Sitting in an inconspicuous cafe, you drum your fingers along the tabletop while staring blankly at your empty Google Docs page.
You’re sitting in a corner, by yourself. You are totally alone, except for the few girls behind the counter chatting away. The lights were dimmed, and candles were lit at the counter and on a few other tables. The warm environment mixed with the hot chocolate you were drinking and the smell of food, you were getting sleepy. You slouch against the plush chair you were sitting in and let out a sigh. You were meant to be writing.
Here you were, lazily nodding your head along to Eternal Life blasting through your earbuds, tapping away at your table instead of working. At least I’m having a good time, you think to yourself.
You wonder about your best friends, across the country. Feels like they’re across the world. Ever since you moved to New York to pursue your dreams of becoming a writer, you’ve been so lonely. So damn lonely.
Your train of thought is interrupted when you feel a tap on your shoulder. You turn to this person, removing an earbud at the same time.
You take in the woman’s appearance. Bleached blonde hair in a pixie cut, messy, but in a cute way. She was wearing a navy blue hoodie with an oversized jacket that was just too oversized. Her hood was on, leaving her face shadowy.
“Excuse me. Hi. Uh… do you have a charging port here? My phone’s about to die and… My table over there didn’t have one. So. Yeah.” She looked at you, and then to your laptop. The sweet smell of her enveloped you, but you couldn’t quite place what perfume she used. Or if that’s just how she smells.
“Yeah. Think so,” you say, a little too coolly. She probably thinks you’re rude, you thought, while looking underneath your table for a charging port beside. “Yeah, there’s one below the table.”
“Okay, great! Do you mind if I—“ she smiles, almost sheepishly, “— if I sit with you? I won’t bother you.” She fidgets with the sleeve of her jacket.
“No problem.” You could feel her looking at you from your peripherals, and though it was unfocused, you could’ve sworn she was looking at you oddly.
She sits down opposite of you, leaning over to get the charger in the port. You don’t watch her, but you can hear the inevitable struggle of the metal connectors hitting everywhere except the port. You fail to stifle your smile.
When she finally plugs it in, she sits back up and looks at you. You avoid looking at her. Because you’re afraid you’ll end up giggling at her. She lets out a little huff at that, and does exactly what she says. She doesn’t bother you.
For a little while. She’s scribbling something in her notebook, or maybe drawing? You’re working away at your laptop. But you keep feeling her looking at you. It’s very off putting. Eventually, you look back at her and maintain this weird eye contact.
“Do I have something on my face?” you say, half-jokingly because you were getting a little scared you did have something on your face.
She shakes her head no. With a subtle tilt of her head, she says “I’ve came here a couple times, but I’ve never seen you. What’s your name?” She speaks with an air of casualness, but you felt that there was something about her that was intrigued by you. Or maybe she was being polite and your ego is playing into it.
“Yeah, this cafe is so hidden, I didn’t notice it until last week.” You played with the rings on your index finger absently-mindedly. “My name’s (y/n).”
She nods. “That’s a pretty name.” You note that she doesn’t mention her name.
After a brief pause you muster up the courage to ask. “So, what am I supposed to call you?”
She takes a sip of her coffee, and looks out the window on the opposite side of the cafe. It’s starting to drizzle outside.
“Skye,” she says softly.
“Hm?”
“My name’s Skye.”
“Oh. Cool.” You raise your brows a bit to acknowledge her, and go back to work.
You can still feel her looking.
She takes her hood off. You don’t want to stare like a freak, so you continue to aimlessly type words just to look busy. As if Skye could see what you’re doing.
She lets out a breathy laugh after a few moments, smiling out of disbelief. “Do you.. not know me?”
Your brows furrow. “No?”
“Skye. Skye Riley. Does that name not ring a bell?” she laughs incredulously.
Holy shit. You’ve heard about her everywhere. The scandal of her and her drug problems. The car accident, where her boyfriend died. And she's just… sitting in front of you. Holy crap. She looks different.
“Oh. I thought—“you inhale sharply before saying this, “— she was in a— I mean, I thought you were in an accident. I thought your hair was long.. and dark too. Probably why I didn’t recognize you.”
Her smile falls. She swallows the imaginary lump in her throat, “Yeah. I was. And after it happened, after rehab, I changed my look.” While speaking her eyes were averted, and she wrapped a small strand of hair around her finger. Tugging it once. She looks back at you, with a smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes.
Awkward. So awkward. Why the hell would you mention the car accident? How insensitive could a person be?! You cringe internally, hoping this was all a weird dream and you’d wake up dazed but relieved. There’s a silence that smothers the both of you, and you try to quickly change the subject. Should you apologize and end up dragging it out, or just… Compliment her? You could say something about her hair.
“Hmm. I like the short hair.” You gesture to her head, “Think it suits you.”
She rolls her eyes, “You’re just saying that because you know who I am now.” She doesn't look quite as upset anymore.
You laughed, “Seriously! You look great. I’m not the type of person to flatter others.”
She smiles gently, her eyes wandering through your features. You can’t stand when people look at your face for too long. It doesn’t matter if you took your time getting ready in the morning, you felt that she could see the modest asymmetry of your brows, the blemishes on your face. She looked.. perfect. Perfect skin, teeth, brows. Perfect everything.
You look away from her. “I’ve heard a couple of your songs. Like, on the radio,” you mention.
You didn’t notice the admiring look in her eyes.
“Oh, yeah? What do you think?” She leaned forward, her elbows on the table as her hands supported her head. A smile plays on her lips. Your eyes lingered on them, and the brown mole just above her lip. God, you thought, she’s so beautiful. You felt heat rush to your ears.
“Makes the other songs sound like shit.” You hide a shy smile behind your cup of hot chocolate, taking a sip and feeling a slight burning sensation on the tip of your tongue.
She snorts, “Okay, now you’re just flattering me.” But, she was smiling too. “Anyway, why were you just sitting here alone?”
“Because I wanted to write and focus,” you deadpan. “And.. because I don’t have any friends here in New York.”
“Oh. Dumb question. So, where are your friends?”
“They’re studying in different places. I have two in Seattle, and another friend in Vancouver.”
She nods slowly, like she’s deep in thought. “That sucks. I don’t have many friends either.”
You laugh a little at that. How could Skye Riley not have many friends? “Is that why you sat with me? There’s literally nobody here, you could’ve tried another table.”
“I did check… one table..” she trails off. “Is it a crime to sit with another human being and have a nice conversation?” Skye asks, very defensively.
“Woah there, I didn’t say anything,” you raise your hands in a “settle down” gesture, “What if I ended up being a super fan of you or something?”
“I’d get the fuck out of here.”
“Aw man.”
She lets out a giggle from your childish response, and the conversation slowly dies out.
This is weird. You, talking to Skye. Like she’s your friend!
You then notice how it’s begun to rain heavily. How were you meant to get home? This is what you get for taking a walk and helping the planet a little. The rain lashes at the windows, spooking you a little.
“Shit, I have to walk in that rain.”
She perks up all of a sudden. “No you don’t, I can get my assistant to get us home.”
“Uh oh, you’re gonna know where I live.”
She raises her brows, “Yeah, as if I have the time to stalk you.”
You roll your eyes. “Okay, can I have that ride home? Please?”
“Sure, since you said the magic word without me asking,” she teases. Skye goes through her phone and dials someone’s number.
You don’t pay much attention to what she says, instead packing up your stuff in your grey backpack. You pull it on, and practically feel the weight of the world on your back and shoulders. You put your earbuds away too.
About ten minutes later, you see a black car waiting outside the cafe.
“Damn, that was quick.”
She shrugs in response, and gestures for the both of you to get up.
You leave the wondrously cozy cafe and the harsh wind and rain whip your face and ruin your hair. Damn it.
A man steps out of the driver's seat and opens the door for Skye, giving her a questioning look. Was it about you?
“She’s with me.” Skye doesn’t even look at him, and mumbles a “Thanks,” as she gets into the backseat of the car.
You, hesitantly, get in beside her. She’s sitting in the middle of the three seats, and there’s another guy sitting on the opposite side of her, so you have to sit directly next to her. Great.
The seats of the car are leather, and so comfortable. In front of you, there’s a compartment with bottles and bottles of Voss water and, below it, some snacks.
Skye sees you looking at them, “Do you want something to eat?” She’s drowned out by the revving of the car.
You lean closer to her, your ear facing her mouth to hear her better. You hear her say “something to eat” and shake your head no.
When you move away, you catch her smiling at you. The sweetest smile.
“You smell good,” she says. Your heart starts chugging like a train. You smile awkwardly, “Thanks. You too.” You look out the window beside you, and cover your mouth in a casual way so she doesn’t see that the smile didn’t leave your face.
As the car pulls off the curb, the man beside her starts speaking to you. “So, you’re a friend of Skye’s?” The man asks, leaning forward to look past Skye and look at you, “I’m Joshua, and this is Elizabeth, Skye’s manager and mother.” He motions towards the woman sitting in front of you. That lady and Skye do not look alike.
“Oh, cool. Nice to meet you guys. My name is (y/n).”
“Sweet. How’d you guys meet?” Only Joshua is making conversation with you, and Elizabeth is on her phone, looking vaguely frustrated. He looks happy and refreshed, like he got a full eight hours of sleep. Lucky him.
“Oh we.. uh.. just..” You look over to Skye for some help.
“We met at that fundraiser a couple weeks ago, don’t you remember?” The lie came quite easily to her. “Stop interrogating her.”
“Sorry Skye, I didn’t mean to question you guys so much. Also sorry about getting this car instead of the limo. It would’ve dragged too much attention over here.” Joshua says, almost in a panicked way.
“It’s fine.” She’s very curt with Joshua, you wonder why she was so amiable with you.
A silence settles over the car. You clear your throat before telling Joshua your address, so he would tell the driver and they could drop you off.
“That’s not a good area to live in.” Elizabeth says. She turns around to look at you and Skye. She already rubs you the wrong way. “Is it safe?”
“Ehh. As long as it’s daytime it’s fine.”
As she turns back to face the front, she scrunches her nose up slightly, as if smelling something rotten.
You smooth down your hair after the wind dishevelled it. When your hands come down to rest on your lap, you feel another hand on top of yours. It’s soft and warm.
You look down at the hand, and then back up to look at Skye. She mouths “Ignore her.”
Oh. She thought you were upset about what her mom said. You mouth back “It’s okay.” Sweet of her to care.
The weird thing was how her hand didn’t move off yours. It was like you two were in your own warm little bubble. You leaned against her, and she laid her head on your shoulder. When you looked down at her, she didn’t meet your eyes. You hoped she couldn’t hear your heart drumming away.
You could feel Joshua looking, but he didn’t say anything at all. It would be pretty embarrassing if you were already disliked by Elizabeth in the first 10 minutes of knowing her.
When you finally got to the parking lot of your apartment complex, you sighed with relief. You gently got Skye off your shoulder, and opening the door for yourself, you step out and put your hoodie on.
“Okay, thanks for the ride, Skye.” You turn to quickly dash into your apartment.
“Wait, (y/n)!” Skye says.
You turn around, and stick your head into the car, “Yeah?”
“Can I have your number?”
You were taken aback. Why did she want your number? I mean… You and her basically cuddled but still. It’s Skye friggin Riley. “Okay, sure. Give me your phone, I’ll put it in for you.”
“Okay. I’ll put mine into yours,” she says.
You exchange phones and put your phone number as a contact. After, you snoop a little and see that she has Beyoncé and Adele in her contacts. Dang, you thought. You’re technically connected to them now.
You hand her back her phone, and she gives yours back to you.
“I’ll text you. Or call, ” she says.
You smile at her. “Sure thing. Later!”
You’re already half drenched from standing in the rain, and you waste no time jogging to the front door where there’s cover. You unlock the door with your key, and wave at the car before heading inside.
As you walk to the elevator, your mind is totally overwhelmed by this experience. Skye completely consumes you, without even being there. You wonder why she even talked to you. You wonder why she gave you a ride home, why she held your hand and asked for your number. Is she just as lonely as you are?
➽──────────────❥
After a few days, you wake up from a nap and see 2 new messages from Skye.
“heyyy how are you”
“are you free next week haha”