☸ About Us ☸

Arabella sighed as she flicked on the light to her small studio apartment. Well, looking around, she realised that that may be a slight overstatement. That would be too large for where she actually was.

Slapping a hand to her face, she walked forwards two steps and lunged onto her bed, burying her face into her covers and letting out a louder sigh.

At least the day was over.

Turning her face to the side, she sniffed her hair. Coffee. Would anyone notice if she didn't wash it? Coffee wasn't too bad of a smell anyway.

Tilting her head a little lower, she reached her underarms, sniffing and then recoiling. Even Arabella knew that sweat was a bad smell. Slouching on her way up, her eyes met the pile of books waiting on her desk and her gaze floated over to the time. 6:00pm.

If she showered, she'd still have enough time to head back to the coffee shop to do some studying before she started her second shift.

A yawn escaped her as she packed her books into her blue backpack, laying it on her desk as she grabbed the towel that was hung on her chair.

Setting her music playlist, Arabella stepped into her shower and started the shower on her usual stream. The mist sprayed around her and she allowed herself a moment of reprieve.

Moments like these were what kept Arabella going.

Launching her backpack on her shoulders, Arabella looked into the mirror and ruffled her wet hair, resulting in droplets of water smearing on the surface.

She grumbled to herself and locked the door behind her, making her way to her bike that barely stood against the raging winds outside her red bricked complex.

Arabella was saving to get a car, she really was trying. But with paying rent, University tuition and groceries and bills, there wasn't much left for her to spend on herself. She took as many shifts as she could at the 24 hour cafe, but there was only so much she could do and still have time for sleep and studying.

Sighing, Arabella dragged the bike to the swaying bike rack outside the store, chaining it together and saying a quick prayer, hoping the lock would actually work this time. Blowing out a cold breath, she shoved her hands into her pocket and pulled her gray beanie lower on her face. The skies were getting grayer and she flinched as another gust hit her neck.

Hurrying towards the door, Arabella held it open for an elderly couple who smiled back at her fondly before she walked in, taking solace in the warm environment. She made her way to the window, seating herself but not taking off her bundles of clothing. Her eyes made a quick scan of the few people left in the evening staying in the store, most people at this time made a take away order to enjoy at home. She also noticed the brown haired boy sitting in his usual seat by the opposite window. He looked up at that moment and their eyes met. He raised his coffee and nodded his head at her before taking a sip, and Arabella responded with a light smile.

They may not talk, but it soothed Arabella to see him in the same place at the same time every day. He was her constant.

Shaking her head, she pushed the sentimental thoughts out of her head and pulled off her beanie, her auburn hair gleaming in the lighting of the cafe, and she noticed the boy look again. Ignoring him, she unbundled herself, setting out her books and got up again, pushing her seat in as she ran a hand flimsily through her damp hair ruffling it further in hopes it would help it dry and not lay like icicles hanging from her head.

Walking to behind the counter, she tied an apron around her waist and began setting up to make her own coffee. Her barista training took over, and Arabella's mind started wandering again.

She had class tomorrow at 8, meaning she'd have to leave home by 7, resulting in having to get up by 6, so setting her alarm for 5:30. Arabella rolled her eyes at herself. It was 7pm now and she had a shift from 10pm to 3am. People had survived on less, right?

Untangling herself from her apron strings, she returned to her seat, checking her planner and risking a glance outside. The sun had set and the darkness of the night took over, and Arabella enjoyed these moments the best.

She put her headphones in, blocking out the low hum of noise from the shop, and to put it simply, the constant jazz music on replay had given her a headache.

Opening her books, she settled on her biology work. Even though there was no homework, she still had a multitude of lab work to study for, especially the bovine lab. Opening the manual to the diagrams, she flipped her textbook open, finding the required pages and settled herself.

She read every word, but Arabella knew she wasn't being able to focus, she felt her tiredness in her bones. However, she knew how important it was for her to make use of every moment she could.

Each beat of her music had Arabella closer to closing her eyes. The slow tempos of the song, usually helping her focus, was now lulling her to sleep and she didn't know how to fight it. She tried working against it, until she knew she couldn't anymore, and she had just enough time to place her arm underneath her head before her face fell forwards.

A moment later, or at least what felt like it, a hand tapped Arabella on the shoulder and she shot up, a rogue piece of paper stuck to the side of her face.

"I'll take the shift!"

Brown eyes just stared back at her, amusement swimming in their depths.

"Oh. Hello." Arabella registered that it was the guy that would sit on the opposite side of the store that had come to wake her up, because apparently she thought that sleeping would be a better use of her time, than studying for her upcoming test.

Cursing herself silently, she tried hard to keep her face straight, showing no evidence of how badly she regretted falling asleep.

"Hello." His voice vibrated through her and she was amazed that anyone would have such a voice so deep. It wasn't troll deep, it was melting deep.

If she wasn't drowsy earlier, she definitely was now. 

"Hey." She whispered, using her forearm to move the hair away from her forehead. For some reason it felt rude to talk full volume.

She saw him hesitate, running a hand through his brown hair as he placed another coffee in front of her.

"I thought you could use this." He gestured again to the cup, then looked at his feet.

Arabella cautiously looked at the cup, sniffing it before turning to him softly with bleary bloodshot eyes.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, Arabella."

"How do you know my name?" Her name on his lips did something to her stomach that she didn't want to think about.

He just stared at her, and then it seemed he decided to talk to her in a different way, and he sat down in front of her. Arabella leaned back in her seat and sniffled. Damn.

"You served me. I'm Tobias."

Instantly Arabella remembered the Lumberjack Devil, and snorted. She raised a hand to her face as she realised and took a deep breath.

"Thank you, but I don't need coffee." It would be best for her to distance herself right now rather than later. He was the epitome of what she had been warned about. All brown wavy hair and brown eyes. Tall, broad shoulders and a dimple on his left cheek.

If she got pulled into this, it would definitely be trouble.

Tobias went to move the coffee closer to her when she noticed that his eyes moved to something behind her. She looked back and saw the clock hit the 10.

"Drink the coffee." Was all he said as he stood up and placed the coffee right in front of her face.

She cursed him, but knew she couldn't deny the sweet handcuffs of caffeine and grudgingly took a large gulp of it, before packing up. She looked at him, and it seemed he had already settled back into his seat, his eyes trained on the work before him and he didn't look back at her.

Arabella huffed tiredly. She did need it.

☸ About Us ☸