Chapter Text
It was a day like no other.
A rainy day. It’s been raining for some weeks now, so people stopped complaining. Most people. But some people kept on complaining and moaning about it. Some of these people were moody and stayed at home all day but there were some exceptions.
“The rain won’t stop, huh?”
Nanaba looked at her brunette friend, who was, as usual, photographing her cake and cup of coffee. “I really hope it’ll stop soon. I already forgot how nice sunny days feel.” Nanaba sighed.
“I’m sure it’ll stop raining soon! And then we’re going to get sick of all the sun we’ll be getting!” said the brunette and giggled.
All of the sudden, the two women heard a deep, voice saying:
“One tall caramel macchiato for Banana~!”
Nanaba knew exactly that the cashier means her. Since her friend ordered a cup for “her and her bestie ‘Banana’” he’s always written that on every single cup she ordered. Even if she told him her actual name. “Zoe, shut up. It’s not funny!” The blonde woman tried to calm her friend down. She stood up and got to the counter to pick up her cup.
“The name is still ‘Nanaba’.”
The Cashier grinned and handed her the cup over. “Watch out it’s hot, Banana.”
“I mean it, don’t call me ‘Banana’! My name is Nanaba and it’s terribly embarrassing for me if you call me ‘Banana’.”
“I don’t understand your problem, miss, I like bananas. So it’s sort of a complement, actually.” Nanaba’s cheeks turned red. The bearded man cleaned his working place and was still grinning. She shook her head and still insisted to call her her real name, and not a “silly nickname.”.
In the meantime, While Nanaba argued with the cashier about how he should call her, some very moody man sat across Zoe at another table. He had a simple cup of coffee. How boring Zoe thought. She ignored him and made more photos for her Permagram. These will get her popular. She knew it. While doing the photos, she didn’t notice that she makes the most various expressions which go from a serious frown to a wide sudden grin – or even sticking out her tongue while trying to find the perfect angle. When she looked up to the man, she saw he was looking at her with a frown. He shook his head and continued working on his notebook.
A short moment later, Nanaba came back, she sighed and sat next to Zoe again, who just looked at her friend and grinned.
“How’s it going, Bananaaaaa~”
“Quit it, Zoe, it’s not funny! Strangers start to call me ‘Banana’ just because of you!”
Zoe laughed and sipped her drink. Nanaba warmed her hands on the warm cup of her drink and looked out of the window. It was quite cold, as it’s expected on an November’s day. Zoe was keep teasing Nanaba, who just wanted to enjoy her coffee and forget about her, as she said, dumb nickname.
An hour later, both of the women left the Café Starbrooks, on the way out, Nanaba heard the cashier saying “See you two, Susanne and Banana!” except the fact that he, like many others, didn’t get Zoe’s name right, he kept calling her ‘Banana’ like she was some fruit.
On the way home, Zoe told her shorthaired friend about the moody guy who shook his head on her, she found it ridiculous that he didn’t mind his own business. Nanaba just listened and nodded. She knew how people always looked at Zoe for her behaviour. Was it photographing her drink and meal, or suddenly singing out loud in public, or just talking very loudly in general wherever she was. So it was no surprise to her that once again someone looked at her and shook his head.
“Thanks for walking this way just to bring me home.” Nanaba said as she looked for her keys in her bag.
“Don’t mention it, I just had to tell you about that dude! So it was worth walking with you the way!” Zoe laughed and patted her friend on the shoulder. “I just hope my two boys don’t miss their mommy! I should be home already, and they get nervous whenever I’m a minute late!”
“I’m sure they don’t got it from you.” The blonde chuckled and opened her door. “See you tomorrow, Zoe. Take care on the way home.” Zoe waved and grinned at her friend as she went inside.
***
“Well if you ask me, I think he likes you!”
Zoe laughed into her phone. While walking her two dogs, a small Pomeranian and a big Mastiff, in the evening, it was kind of a routine to call Nanaba and talk to her about the most random things. “Why not? The way he looks at you says it... Well, I know his hair is hiding his sight but if you look good enough you can spot his eyes!” she fixed her phone, letting the leash on her smaller dog loose, which caused him to run off.
“Sawney!! Oh God, Nanaba, I’m going to call you later, Sawney ran away again and I have to look for him. Yea, I’ll be careful. Thanks – bye!” As soon as she hung up, she went to look for her little friend. It would be easier for her to search if her bigger dog ran off, she could’ve spot him quickly, but her little Sawney was not only tiny but also very fast. And, if it couldn’t get worse, it was already dark.
“Sawney!” she yelled. “Sawney , come to Mama!”
“God, Bean, why can’t Sawney be like you. Every single time he gets loose, he runs away somewhere...” She petted her bigger dog, and let him loose as well “Go, look for Sawney! Come on!” As the command was given, the bigger dog also disappeared in the bushes. Zoe was thinking if it really was a good idea to let her second dog loose as well.
Then, there it was. A loud barking. A high and deep sounding one. Zoe immediately recognized these sounds. She followed the sound, wondering why they were barking.
There they were, barking on someone who was sitting on the bench. Bean looked more as if he barked out of fear, Sawney on the other hand, out of anger. As usual. His hatred for strangers wasn’t something new for Zoe.
“God fucking damn it.” The hooded person on the bench hissed. Zoe walked up to him and her dogs, getting both of them on the leash and glancing down to the person, who looked annoyed at her. Her eyes widened as she saw his face. She wouldn’t think she would see this guy again.
The guy who shook his head on her in Starbrooks.
“The fuck you have your glasses for if you can’t even look out for your damn dogs?!” the man said. He was certainly not a dog person, that’s what Zoe could tell. He stood up and looked at her face.
“...Wait. You’re the hipster weirdo from Starbrooks.” He examined her face. She looked down at him and wondered what was he looking at so interested.
“You do still have a dumb expression even without doing silly faces.” He said while taking a cigarette out and smoked it. He didn’t seem to care about whether he is rude or not to people.
“Whoa there, you could be nicer, Shorty!” the moment the word ‘Shorty’ left her lips, he glared at her like no one has ever glared before. And she told herself, if glares could kill, she would be dead right now. “And I’m not some ‘hipster weirdo’! I was just casually photographing my stuff which shouldn’t bother you at all.”
“Mh-mhm. I don’t care what you were doing. The faces you made were ridiculous, four-eyes.” The man put his hands into his pockets and started walking away.
Zoe didn’t even tried to stop him, she was speechless. There weren’t that much things she hated, but people like him were definitely not on a likeable list to her. Once he got out of sight, Sawney and Bean finally stopped barking.
“Geez, what an idiot.” She murmured and walked home. As soon as she got home, she called Nanaba once again. She simply had to tell her about the rude, short, Mister.