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Naomi
I finally left home and went back to school. As much as it broke my heart, I finally felt as if I could breathe. I decided on completing my doctorate, hoping it could mend these broken pieces that I was carrying around, and so far, it had been going quite okay.
Actually, it was more than okay, because I decided to do things differently this time around. Instead of being straight as a ruler and only focusing on school work, I had decided to become a bit social so that when I did go through breakups, at least there would be someone I could go cry to besides my pillows.
When I went to register and receive my list, I met a young lady by the name of Evelyn, who was currently sitting in front of me staring at the barista who was going on with his day, unaware of the curlyhead who was madly in love with him.
When I first met her, I thought she was absolutely mean because of the straight face she kept as I talked to her, only to find out she was observing the person behind me. They’d gone to school together, and she didn’t like that person one bit.
She suggested we go out for coffee, apologizing for her rude gaze, and since I wanted to try something different, I suggested we go out for drinks at a club. I admit it was one of the best nights of my life.
Evelyn was one funny person, and she reminded me a lot of Mia—a younger and single version of Mia. She was very open about her truths and what she did in her free time, and rarely cared about what people thought about her, something I had been trying to learn for myself, and I believed I was making progress.
“There’s no reason for him to be that beautiful,” she grumbled as she chewed on her lip, still staring at the barista, following his every move with her eyes. To think she had begged me to sit by the window just so that she could stalk the poor man like this was hilarious.
However, I understood her motives. He was a pretty attractive man, but looked young.
“Why don’t you go talk to him?” I asked as I brought the mug to my lips, taking a sip of my hot cafe mocha.
“Are you crazy?” She stared at me for a second before her eyes went back to the barista. “How could I talk to such a king?” She sighed as she leaned back in her seat.
Just like her melanin, her voice was rich and warm. Evelyn was equally if not more attractive than the barista, and I wondered why she thought she couldn’t just talk to the king.
“I don’t know, the same way you ordered your frappuccino,” I pointed out, and she groaned, pushing the full drink away.
“I got nervous and ordered something I don’t even drink. What do you think I will say once I get there? I might freak out and pull my shirt up,” she grumbled, and I laughed, pressing my hand against my mouth.
“Maybe ordering the right drink would be a chance to talk to him again,” I suggested and she seemed to be thinking of it before she shook her head.
“No, I won’t embarrass myself like that,” she huffed as she pressed her arms against her chest. “Why won’t he just come to me?” she whined as she slumped in her chair, her fluffy, curly hair bobbing at the action. She pushed her bottom lip out, and her dark brown eyes looked at him longingly again.
“Maybe because he doesn’t know you want him?”
“I’ve been staring at him,” she said, as if that were normal.
“Like a creep,” I pointed out, and she opened her mouth to dispute what I had said before she huffed again, looking outside the window at the busy street.
Chicago was busy as always, and distracting. The warm-colored foliage really called for coffee, and luckily we were in a quiet book cafe. This was actually the most relaxing season of my life this year, and I was beyond grateful for autumn; maybe this was the healing I’d been needing.
A change of season introduced different growth.
“I hate that you’re right.” She looked at him once more and sighed; that sounded like she was giving up. “Well, onto the next man I come across.” She shrugged as she got up, and I was completely caught off guard.
It was crazy to me how she could easily get over her infatuations as if they weren’t anything. “You’re crazy.” I shook my head as I grabbed my drink and walked with her out of the cafe. “Where to now?” I asked as I looked around the street. Luckily, it was the weekend, which meant no work.
Evenlyn and I worked together. She’d told me there was an opening at the company she worked for, and of course I applied, because I really wanted to get more experience in the field as I got my PhD done.
“We could go to the mall?” she suggested with a light shrug.
“I was thinking of getting some stuff for my room.” I nodded and she squealed. If there was anything Evelyn loved more than her current Arabian barista obsession, it was shopping for home essentials.
She absolutely loved decorating, and she was so good at it.
“Let’s go!” She hooked my arm with hers and led us to the mall, which luckily wasn’t so far from the cafe we were at.
Honestly, it was across the street and didn’t really need transport to get to. Evelyn and I preferred the book cafe because it was never packed, and she liked the barista… that was, until today.
“So what are we thinking?” she asked as she dragged me to the top floor, where all the home stores were located—the more expensive and aesthetic stores.
