Lee seemed to breathe out heavily, " We must be going, Mr. Pace. Why don't you just let your assistant get coffee for you?"
"Because I want to do things on my own," he states as his eyes looked longingly at the counter, "while I actually still can. We never know, Bill." He stated towards Mustache guy, " I might some day get hit or have an accident that would leave me paralyzed. So until then, I would like to do things myself."
Bill seemed to roll his eyes at him as Lee turns to flash me a grin and a slight shrug of the shoulders.
"I don't think you can squeeze through that crowd easily," I find myself commenting, seeing the crowd inside the cafe. He raised an eyebrow at my direction as if saying 'challenge accepted'. I dreaded what would happen next as he swiftly turned around and marched back inside, making Baldy behind me groan in frustration.
"He has a kind heart, that Lee," he comments as I take this time to hastily unbutton my cloak and inspect the damage as a whole. And to think I was wearing my favorite shirt! The one Paige had given me last year, celebrating our first year in the big city. It was in a boat neck shirt a shade of pastel yellow and had little monkey patterns on it. She said it reminded her of me because of how much I loved bananas. At least my beige skirt was not damaged, or my heels. I sigh as I carefully dab on the coffee with his handkerchief. I still couldn't quite grasp what had happened. I was still convinced I was dreaming.
He emerged moments later with not one, but two cups in his hands. His eyes fall on me for a moment and my shirt. I was paralyzed from head to toe, the embarrassment eating me away. Then a smile forms on his lips as he handed me a cup.
"Banana," he says and I take hold of the cup with a questioning look. He begins his escape as the men seemed to shield him like a forcefield of sheer brute force. I still stared at him with confusion as to why he had bought me coffee.
"Take it as payment for your shirt for now," he says. For now? He begins to walk away when he stops suddenly as if remembering something. He shook his head slightly as a smile spreads on his lips and he takes something out of his pocket. My phone.
"The barista told me it's yours," he hands it to me and I take it quietly. He then gives me a slight bow as he walks away, the force field following him. Baldy gives me a small smile before I am snapped out of my dream like (more like absent minded) state as I am roughly pushed and hit in every direction. I struggle to take hold of the cup as the group of girls follow Lee Pace until he got into a car. I huff in annoyance as I stared at all of them. Any other time I would have been one of them, maybe even have a shirt that said 'I love lee pace' but it was not this time. I shove the handkerchief and my phone in my coat pocket as I walked away from the cafe. I was still visibly shaken by the encounter but I was still a bit pissed off about my whole ordeal being his fault. I mumble a string of curse words as I cross the street, finally making it to our block.
Even with the questionable emotions as I entered our apartment, I still could not wait to tell Paige all about it. I place the cup of coffee on our counter top and fish out my phone. The handkerchief falls off and I stare at it for a moment, as it dropped to the floor. It was his handkerchief. I run a hand through my hair as I realized it was foolish and embarrassing of me not to have returned it. I mean, does he even want it back? Probably not. He could probably afford a whole building full of handkerchief. I bend down and pick it up and lazily throw it on the counter top beside my coffee. I sat on one of the stools and began texting Paige.
You will never guess what happened to me today.
Paige: Please tell me you found a boyfriend.
Even better. I met Lee Pace!!
Paige: WTF?? WTF!!! You have to tell me everything!
Duh. Dinner?
Paige: ah shit. I can't tonight, I have this after party thing. :( :(
Dude, its okay. We live in the same apartment. See you later then! Have fun at the party. Bring me a bottle of wine, if you can steal one.
Paige: I'll try to bring you two, and vodka. Some ice cream too.
I love you.
Paige: I know. ;)
I roll my eyes as I scrolled through my phone noticing I had a draft message. I didn't do drafts. I open it to find a weird note that says "check emails". I frown and just noticed I had two unopened emails. I opened the first one that was titled "I won" and nearly fell off the stool as a selfie of Lee Pace appeared with a cup in hand and a note that says "I squeezed through the crowd easily ;)" I blink a few times before opening the other email entitled "Just so you know", it wrote:
"Hey, sorry about the coffee. I made it my obligation to get info on you so that I can apologize properly and by info, I mean your contacts and this picture of you I found at the counter."
Attached were two pictures, one was a picture of his phone with my contacts and the other was a picture of a picture of me as customer of the month. I cringed inwardly as I noticed my dark hair was a mess around my face, my eyes a boring shade of brown. I let out a groan before the familiar ring of my phone reaches my ears, notifying me of a message. I hesitantly open it, hoping it was just paige and stopped when I noticed it was an unregistered number. If my mouth could fall any lower, it would reach the other side of the world by now as I stared at the one word text.
Banana
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Authors note: If you are reading this, well hello there! :) I hope you'll like it! ;)
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