Fated Souls (The Fated Saga Book 1) Page 2

  "So ah…." he started to say but trailed off.

  I pulled my head from the refrigerator to look at him expectantly. "Yeah?"

  He laughed nervously, running his hand through his dark, nearly black hair that often seemed to hang in his eyes. At least, you know, that I've noticed from the handful of times I've seen him; not that I’d been paying attention or anything. "Do you know how to get from the highway from here?" he finally said.

  I heard a snicker from the seating area. Madison and Emily huddled together yet again but apparently had paused in gossiping about their "Homecoming" plans to gawk at us. I turned to raise an eyebrow at them and they quickly looked away, giggling and talking in hushed tones. Next I turned to—him, the Extra Foam Guy—and gave him a bit of an odd look. Morningstar Coffee is located a grand total of two blocks from the highway. You could hear the hum of traffic from the front door.

  "Yeah, it’s two blocks down past Oak Street," I pointed in the direction Oak Street was, to the east. "Can’t miss it." Perhaps he needed new glasses, and that's why he kept fiddling with them...

  He smiled sheepishly. "Yeah? I should get a new GPS app…I’m pretty bad with directions."

  "Yeah…from what I gather most guys are." I didn’t know that firsthand, but I remembered seeing many sitcoms where the joke was the husband driving would be lost and refused to pull over for directions no matter how his wife nagged. Figured I’d be pretty safe with that response. I turned and added a quick wink at him to let him know I was joking.

  He gave a slight smile, reaching back to rub his neck awkwardly. "Yeah…" he fidgeted with his glasses again and looked away, pretending to be very interested in a pamphlet on the counter asking for donations for the local high school choir.

  I shrugged my shoulders and went back to concocting his drink. He was relatively silent as I worked. Being the supervisor, I decided I should make small talk and make him feel comfortable. Regular customers meant more money, which meant I might get more pay which means I could get a better car than the crappy Dodge I was currently driving. I wanted something loud, and fast so I could feel like I’m flying like most dragons get to do…

  "So, you must not be from around here, huh?" I asked, pouring his drink ingredients into a to-go cup.

  "No, I’m not," he spoke over the loud noise. "I’m just here…investigating."

  Now my interest was piqued. "Investigating? Like what, CSI?" I really, really needed to get out more.

  "Haha, no…just checking out the area and stuff."

  "Oh, I see. Where are you from?"

  "Up north." I paused to wait to hear if he was going to elaborate but as Minnesotans frequently assumed, "up north" was usually a good enough explanation to them. Seemingly anything outside the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis/St.Paul was "up north".

  "Ah. Well there's not really much around Pineville except trees, some fields, some more trees and maybe a bed and breakfast. And here. Oh, and some trees," I spoke sarcastically as I fiddled around with a few more machines until I came up with the perfect drink concoction. Satisfied there was enough foam, I reached for a disposable lid on the countertop by the espresso maker and plopped it on top. "How’s that?"

  He took it from me, raised it in a sort of cheers gesture and took a sip. He smiled. "Perfect, as always. Thank you, Leorah."

  I shot him a look. "How did you..." I snorted, looking down at my apron that covered my shirt. On it I had my name handwritten in silver Sharpie in an elaborate script like we were asked to do. Usually no one could read it; apparently dragons had funky handwriting. I was surprised he could. I laughed. "Right. The name tag thing."

  He grinned. "It’s hard to forget. It’s pretty unusual."

  I chortled. "Well I am pretty damn unusual."

  "Oh, I highly doubt that." Oh if he had any idea. "Unique, I would say."

  I started to raise my brow at him, when he spoke quickly. "So, you live around here, Leorah?"

  "Why do you ask?"

  "Huh? Oh well, I was just wondering if the football team was any good around here. I hear Homecoming is coming up."

  I heard another squeal from the dining area. I turned to look at Emily severely. Sheepishly she had her mouth covered and quickly she dunked her mop in the bucket of water and started haphazardly dripping water everywhere.

  "Careful there, Em!" She wasn’t paying attention and was dripping dirty mop water all over the suede easy chair. She gasped and turned back to what she was doing and attempted to sop up the water with her apron.

  I just shrugged at the customer. "I think they’re a little excited for Homecoming as well."

  "Yeah, I see." He laughed briefly and we exchanged a friendly look for a moment that felt almost…. awkward but I really didn’t know why.

  "So the team, is it any good?" he asked after an uncomfortable silence.

  "Oh! Sorry!" Nervously, I started twirling the hair at the back of my neck. Oddly I had recently discovered myself doing this when this particular person came in. So strange. "Well I honestly wouldn’t know. I’m not really from here myself."

  "Oh really? Where are you from?"

  "Uh, Norway," I answered, which was my general answer whenever someone asked me. I’d been to Norway once, for about five minutes when I discovered I went into the wrong portal the first time I ever tried to come over to the human side. Oops.

  "Really? With that red hair? I would have guessed Ireland or Scotland."

  I grabbed at it nervously and pulled the length of it forward, feeling defensive and nervous at once. Perhaps I was starting to look suspicious. Maybe Norway people never had red hair and I wouldn’t fit in there. Maybe he was starting to see through my cover story and if he could it would only be a matter of time before—

  "It’s dyed," I said quickly. Note to self: tell people from now on you’re from Ireland, not Norway. D’oh.

  "Oh, I figured as much." He chuckled. I laughed nervously in response. "No biggie; I was just wondering. I used to play ball in high school and I kinda like to watch it, brings me back a little."

  I smiled. Aw, he was a ball player...I guessed he meant football. I’d tried to watch a few minutes of that football thing…I didn’t understand it. I think I fell asleep. But the players were pretty nice to look at—at least their backsides—even in their silly purple jerseys.

  "Ah, well…you should. Ask those girls," I nodded towards my co-workers, "on your way out about it. They can tell you about it; they go to that school."

  "Oh, okay," His smile was a ghost of his earlier grin. Another customer entered then; someone Emily knew and I was inexplicably grateful for the distraction.

  "Well, hope you enjoy your coffee." I said, as Emily's friend came to the counter to place their order after a moment of chatting. I brushed my hair to the side, not meaning to leave my neck exposed as I turned with a sigh to make the new order.

  While getting fresh beans from the fridge, I felt a shiver of paranoia as my hair brushed the counter. Quickly I tossed it back, covering my exposed mark. Extra Foam Guy had stopped to stare at me on his way at the door. I felt his stare on my braid, as though he was trying to cut through it with a laser. I turned my face towards him as I adjusted my hair with my fingers, making sure it was completely covered. He seemed to realize what he was doing then and disappeared out the exit, shooting me a quick smile before the door swung shut behind him. I exhaled, trying to shake off my discomfort. I never went out of my way to show my mark off the way most people did when they purposely got a tattoo, but most people that had spotted it crooned over it and asked where I got it, wanting something similar themselves. "Norway" was almost always my answer. My human Earth geography was poor, and that was all I could remember at first. I’m more knowledgeable on the subject now but, old habits die hard, apparently.

  I finished Emily’s friend’s order and she was off to the seating area to talk with her friend as Madison took the opportunity to dash up to me and say "Oh my god!" she squealed.

  "Um… what?"
I asked dumbfounded, wincing slightly. There was that shriek again. Human teenage girls get so excited so easily.

  Her mouth fell open. "What? What nothing! You didn’t see that guy totally flirting with you?"

  Is that what that was? I furrowed my brow in thought, replaying our conversation over in my mind and I couldn’t pick out one thing that was flirtatious.

  "Oh come on, Leo, you can’t be that dense. He’s cute! Don’t you think so?"

  I shrugged. I never really thought about dating a human, I wasn’t even sure it was possible. I was just taking care of my customer. Although, the flush I felt prickling my cheeks might indicate that my body possibly had other ideas.

  "Geez, Leo, you should lighten up. Do you do anything besides work?" she insisted. She was right I was here more often than the owner was, especially lately; my car had been acting up and was eager to purchase one of the newer ones down at the dealership at the end of town.

  "Well, I need a new car. And I had to take my cat to the vet last week, and—" I said quickly, trying to come up with acceptable reasons why I worked my ten hour shifts when in reality, I didn’t need to. I had plenty of dragon currency I could convert over if I wanted to even though it was a pain in the ass and I didn’t prefer to. I didn’t have to work quite so much but I guess I enjoyed it. I really didn’t have anything else going on unless you counted the endless Netflix binges and various nerd marathons of Harry Potter, Star Trek and other things of various nerd ilk.

  "—oh stop. You need to live a little! You should ask him out when he comes back!"

  "Ha!" I exclaimed a little too loudly. Emily and her friend had stopped their excited chatter to pause and look at me. I just gave her a look that said "you are supposed to be cleaning the dining room" and she took the hint. She was still chatting with her friend but at least she was pretending to clean now. It didn’t matter, I’d clean up again after her before I locked up for the night because I had nothing better to do. "I don’t think that’s a good idea. Besides…I don’t think he was flirting with me."

  "What? Are you kidding?" Madison’s short blonde bobbed hair danced excitedly around her heart-shaped feminine face as she spoke animatedly. "Asking you for directions when anyone can clearly see the highway from here? Then making up that lie about football to ask you about the game?"

  "What lie?"

  "Oh he doesn’t play. He’s a nerd," she waved my question off with her hand.

  "How can you tell?" I really had no idea. The glasses?

  "Didn’t you see his shirt? It has HALO written on it? And the glasses? And all the coffee?"

  "What is HALO?"

  "A video game. No one wears a shirt advertising a video game unless they are a gamer. And all gamers are nerds at least somewhat. Why else would he need the coffee?"

  I raised my brow. I wasn’t convinced of her logic—I played a video game myself, but I didn’t consider myself a nerd. Oh shit. "I’m not a nerd!" I protested.

  She snorted. "If you play, you’re a nerd."

  I scowled. Well that was just crap. She wasn’t making any sense whatsoever. "He ordered decaf, though," I replied. I wasn’t understanding her point or accusations and frankly felt a little perturbed about the nerd classification.

  "Yeah because he’s only coming in here to see you! He’s probably got a whole fridge full of Redbull at his house," she insisted, like it was a commonly known fact. I didn’t want to burst her bubble and tell her he wasn’t even from here. "He’s never in here when Emmy and I are here. Never! Just you."

  "So?" She wasn’t wrong, but I was here all the time; so much so I probably blended in with the furniture by now.

  "So! He’s trying to ask you out but too scared!" she insisted.

  "But…I thought nerd was a bad thing?" Or at least, not dateable. Clearly there was something I missed in all my sitcom watching. Perhaps too many old Nick at Nite shows; I needed something newer.

  She chuckled. "Oh no, only if they’re ugly. He is cute—nerdy cute. I mean for an older guy anyways. For you!"

  I rolled my eyes. Like I was ancient, I scoffed to myself. Well, I suppose to them I was. But I didn't appear it and that was all that mattered. I turned to the young girl and sighed. "I don’t know Madison." I ran my fingers over my mark again, troubled by the uneasy feeling in my stomach. There was something about the way he had looked at me before he left... Perhaps I was just paranoid.

  Madison opened her mouth to say something when Kit had emerged and interrupted her, "Hey, why don’t you and Emily get out of here? It’s pretty slow and I think Leo and I can handle things."

  Madison didn’t have to hear that twice. She jumped excitedly, my love life was forgotten, and shouted to Emily that they could leave. In less than a minute both girls had grabbed their purses and letterman jackets from the back and were darting out the door.

  "Thank god." I didn’t want to have to talk about him with her, or even attempt to ponder the notion of dating a human. And was he really "flirting" with me? And why was I even thinking about it? Of all the guys that had ever walked into this coffeehouse—why was I suddenly so intrigued with him?

  Kit raised a brow at me. "What did I miss?" I noticed she was empty handed. "I heard the espresso machine—you got it working, how?"

  I shrugged. "Magic I guess. It just started working again randomly."

  "Huh," she said, with a laugh, going to inspect the machine.

  I scoffed to myself as I mindlessly walked to the seating area to finish what they really hadn’t started. "Magic," I mumbled. If we were in the dragon realm, I might seriously consider magic being used to fix the machine. But since we were in the human world it was just a crazy coincidence.

  I was grateful when no other customers arrived, affording me some time alone with my thoughts. I started mulling over tonight’s meal plan and what shows I’d be watching with my cat.

  I snorted to no one in particular when I realized that I was anticipating an evening with alone my cat. Maybe Madison was right. Maybe I do need to lighten up. I guess I could ask him out, maybe? But that could lead to so many other questions. I needed to talk to someone who knew; I hadn’t ever thought about whether a human and a dragon could be together, romantically. I had never heard of another dragon and human coupling. Most dragons didn’t want anything to do with humans. I was different in that respect. Occasionally I even spent time with humans when I wasn’t required to; I had frequented bookstores with Kit and enjoyed that time away from the workplace in her company. I liked Kit. Respected her, even. I was more comfortable in human company than I was with my own people. Yet another way I was completely different than my dragon brethren.

  I pushed all thoughts of Extra Foam Guy aside and reached for the calendar, bending over the counter to focus on scheduling next week’s shifts. I stared at the page but instead I found myself imagining what it would be like to remove those black rimmed glasses and stare intently into Cute Coffee Guy’s deep brown eyes. To run my fingers through those dark messy waves, over and over again. I covered my eyes with my hand—this was ridiculous. How had he suddenly become Cute Coffee Guy?

  "Leo?"

  Kit’s voice shook me out of my haze. I hadn’t noticed she’d been next to me.

  I smiled sheepishly at her. "I’m sorry, I’m buggin’ out, huh?"

  "Buggin’? I haven’t heard that one for a while," she said with a chuckle. I silently cursed myself. Until I’d come to Pineville, most of my human cultural exposure consisted of 1980s and 1990s movies, magazines and music. It took a while for the new stuff to drift over to the dragon realm; about twenty years actually. I had gotten some funny looks from everyone when I started working here with my "As if" and "Totally bogus!" outdated expressions.

  "Whatever," I just said kiddingly, quoting Cher from one of my favorite 90s movies, Clueless.

  She nudged me and pointed towards the calendar I’d been writing on. Inadvertently, I had been attempting to draw the logo of Cute Coffee Guy’s sweatshirt under Monday’s co
lumn instead of scheduling shifts.

  I quickly covered it with my palm and smacked the book shut. "It’s nothing."

  Kit smiled playfully. "Right. Why don’t you get out of here, since your mind is clearly not here tonight? I got some paperwork to do in back, anyway. You can do the schedule tomorrow and go get some rest."

  I gave her an appreciative look. "Thanks. I’m sorry."

  She just snorted. "Oh, Leorah, it’s okay. If I had a dime for every time a hot man distracted me well…let’s just say we wouldn’t be here right now. I’d be…" she trailed off, eyes twinkling mischievously.

  I slapped her forearm. "Kit!" But I took her advice and decided to go home and attempt to exorcise the images of Cute Coffee Guy’s handsome face which were assaulting my brain. I liked to have tight control over my mind and that man was occupying more of my thoughts than any stranger should.

  Chapter 2

  I arrived at the parking lot of my apartment building—basically a three floor light-colored building with two apartments on each floor and shifted my purple Dodge sedan into park when I reached my spot. I was smiling to myself as I sauntered to my ground floor apartment. Dammit, Leo! I scolded myself in my head. Stop thinking about the human! I didn’t even notice that the door was unlocked and I hadn’t need to use the key when I opened the door.

  "Leorah!"

  I was so distracted I about jumped out of my skin when someone called my name. My handbag flew out of my hand in one direction and my keys flew in the other. The apartment was dark except for the TV. Quickly I slapped at the light switch illuminating the living area in my apartment.

  I heaved a sigh of relief to see my brother sprawled out on my black sofa, looking uncomfortable in a pair of khakis and a button down blue and white striped shirt.