The warmth welcomed him inside and he closed the door so it wouldn't escape. A small smile spread across his lips when he saw the waitress cleaning a mess of broken mugs and spilled drinks. Her dark hair was up in a loose ponytail, but some wild strands kept falling in her eyes and blocking her view.

"Do you need help?" he asked, already on his knees.

Lúcia looked up, startled. "Oh, Miguel... Hi! I-um... I'm okay, you can go sit somewhere and I'll be there in a second."

Distracted with him, she grabbed one piece by the edge and cut her finger. She didn't even feel it until he took the now bloody fragments in his own hands and threw them in the rubbish before helping her up.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I..." she stared at her hands, barely bleeding at all.

"Why are you apologising?" he asked, taking her to the sink in the kitchen, ignoring the fact that he, a client, was not supposed to be back there.

"I should get your order, not hurt myself."

He chuckled, pushing her hand down into the cold water running out of the tap. She flinched but didn't move.

"I didn't even order yet."

"Oh," she exclaimed, but didn't say another word. She was a bit confused by the orders. The cafe was crowded, and she was alone since Oliver had to leave earlier, even if it was his first day back, and Jenny hadn't arrived yet. She had to write everything down or else she would forget so many people upstairs and downstairs.

She cleaned her hand and put a band-aid over the wound from a small first aid kit under the sink once Miguel stepped away, leaning against the counter. He was staring at her, checking if she needed help, but not wanting to suffocate the already embarrassed girl.

Lúcia shooed him from the kitchen, just in time to see Jenny walk inside. However, just as they saw Jenny, she saw them coming out of the kitchen and stopped before entering the back rooms, staring at them with eyes wide open.

"What were you doing back there with him?" she demanded, clenching her fists. "Lúcia, please tell me this is not what it looks like and you were just trying to smash his head in the oven's door?"

The girl laughed. She thought Jenny was overreacting, but perhaps she really should. Lúcia only knew him as a friend of Nicole's who stopped by The Bookmark once in a while. She failed to notice who Jenny saw him as.

"I cut my finger. He was just helping me," she explained, taking her notepad out of the apron's pocket and checking the tables she still had to go to. Turning back to Miguel, she pointed him at a free table, but he dismissed her.

"No, I don't think I will stay. Just give me coffee and I'll be on my way." He glared at Jenny, sending all his hatred toward her. She didn't budge, feeling the same as him, but worse.

"It'll be a second," Lúcia beamed and left.

Miguel crossed his arms, waiting. He hoped Jenny would just go change and that by the time she would be back, he would be on his way to class. If there was something he missed was the mornings Nicole did instead of Oliver and would calm down Jenny before leaving. Now she just slept longer, and he had to put up with her stupid friend.

He wasn't lucky that day as Jenny jabbed a tattooed finger against his chest and got closer, so only he could hear her.

"You know, I'm sick of you trying to get into bed with my friends."

He rolled his eyes. He wouldn't have cared about her attitude towards him if she didn't justify it with things that had never happened. Whatever picture she had of him was completely wrong, and that's why he hated her just as much as she hated him. Because she didn't give him a second chance.

"Is that jealousy?" he smirked, closing the distance between them. "Are you really so mad you weren't the first choice?"

He had to poke her, to give her a thousand more reasons to hate him. It was just easier than being upset over her lies and twisted truths. To her, they were all facts, and it would be impossible to change her mind.

"Your coffee."

Jenny stepped away, allowing him to get the paper cup from Lúcia's hand. He thanked her and then passed by Jenny, hitting his shoulder against hers and almost knocking her off.

"Brute," he heard her complain as he walked out. "What a child!"

He sighed in annoyance. She was the reason he avoided that place at all costs, and he was regretting ever stepping in there again.

Campus was close, and though his first class of the day had started half an hour before, he didn't rush to get there. His mind flashed with images of Jenny at Andrew's party, playing beer pong and making out with her new boyfriend. The guy was some nerd from their class, but he didn't know what his name was.

Alice had listened to him complaining about how she poured beer down his head when he was flirting with some redhead after lighting the fireworks up. He was positive his friend hadn't listened to a single word, too caught up with her own problems and the fact that she was driving with a drunk half-asleep on her shoulder.

On his way inside the building, he found Nicole sitting on the large banister around the stairs, looking at a pile of flashcards scattered on her lap. He walked towards her, trying to scare her, but when he grabbed her by the shoulders, she didn't even flinch.

"Aren't you supposed to be in class?" she asked, not even looking back at him.

He sat on the banister too, turning to the same side as she.

"I am, but I got sidetracked."

She eyed the cup in his hand with The Bookmark's brown logo printed. He kept sipping from it as he thought she wasn't seeing it.

"By Lúcia?"

He bit his cheek before nodding. It was obvious Nicole didn't approve of it, but if he only did what she agreed with, he would have no fun. She was a buzzkill.

"And that friend of yours who has not moved on, as you say she did," he mentioned. "I'm pretty sure she is telling Lúcia about how despicable I am."

"You are despicable," Nicole noted, still looking through her notes.

"Then why do you hang out with me?"

She lifted her head and smiled. "'Cause I'm despicable too."

🤍🖤🤍

The locker closed with a loud striking sound, usually not loud enough to be heard in the rest of the store. That day, though, as there were so few people inside, everyone could hear it.

Nicole tied her curls in a tight ponytail on top of her head and got out in time to see the waitress, whose shift was about to end, yell at a client sitting close to the counter. She was yelling about the book he had been reading before and how it was written all over.

"Hey, calm down, Aisha," Nicole nuzzled the girl. "What happened?"

"This idiot damaged one of our books!"

Sensing the boy was about to cry, Nicole hushed the girl away, promising she would take care of the problem since Aisha's shift was ending. The girl rolled her eyes and went to the staff's room to change into her usual outfit.

Nicole disliked Aisha, not the other waiters, just Aisha. She mistreated clients, messed orders, and cleaned no table. When Nicole's shift started, she always had to clean every single surface of crumbs and spilt drinks.

"Are you okay?" she smiled at him, trying to calm the poor boy down.

It was obvious the crying boy was a pile of nerves and insecurities. Nicole rarely socialised with people like that, much less since he looked like he lived permanently inside a library. Still, she felt bad for him.

"It wasn't me, I swear!" He pushed his blue glasses up his nose. "It was already like that when I grabbed it."

"Okay, I believe you."

He stared at her in awe, surprised at how easy it was to convince her. Aisha was so convinced it had been him he thought he would have to pay for the book.

"You do?"

She nodded. After all, she had several more copies of the book in storage, yet she could not afford to lose clients. The more they were, the more the money. Her rent didn't pay itself.

"What's your name?"

The boy hesitated. "I'm Gio."

She frowned. "Is that a nickname?"

"It's-uh... It's short for Giovanni," he stuttered. "Giovanni di Pietro. It's Italian."

He didn't have to ask hers as the pin on the left side of her chest said Nicole S in big, bold letters.

Such a fancy name for a shy boy. She snorted. It sounded like the name of an old rich merchant's son to her, and yet he wasn't dressed as such. His clothes looked way less expensive than Andrew's, but he was the one with the elegant name.

"So you're italian?"

He shook his head. "My parents are. I've never been to Italy."

"That's a shame," she said, wondering what it would be like travelling in a gondola. "I'm going to get you another drink as an apology for my coworker's behaviour. I'll be right back."

He didn't miss the way she said coworker, as if any other relationship would sicken to live through.

"You don't need to."

"Of course I do." She smiled and disappeared somewhere behind the bookshelves.

Giovanni had picked the best hiding spot, close enough to the kitchen, yet away from other clients. Not that he had many to escape from. There were only a couple of girls opposite to him and a boy by the window he had seen once he walked in. The boy, an apparently tall and lean guy, was the only he could see through the bookshelves, typing something on a computer.

Aisha had been picking on him even since Giovanni walked in. Something about how he had no life besides being on that laptop drinking her coffee. He, Andrew perhaps, had the audacity to laugh and say that he enjoyed the company of all except for her. That courageousness lacked Giovanni when she accused him, and he wished he had been more like that guy.

"Stalker!" the guy's voice, a lot deeper than someone with such soft features should have, resonated in the cafe, calling upon the blonde behind the counter.

"What is it?" she asked, vexed by him already.

All he could see was his back, but he guessed the guy was smiling at her because he sounded delighted to agitate her.

"I want something to drink."

Nicole walked from behind the counter with a mug of steamy coffee in hand, heading towards Giovanni. "Go on," she urged the dark-haired man, barely glancing at the coffee's receiver.

"Yeah, but I don't know what I want. Why don't you pick something for me?" He tapped his fingers against the table, waiting impatiently for her attention to be his and not someone else's. "Something as sweet as your beautiful soul."

Even Giovanni, not knowing the girl, noticed his words dripped with sarcasm. She was sweet to him, but the frown she now bore suggested a very short temperament.

"You're so funny, Witty." She rolled her eyes.

I thought his name was Andrew. Giovanni was now confused, no longer sure of what he had heard earlier.

The bell on the door rang, yet he couldn't see who had just crossed the doorway. It was a girlish voice that greeted Nicole. The waitress left the mug on his table and was about to join the girl, but she was faster, joining them in seconds.

"Hey." The blue-haired girls smiled shyly. "I just wanted to give you the book I borrowed. I'll be off now."

Nicole grabbed the heavy book and kept it under her arm. Her eyes were on Andrew's back, who had purposefully turned away as soon as he sat down.

That little coward.

"Don't go. I know you're still mad at me, but stay for longer. I'll buy you a muffin," she bribed. "Why don't you seat here with Gio? He's splendid company."

The blond boy choked on his beverage, staring at them. If Aisha had been scary, Alice was garish. She occupied a lot of space with her colourful vaporous skirts and bursting tote bag. It was some crazy feeling he had as soon as she looked at her extravagant appearance. She was too much to look at.

"I really don't..." she started, but was cut out.

"Look, Ali, I know you're mad and I'm sorry, but we can't keep this up forever. I can't go on knowing I may have lost my friend because of a boy."

She let Nicole hold her hands and forced herself not to cry. The anger had died out a while ago, but the hurt was still there.

"I'm working on forgiving you," she explained. "I just need time."

The blonde nodded and pulled her into a tight hug. She never seemed to learn. All her decisions made on the spot usually turned out to be a mistake.

"Enough," Alice snorted, pulling her away. "Go get me my muffin."

She took a seat in front of Giovanni as Nicole left to get her order and something for Andrew. The boy hid behind his mug, but she didn't let that discourage her.

"How's it going?"

He gripped his mug and searched for Nicole, trying to get aid from anywhere at all. Alice noticed it and rolled her eyes. The anger might've been gone, but in that second it flashed in front of her eyes.

What is it with her that makes every man need her so much?

"Here's your muffin." Nicole left the plate on the table, but Alice didn't want them to see her cry.

"I don't think I want it anymore."

She got up and walked past a stunned Nicole. The door rang as the two girls left and Alice followed them, trying not to shed a tear until she was outside. Only when she was out of sight did she sob, tears streaming down her face. The thought of Andrew and Nicole together still burning her heart.

Wiping her cheeks, she walked back home where her sister awaited, leaving everyone in the cafe puzzled.

And that was Giovanni for y'all!

Pretty sure I've introduced everyone from the aesthetics so... take your conclusions, create you theories and... stay tuned for next chapter.

Thank you for reading ;)