Chapter Text
It’s barely 5 am when she slips out of her apartment, covered in layers upon layers of clothing. As she walks slowly down the street, careful not to slip on the damp sidewalk, she could easily see each breath that exits her body she passes under the street lamps. The yellow glow of the light gives her access toward her destination. While the morning traffic had yet to wake, she could see the slight signs of life down the street.
Through a large window of a rather small coffee shop, Lucy momentarily stills. While it was the smell of fresh coffee that stopped her, it is the young woman behind the counter that brings her in.
Swiftly slipping through the door while clasping her hand over the handle, Lucy wanders over towards the cashier. Slightly squinting at the name tag, Kara, Lucy wanders up to the counter. Adjusting her glasses, Kara rewards her with what seemed like a genuine smile. How could anyone be this genuine at 5 am was beyond her. Ordering a medium cup of a black coffee and a toasted bagel to go along with it, Lucy easily settles into one of the many empty tables in the cafe, waiting patiently as her cold body tries to grow accustomed to the manufactured heat that warms the building. Settling her bag carefully beside her, she lightly drums her fingers to the tune of the song playing. Soft, romantic, horribly catchy and haunting; she can’t help but listen to the painful croon of the man coming through. There was something in this song, something that so easily destroyed her momentum, that stopped her very being and called out to her. As much as the song stilled her, the haunting voice that caught her, left her just as quickly.
It is only moments later when her a black coffee and a bagel with a healthy heaping of cream cheese is placed in front of her and a gentle hand is on her shoulder. Extremely efficient, something that may be able to bring her back, among other things. Lifting her head up, she turns to see the girl behind the counter smiling down at her. As if they had met a thousand times before, Kara’s touch seems to be as familiar and comforting as she could imagine.
“Here’s your black coffee and toasted bagel, Miss,” the young barista states, leaning down just a bit to catch her eyes. “Is there anything else I can get for you,” Kara asks, lingering at her table momentarily.
“No, no thank you,” Lucy quietly states, attempting to keep any sense of self-control she has.
With a quick nod of the head, the woman with the gentle smile and sparkling blue eyes heads back behind the counter. While taking the first sip of her beverage the soft, mellowing movement of piano keys started up and she had to remind herself to continue drinking while listening to this next one. As if the gods themselves had a handle of her, Lucy was suddenly on her feet headed towards the woman behind the counter. As if sensing her, Kara turned away from the merchandise behind her and looked at Lucy expectantly, a slight smile still playing on her lips.
Soft lips opened and shut fairly quickly before Kara quirked an eyebrow, looking at Lucy intently. It passed for what felt like an eternity, yet oddly enough, it was this moment that caused Kara to smile even wider and encouraged the girl to softly grasp Lucy’s hand. Tilting her head to the side Lucy opened her mouth slowly and pushed the words out of her mouth.
“This song. The one before it as well. Who is it? What album is it?” Lucy asked as if each question was a thought bubble that Kara could physically touch.
Squinting her eyes momentarily as the shorter woman’s voice popped out, Kara took each question in her mind quickly. Creating a quick inventory of both songs that played, Kara wrote down the artist and the song for her.
“Here you go,” the barista stated softly. Upon receiving the note, Lucy turned her body to head back to her seat. It was the slightest touch really, but it was the kind of touch that burrowed under her skin, past her muscles, and deep into some place she wasn’t fully aware still functioned. Just like moments before, her body did the unfathomable and stopped. Lucy craned her neck around and looked at the slender barista. Instead of chancing the possibility of opening her mouth, she just looks, looks with a moment of curiosity because this woman made the effort to stop her, touch her, connect with her.
“Or... or I can make you a copy of this playlist. All of it’s pretty good, I promise. If, if you just come back tomorrow it’ll be ready for you. I... I mean, if that’s cool with you,” Kara’s stuttered comment comes out, as her grip on Lucy’s wrist lightens. While fingers were still loosely wrapped around her wrist, Lucy's eyes swiftly moved from Kara’s earnest blue ones, down her arms, to where soft hands with long fingers grip her. In reality, it was the lightest touch but somehow these fingers, these measly fingers stopped her will, her entire force.
“That sounds reasonable,” Lucy responds, nodding her head in acceptance.
Returning to her seat, Lucy finishes up her boffe and takes a few bites of her bagel, listening to one last song before she gathers her things and tosses her trash. With two quick swipes of the table, removing whatever crumbs had settled on her table in the last 14 minutes. With a bag over her shoulder, Lucy is up and on her way to the exit. Turning her head slightly, to catch one last glimpse, a mild disappointment begins to brew in the pit of her stomach when Kara is not behind the counter. Just as her hand slips to the handle, the same soft, genuine touch is on her shoulder already. Even with all the layers of clothing covering her, Kara stops her dead in her tracks. Letting out a shaky breath, Lucy turns her head and sees the beautiful woman smiling at her. Somewhere mixed between a curse and a blessing, Lucy’s entire body seems to be frozen, hoping beyond hope that at least an eyebrow could be raised.
“I... I’m Kara. Just, you know... just thought you should know.”
“I know,” are Lucy’s only words as she nods her head quickly at Kara’s nametag. A moment passes before Kara looks at her expectantly. “Oh. Right. I’m Lucy,” the shorter woman replies lamely. It is this moment, this singular moment that allows Lucy outside of herself to see why it is that she’s alone. Why, for her, it is much simpler to just be aware, but not actually act. Everything was always so awkward and stunted for her. Completely bypassing the entire awkward moment Lucy seems to be grounded in, Kara simply continued on, not giving a second thought to the woman’s delayed response.
“Okay, cool. It, uh, it was nice meeting you Lucy,” Kara says as she begins to toy with her glasses. Taking them off her face, she slides her fingers through, on, around them, completely keeping her hands busy and Lucy stands there, still just watching the girl. It is only when a customer collides into the door does Kara snap out of it and heads back toward the counter.
“Tomorrow then,” Lucy responds as she turns to head toward the office. It is in the chilled air when she can finally cool off. The sting of her warmed cheeks cool with the touch of the morning atmosphere.
With the plan of seeing Kara at the forefront of her mind, the workday seems to continuously drag on. The computers seem to take a little too long to boot up, the coffee machine was not nearly as scalding as it should be, the mouth breathing mail guy seems to think that today would be the perfect day to chat her up; it was as if the entire day seems to want to make her suffer till the next morning. When Bryan finally walks away to the next unsuspecting victim on his mail route Lucy’s already had 4 Advils in her hand with a bottle of water at her lips. With the Advil sliding down her throat and her hands reaching for her hidden bag of gummy bears, Lucy scans her screen till it landed on the upper right hand corner: 2:42 pm. Pinching the bridge of her nose, Lucy drops the gummy bears entirely and snatches her bag. In one swift motion her work is abandoned and she’s on her way out the door.