Chapter Text
Oh Cauldron just drown me now, I thought walking into my favorite coffee shop. It was my place, Mine! But there was no mistaking that mother awful too loud voice booming with obnoxious laughter. My eyes trace over the tables and armchairs until they land on his hulking figure with the ridiculous man bun on top of it all at MY normal table in the corner. He had been everywhere I was the last few days. The library, the grocery store, my favorite park and now my cauldron damned coffee shop that was MY sanctuary. Already feeling a headache coming on, I signaled the barista to bring over my usual order and took a different table to open my laptop at. I would have to make the best of this situation even if the only open table had been in an open area and people would bump my chair, breaking my concentration. A few well placed icy glares had the nearest tables shifting away for a few extra inches at least. The extra dry cappuccino delivered to my table a few minutes later helped drown out the chatter of the cafe as I started to write, except one obnoxious booming laugh.
I could feel her glare like a chill up my spine as it landed on me. Sitting with Rhys and Az in a little coffee shop off the main streets in between Rhys's meetings and business deals. Everywhere I went, she seemed to be around the corner. The first time I saw her, her intense beauty stunned me, and I knew I needed to know her. I just couldn't figure out how to get past the iciness that coated her entire being. Perhaps just going up to her and asking her name would be a step in the right direction, but I didn't want to risk the chance of humiliation in front of my brothers. Not that it's ever happened before, but this girl seemed different somehow. Not like one of those girls I just had to flash a smile at. Good, I could use a new challenge.
I stopped typing long enough to take a sip of my drink and stopped to admire my work. Fifty-seven chapters, almost two hundred thousand words, two straight years of work into building the concept, meticulous research, hours spent at the coffee shop, library, and park collecting inspiration and writing. And soon, likely within the week, she would be finishing the novel and then it would be editing and sending it in to a literary agent. I would be a big name in the writing world. I would bring in big money and finally she would pay back Feyre for everything she had given and give Elain the flower shop she had dreamed of since she had been a child running through the garden. Soon I would show them I could provide for them too. And it was all on the laptop in front of me. My daydreaming was cut short as my chair was bumped hard. I was about to tell the dumbass to watch where they were going when something hot went over my shoulder burning my skin, soaking my favorite white sweater, and splashing onto the table and onto my laptop making sparks. The screen flashed blue for a moment and then it went completely black.
This was it, I was going to get up and talk to her. She looked slightly less intense as she typed away on her laptop, seemingly lost in the words. Cauldron, she was beautiful.
"I'm gonna go talk to her," I said to no one in particular, and rose from my seat before Rhys or Azriel could say anything. I was so focused on the back of her head that I didn't see the male push his chair from out under his table behind hers. I quickly tried to right myself, causing me to bump into her chair and spilling my tea right over her shoulder, on to her and her laptop. I watched in horror as Sparks flew from the computer and died.
"I am. So. Sorry," I said as I quickly gathered some napkins to help clean up the spill. "I will pay for all the damage to your computer and the dry cleaning for your sweater." I looked up to find that icy glare settled on me in such a calm that I was almost afraid for my life.
Everything gone in a blink, fried. Two mortal years of work for nothing and all due to the obnoxious man bun that had bumped into my chair. Cold icy rage settled deep into my bones as he swabbed up what he could from the table and blabbed out apologies in that too loud voice. His hazel eyes gained a hint of fear as I turned to face him. Good. I shoved my chair back, ramming into his legs hard. Then I drew myself up to my full height. Not enough to match the man who measured well over six feet tall but I, Nesta Archeron, have been known to cut down good for nothing men before.
"And how do you propose to restore the hard drive you just fried, you hulking barbarian bastard?"
Her rage was intimidating as she stood in front of me. She was nowhere near as tall as me, but she still managed to look down her nose at me. She was the most beautiful female I had ever seen. She asked something about the hard drive being fried, mixed in with insults I've heard too many times in my life to count. I gave her my best lazy smile.
"Don't tell me you don't have whatever you were working on saved somewhere else," I said. "You look entirely too smart not to take that precaution."
I froze. I hadn't saved it anywhere else. The one time Elain had gifted me with one of those fancy little memory sticks that had looked like a ridiculous cat, it had been lost in days. It was much harder to misplace a laptop, especially her laptop. It was her prize possession. The one thing she never felt bad about taking money from Feyre for because it was going to be their future. Except now that future was fried by a cup of tea by this bastard standing over me and all I could do was stare.
I could sense her panic the moment the words left my mouth.
"Look," I said, trying to calm her down. "We'll take it to a computer repair shop. I'm sure they can save it. And like I said, I will pay for all damages." When she didn't move, I bent over to look into her eyes.
"Hey, it's gonna be alright. We'll fix it, okay?" She still continued to stare. I had to do something, anything to get her to talk. To get her to trust me. "My name is Cassian," I told her. "What's yours?"
"It's going to be alright? You're sure? And how are you so sure? Do you make a habit of destroying people's livelihoods?" I snapped at him. He couldn't know if it was able to be saved. And damn right he was going to pay for it. He was going to pay for a hell of a lot more than that. If everything was lost, he was buying me a top of the line new laptop and I would have to start again. That prospect alone pissed me off more. Why should I have to restart two years of hard work because he was a hulking brute? Even if he was a good looking hulking brute. No. I gave myself a mental kick to stop that train of thought. This bastard had ruined everything and I couldn't wait to be rid of his obnoxious everything!
"At least I'm trying to help," I snapped back at her, my anger finally getting the best of me. "But if you want to sit her and sulk, by all means, go ahead." I turned away from her, prepared to go back to my table. " I came over to talk to you because I thought you were beautiful. Too bad your personality doesn't match."
I didn't know why it hurt so much to hear him complain about my personality. I wasn't warm and fuzzy like Elain. She was the beautiful one. Feyre was the strong one. And I was cold. No one had ever accused me of being likeable, so why did this man get under my skin with those words? It infuriated me even more that he had gotten in so quickly, but I was getting what I wanted. He was leaving and he would likely leave me alone now. That was good, right? Except it wasn't. I felt something urging me to stop him. At least I had a decent excuse to keep him around for another minute or two that wouldn't appear as if I had any actual interest in him, which I didn't, I was sure of that much.
"Wait," I sighed. He stopped in his tracks and angled an ear back at me. "I might be a bitch but you're still fixing this laptop. If you don't, I'll remove your favorite part for ruining everything I've worked for."
I couldn't help but smile to myself. Even though she wasn't particularly friendly, I felt drawn to this woman; like I needed to be around her. I feigned a sigh and turned back to her.
"I know a really good shop down the street," I said. "That's where I do most of my business. If anyone can salvage it, they can." I waited for her to gather her things and set off down the street. The silence was tense, and I could still feel the anger radiating off of her.
"I never said you were a bitch, by the way," I said, hoping to break the tension. "And I truly am sorry."
"You didn't say it," I replied, "but you meant it." What else could my personality not being beautiful mean? I readjusted my bag off of the burn on my shoulder just to relieve some of the tension. "It's fine. Everyone says it." In fact, most people said it to my face. Feyre said it often enough when the two of us fought, not that I didn't say equally appalling things first that had Elain covering her ears until we had slammed our respective doors. But perhaps he was just too nice to say such a word to my face. Seeing him everywhere I had gone the last few days had given me that impression. Playing with kids at the park, helping little old ladies in the grocery store, and now whatever this was. I felt my anger quell a little. A bumbling idiot but likely he had meant no harm.
"Everyone?" I asked. That had to be rough, hearing everyone you meet call you names. Hell, I could relate. Everyone I met called me a brute or bastard. I snorted.
"I know how that feels," I told her. "Because of my size and job, I'm called names too." We walked in silence a little longer.
"You never told me your name."
I had been hoping he would forget but it seemed he remembered he hadn't gotten that answer yet. Part of me wanted to give him a fake name just to make sure he would never be able to track me down again, but it was likely that would backfire. Things like that always backfired for me. But it was fine. If I needed to get rid of him later, I could turn the ice back on full again and he would turn tail and run again. I had almost run him off once, it would be just as easy the second time.
"Nesta," I grumbled. Then, because I was curious and also wanted to deflect from myself I asked, "what is it you do that makes people call you a brute?"
Nesta. It was a beautiful name for a beautiful lady.
"Well, Nesta," I started, savoring the way her name felt on my tongue, on my lips. I wondered what else would feel good. I shook my head of those thoughts. "I'm the head of security for a pretty big company here in Velaris, and sometimes I piss off quite a few people." I gave her a small smile, telling her that I had that talent as well.
"Ah, here we are," I said, stopping in front of a shabby looking storefront. "Best computer repair in town."
I bet he had a talent for pissing people off. He pissed me off by existing. There was not one chance I was the only person in the world he had that effect on. Instead of acknowledging what he had said, I turned my attention to the storefront with a raised an eyebrow. If they were the best, there was no way they would have such a crappy storefront. They would be able to afford a sign that wasn't crumbling and a window washer to get the grime off the windows so one could see inside properly. I heard Cassian let out a little chuckle at my clear opinion but he led the way inside anyway. I clutched my bag close as I looked around at aging carpet, florescent lights, and parts of computers on metal shelves with handwritten price tags. I hardly even noticed Cassian had left my side until his obnoxiously loud voice disrupted the eerie quiet of the place as he called me up to the counter.
The look of disgust was clear on her face as she slowly walked up to the counter. I tried not to laugh as she avoided touching anything, as if something would reach out and grab her. I turned to the male at the counter, and shook his hand.
"Bill! Good to see you again," I said. "I have a complicated one for you." I launched into the explanation of what happened to Nesta's laptop. Bill listened intently and nodded his head along.
"Hmm, yes," Bill said when I was done explaining. "It shouldn't be too hard to get the information off the hard drive. As for fixing the whole computer, that depends on whether the motherboard is fried or not. Which I'm assuming it is, since it sparked and died." He paused and scratched his chin "It's gonna take me a couple of days, so I'll give you a call when it's ready."
"Thanks, Bill." I shook his hand again. "We'll leave you to work your magic." Bill gave us a smile and waved as we left the shop.
Standing outside the shop was awkward at best. Now that my laptop was in Bill's 'capable' hands, there was no reason for me to stick around Cassian and he certainly had no reason to stick around me. Not that I wanted him to. I certainly did not want him around me any more than necessary and it was no longer necessary. Despite that, I held out my hand to him expectantly. When he looked confused I flicked my fingers at him.
"Phone," I wiggled my fingers to suggest he hand it over quickly. I saw the insufferable smirk smear itself across his face and it sparked my anger back into a flame. He opened his mouth to no doubt say something equally obnoxious and cocky while his phone was placed in my hand so I held up the other hand to forestall whatever he was going to say. "You will call me only when my computer is fixed. I will not accept texts from you. I will not accept calls from you. Your number will be screened to voicemail whenever it shows up on my phone. Only when my computer is fixed will I deem to meet you anywhere and only for my computer, is that clear?" I finished entering the contact information, but I withheld the phone waiting for his response.
I listened to her list of demands; the smirk growing on my face. "We'll see about that," I said as I grabbed my phone out of her hand. "I'm not that easy to get rid of." I saw the spark of anger in her eyes, but something made me want to stir it up. To poke at it. It was entirely too easy to set her off, to get under her skin. I definitely wanted to see how far I could go. But not yet. Not today. Perhaps when her computer comes back. "Let me know when you want to go computer shopping," I said. "After all, you expect me to pay for that too." I gave her a mock of a bow. "Until then, miss Nesta." I turned on my heel and strode back to the coffee shop where Az and Rhys were definitely waiting for some answers.
I watched him go. We'll see about that indeed. Cocky bastard. I huffed as I turned to walk home. I would not be answering the phone from his texts or calls. He would only get the barest response from me when he received word my computer was ready. And once I had my new computer and my novel back, I could block his number completely. I was barely a block away when I heard my phone vibrate. Looking down I saw his number on the screen. Since I knew my computer wasn't done already, I swiped the notification to the right to get rid of it making sure it wouldn't say I had read whatever message he had sent.