I prop my elbow up on the counter and set my head in my hand.

Boss man called me last minute and made me come in on a Saturday and I'm not too happy about it.

Me and Liam were supposed to go hang out at the park today then he was gonna take me out to dinner but those plans went to shit.

I feel a presence come up in front of me at the counter.

"What can I do for you?" I ask flatly and sit up straight.

I'm greeted with the mystery man that I met on Monday.

"Ah not very happy I see." He says in his ponderous voice.

He's dressed in a black button up shirt and blue jeans. How can he pull something so simple off so well?

"Just tired." I and smile at him.

"Well maybe I can take you out of coffee." He says.

Is he asking me out on a date right now?

"I actually have a long shift today." I turn him down.

"Oh." He says with hurt evident in his voice.

"But I'd be happy to go after." I give in.

Did I just really agree to go on a date with this man I don't even know? This is a stupid idea.

His eyes light up and he smiles at me.

"That's great. Just give me my regular, please." He says.

He acts like he's being coming here for years and I should know what he wants off the top of my head.

Black coffee.

It's not that hard to remember.

"3.35" I say and he hands his card over.

"When do you get off?" He asks me.

I hand his card back to him after it registers.

"2:30." I tell him.

"I'll be here." He flashes a toothy smile then walks out of the coffee shop.

I don't know how I feel about going on a date with this guy. I mean I don't even know him.

The bell to the door rings so I look up. I'm greeted by my best friend.

"Hey Lee!" I say happily.

Should I tell him about my date?

"When your lunch break?" He asks me.

I check my Apple Watch to see what time it is.

"Uh 5 minutes." I say and look back at Liam.

"Okay great." He says and sits down at one on the bar stools in front of the counter.

"So hows your day going?" Liam asks me.

Well this would be the perfect time to tell him about mystery man. Oh gosh, I don't even know his name!

"Good. I actually got asked out." I say biting my lip.

His eyes cloud over with something I'm not familiar with. That can't be hurt, can it?

"That's awesome." He says clearing his voice.

Why is he acting weird? I've never seen him act like this before; ever.

"Are you okay?" I ask him.

"Yeah I'm fine." He says.

His eyes return to normal and his puts a big smile on his face.

Okay, that was super weird.

"Ah. It's my lunch break!" I say taking my apron off and hanging it up.

"Lunch is on you!" Liam yells as he walks out the door.

I follow behind him and walk out the door with a ring of a bell.

"Where have I heard that before?" I joke.

"Probably from my best friend. She makes me pay for everything." He jokes.

I roll my eyes at his comment. He's so stupid.

"Where are we eating?" I ask him.

"I'm feeling subway." He says stroking his chin and falling back behind so we could walk together.

"Mm that does sound good. But you would pick something expensive since I'm paying."

"I was just jokinggg." He says dragging out the G.

"I'll pay, don't worry about it." He adds.

"No I'm paying. We've already established that." I say looking up at him.

He pushes his hair over to the side and out of his eyes.

"I'll steal your wallet." He says looking down on me.

"Pft okay." I say rolling my eyes.

He laughs and holds up my wallet.

"How the fuck? When did you-."

When did he even get that? It's been in my back pocket this whole time.

"You're not very observant. Now I'm paying." He tells me.

"Well now I can't argue with that." I mumble.

We get to subway after a minute of walking. The fast food restaurant looks deserted.

"Hey guys what can I get for you today?" A young lady asks us.

She has blonde hair that's thrown in a braid off to the side. She has electric blue eyes that stands out above everything.

She looks at Liam and then blushes. She must be one of the shy girls.

"Uh can I get a roast beef 6 inch on wheat bread?" I tell the girl.

She gives me a big smile and makes my sub.

"Toasted? And what cheese?" She questions.

"Yes toasted please. And cheddar." I say and smile back.

She looks back to Liam and asks what he wants.

"Spicy Italian on white bread please." He says and smiles at her which makes her blush.

The timer goes off signaling my food is done. She finishes Liam's order than goes back to mine.

"Can I get pickles, lettuce and jalapeños on that please? Oh, also some light mayo." I say completing my order.

She piles it up then wraps the sandwich up and puts it in a bag.

"I want lettuce, tomato, pickles, spinach leaves and onions. No sauce." He says finishing his sub.

"Of course." She says and smiles at him.

She wraps up his sandwich when she's done with it then puts it in the same bag.

"That'll be 19.50" she says typing on the computer.

Liam swipes his card in the card machine. Since there's no chairs in here we have to go back to the coffee shop and eat.

"You two have a good day!" She says cheerily.

"Y'all are a cute couple by the way."

I almost choke on my saliva at her words.

I giggle at her statement then say "Oh no. We're not-." Liam cuts me off.

"Cmon babe." He says throwing his arms around my shoulder and leading me out.

Babe? We have a weird way of expressing our friendship.

"Uh babe?" I ask Liam.

"You would've said that we weren't a couple and she would've tried to ask me out or something. Sometimes it just easier to go along with it." He explains.

"I thought it was the new word for bestie." I say.

"Oh you like it then huh?" He asks and smirks.

"That's not even remotely would I said."

"Just go with the flow baby." He says throwing his arm back over my shoulder.

"Yeah no." I say shrugging his arm off.

We get back to the coffee shop and sit down at a table near the back.

We silently eat our food, making eye contact every once and a while.

Oh shoot! I still have a date this evening. I really don't want to go!

The bell to the door rings signaling someone just walked in.

"You got a little." He says pointing to the corner of his mouth.

I wipe my mouth.

"Did I get it." I ask.

"No. You didn't." He says chuckling. 

"Here."

He reaches over the table and wipes off my mouth for me.

Goosebumps go all through my body at his small touch.

"When did we become a cringy couple?" I ask.

He wipes his finger off on a napkin and looks up at me then smiles.

"Ah dang." I say checking my watch. "Time to get back to work." I say.

We stand up and walk back to the counter.

"See ya later tigger." He says giving me a hug.

I hug him back then watch him walk out the door.

I walk back behind the counter and grab my apron.

"All yours." Linda says.

She covers for me when I'm at lunch.

"I didn't realize you had a boyfriend." I hear a raspy voice say.

"Huh? Oh no! That's my best friend. Not my boyfriend." I explain to the mysterman that evidently I have a date with.

"Oh okay." He says and smiles.

"Uh why are you here again?" I ask.

"Well I work night shift. I didn't get my sleep in for today so I'm pretty tired."

"Oh makes sense. I never caught your name." I tell him.

"Because I never told you."

"Yeah. So what's your name?" I ask him.

"Jackson. Yours?"

"Maci." I reply.

"Well Maci. Can I have a black coffee to go?"

"Yeah sure."

I'm so captivated by his eyes it takes me a minute to actually look away.

I give him his coffee and he pays.

"See ya later."

He repeats the words my best friend said to me five minutes ago.
——-
"Aaaand I'm back." Jackson says walking through the door.

"You're right on time. I just clocked out."

"So my car is at home. I don't live far from here so I walked. Are we gonna take yours?" He asks me.

"Yeah that's fine." I say.

I'm gonna be in a small contained space with someone I don't even know. This is very, very dumb. Not today Satan.

I walk over to my car and unlock it.

"This is yours?" He asks with amusement in his eyes.

"Yeah." I tell the stranger.

"Wow. She's a beauty." He says looking at me and smiles.

When we both get in the car I start it up.

"So where are we going." I ask him.

"Do you like fortes? It's not far from here and I know you don't want to be stuck in a car with me for to long." He says chuckling.

"Sure." I say giggling.

The drive to fortes is short and consists of very few words.

It's really awkward being stuck in a car with a stranger.

"What can I get you guys?"

I realize I'm not super hungry because I just ate not too long ago. Two dates in one day. Oh geez, I'm a hoe!

"Can I get a 5 piece of boneless garlic-Parmesan wings?"

Jackson orders his food and we go sit down at a table close to the door.

"Yeah I didn't really plan this out." Jackson says.

"Me neither. It's like a blind date or something. Imagine how embarrassing that would be." I ramble.

"I could never." He says smiling.

"Me neither."

"So how old are you?" I ask him.

"20. How old are you?" He asks me.

"18."

"I guessed it!" He says

"It's not too hard to guess. I know I'm short though. I probably look twelve or something." I say and laugh.

"You are short. But I wouldn't have asked you out if you looked twelve. I think they call those a pedophile."

I giggle at his response. I hope he wouldn't ask a twelve year old out.

The waitress brings us our food and we eat without talking too much.

"Hey well I had a great time tonight. Do you think I could get your number?" He asks.

"As long as I don't get random dick pics."

"I can promise you that." He says and smiles.

I give him my number and we walk outside of the restaurant.

"Do you need a ride home?" I ask him.

"No, I don't live far at all." He says smiling.

When I pull in my drive my phone starts to ring.

Leebee🤪 flashes across my screen.

"Hello?"

"Come over now. I haven't talked to you like all day." He says.

"Lee we talked like two hours ago." I say giggling.

"Pwease?" I can basically hear his lip pouting.

"Fine. Let me go put my stuff up." I tell Liam.

"Hey dad. I'm going to Liam's." I tell my dad while walking upstairs.

"K" he mutters.

I get back in my car and drive over to Liam's house.

I knock on the door and Liam answers.

"It's been forever girl omg come in!" He says in a girl voice.

"You're stupid." I say following him upstairs.

We lay on his bed and just talk about anything and everything. I tell him how my date went which he didn't say much about. Why is he acting so weird about that?
——-
q and a

-what do you think of Jackson?

-why is Liam acting weird?

ily guys!!