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It was evening and Jolyne patiently waited outside of her favorite cafe.
Besides the small shopping district being beautiful with its many fountains and flower beds, That wasn’t the real reason why Jolyne often came here, it was because of someone who is important to her.
The cafe door opened and it’s tiny bell rang, Jolyne was a bit startled by the sudden noise. Looking to her right that's when she saw him, Domenico Pucci.
~
Domenico didn’t notice Jolyne at first since he had his back turned, he was occupied putting up the small chalkboard near the front entrance. Yet Jolyne’s gaze was fixed on him, this was the real reason why she often came here, she had a crush on Domenico. Once he was done placing the chalkboard, he turned around finally noticed her.
“Ah!” He gave her a smile “It’s good to see you again, Jolyne.” Domenico said in calm yet slightly enthusiastic tone.
Nervous however, Jolyne began to fidget, “Hello again...” replying as she avoided eye contact.
Domenico chuckled, for his favorite customer to still be shy around him, after knowing one another for almost two months made him laugh. It was honestly a cute sight for him. He made his way to open the door for Jolyne, “After you.”
Picking up her school bag she had set aside, Jolyne scurried off inside the cafe. Making her way to the bar stand since she wanted to be up close with Domenico.
“So the usual right?” he asked as he made his way to attend her.
“Yes please.” she replied quietly as she sat down on the stool chair.
Domenico was about to prepare her cup of coffee but stopped suddenly, he noticed the bandage on Jolyne’s cheek.
“Jolyne, what happened? Be honest with me...” He pointed at the bandage and Jolyne touched her cheek. Crap, she thought to herself.
Jolyne had forgotten about her injury, it was from a result from a fight she had earlier. She smiled however, just hearing Domenico be concerned about her made her feel at ease.
“I uh…I just fell, I wasn’t looking where I was going while walking to my class.” She replied.
Jolyne didn’t want Domenico to see through her lie, so she avoided eye contact.
“Thank goodness,” sighing he smiled, “o-oh not about you getting hurt of course.” he went back to make Jolyne her cup of coffee, “I was just worried you got into a fight, or someone was bullying you.”
Jolyne gave Domenico a smile, reassuring him it wasn’t from a fight but she
was
lying to him.
After a while, Jolyne noticed the cup of coffee being placed right next to her.
“Here you go, to my number one customer.” Domenico said in a calm tone along with a smile.
Jolyne noticed he also gave her a biscotti along with her coffee, “Thank you” she replied. Jolyne took a sip of the coffee, careful not to burn herself. The way Domenico brewed his coffee was perfect to Jolyne, it was a soothing taste.
Before Domenico could strike a conversation with Jolyne, the shop’s door bell rang. It was two customers. “I’ll be right back” he told her, Jolyne nodded as he left to attend them.
Jolyne sighed as she stared at her reflection in the coffee, all she wanted was to express herself to Domenico, how she truly was. She was scared however, Domenico is a very kind and proper person. Yet Jolyne noticed how he had a low tolerance to anything violent and rash. Jolyne didn’t want to risk this friendly relationship with Domenico.
It hurt Jolyne how she had to play the sweet quiet girl role, but in such a long while she has never felt so at peace with someone. Being with her friends of course made her happy, but something about Domenico made her feel at bliss.
~
Two months ago, Jolyne had gotten into an argument with her father. All she remembered was storming out of the house late in the evening, ending up in the small shopping district. Jolyne was eager to to get her mind off of her troubles and thankfully she stumbled upon the small cafe.
Apparently it was their grand opening and Jolyne noticed the small chalkboard near the entrance. The deals were cheap and thankfully she brought pocket change, enough to buy herself a cup of coffee. Setting foot inside, Jolyne was baffled. The interior of the cafe was beautiful.
“Excuse me, miss?” Jolyne was a bit startled by the voice, looking to her side she noticed a barista standing near the entrance. “I’m sorry but the seating is a bit full, same for the balcony. I hope you do not mind sitting at the bar, my brother will attend to you.” His accent was a bit thick, but Jolyne understood him well. Taking a closer look at his name tag it read, ‘Enrico Pucci’. Thanking him she went off to the bar area.
Finding an empty seat she gave a sigh, Jolyne thought about the argument with her father. All she ever wanted was for him to stay home longer, yet her choice of words were harsh. Jolyne didn’t mean to sound angry and neither did she wanted to lash out on him, but it happened regardless.
“Excuse me…” Jolyne stopped day dreaming and saw a barista. “Are you alright?” His voice, despite being deep, it was gentle and sweet.
Quickly she wiped away the tears that were almost forming, “Y-yes thank you.” Giving him a smile she looked over at his name tag, ‘Domenico Pucci’, so this was the brother.
“So what can I get for you today?” he asked giving her a smile.
“I,” Jolyne stopped for a moment, she was nervous. “A cup of coffee please…”
Domenico laughed, “No need to be shy, I’ll give it to you right away.”
That night Jolyne stayed in the cafe, talking to Domenico about her problems whenever he had the chance to listen. The thing was however, she kept her foul mouthed and violent nature a secret. Maybe it was because she didn't want to make a bad first impression, or maybe it was because, she immediately began to like Domenico and she wanted him to see her as a sweet person.
~
It was getting late now and Jolyne had to leave, since she didn’t want to get into another argument with her father. As she packed her bag and said her goodbyes to the brothers, Domenico stopped Joyne for a moment.
“Jolyne are you sure you’ll be fine going home by yourself?” He noticed how late it was and didn’t want anything to happen to her.
“I’ll be fine don’t worry.” She gave him one last smile and walked out of the cafe, waving goodbye to domenico.
Jolyne decided to take a detour to the back alley, since it was a shortcut home. Yet she immediately regret her decision, she stumbled across a man who seemed to be intoxicated. Jolyne didn’t want to deal with this, she was exhausted from doing all of her homework and all she wanted was to go home. Giving and irritated sigh, she decided to turn back. It seems like Jolyne is going to have to call for her mom to pick her up.
“Hello girly, can take a moment of your time?” said the drunkard as he stumbled trying to get up. Jolyne ignored him however, thankfully it wasn’t that far long to get back to the shopping district. She turned however to see if the drunk man was still following her and indeed he was.
“Aww c'mon girl please, I just need the extra change for some liquor.”
Stopping she scowled at him, “I’m not giving you Jack shit.” she swore, “So leave me the hell alone.” Jolyne was almost back at the cafe, I just gotta ignore him , she thought to herself. Before she could continue to walk away however, he caught up to her, touching her shoulder.
“You really need to respect ya elders ya know.” He smelled heavily of alcohol which disgusted Jolyne.
“I told you to leave me alone!” she exclaimed. Jolyne dropped her bag however since she struggled to turn around. “Ugh that's it!” She was greatly annoyed at this point.
Before she could properly hit the drunkard behind her, Jolyne noticed Domenico in the back alley and was making his way toward them. Approaching the drunkard, Domenico seemed very displeased.
“Excuse me but, you disturbing my favorite customer.” His tone of voice was a bit scary and his face was serious.
Intimidated, the drunkard left leaving Jolyne standing there baffled, then immediately realised the way she acted just now.
“Jolyne, are you alright?” Domenico approached her pickinging up her bag in the process.
“I'm sorry…” she whispered, just the thought of Domenico stumbling across Jolyne, the way how she normally acted was terrible.
“Why are you apologising?”
“Because I lied to you, I don’t act nice all the time. I’m not quiet or shy, I’m mostly rash and foul mouthed” she wanted to cry, Jolyne cared about Domenico and didn’t mean to lie to him at all.
Domenico brushed his frown away, replacing it with a smile. “Listen Jolyne, I am I bit disappointed I’ll admit, but no matter what you will always be my favorite customer. I enjoy speaking to you and I enjoy it when you come here.”
As always, his words were kind and Jolyne loved it. Looking up to make eye contact with Domenico, they both gave one another a smile, “Come on,” he said, “I’ll make you another cup of coffee while you wait for your mother.”
Jolyne smiled, “Thank you Domenico.”
“Anything for my favorite customer, but give me a moment the reason I came back here was to throw away the trash…”
“R-right."