Chapter Text
Caitlyn was behind. In fact, she had never been this behind in her entire existence. She wouldn’t be; had Jayce not successfully convinced her to celebrate his funding being accepted, had her professor not requested an extra paper last minute, had Attorney Medarda not kicked her ass over emails, had stupid Maddie actually turned in her part of the work on time, had – well, had all these turns of events not hit her all in the span of twenty four hours, she wouldn’t not be off schedule.
The coffee place was busy for a Sunday morning. Busier than usual, considering that it wasn’t the middle of exam season and that half the city was gone for the holidays. She didn’t mind the people, usually. But everything seems to get on her nerves right now. Be it the excessive amount of vodka cranberry she had last night or the fact that she was fucking behind on her schedule, it didn’t really matter.
So, when the chair in front of her screeched against the tiles of the floor, Caitlyn was sure all her years of work were being thrown out the window, and she would not, actually, succeed in becoming an Attorney herself. Maybe her mother had been right.
“Is this seat taken?”
It wasn’t intentional — not really. Still, Caitlyn glared at the girl in front of her. She was only wearing a pair of jeans and a dark sweater, the hood falling over a mop of bright hair. She was definitely underdressed for the bone-chilling rain that had been falling on Piltover for the past week. Not that Caitlyn cared.
“Sure.” She only replied, her voice devoid of actual emotions.
Her gaze went back to her open computer, staring at the cursor, blinking in front of her, waiting for the next command. She had stopped in the middle of her sentence, and no matter how much she read it, over and over again, the memory of what was once her train of thought failed her.
She hated this. She hated being stuck in a group of people who didn’t put nearly as much effort as she did, who didn’t seem to care as much as she did. Having group projects in her last year of law school was bad enough. Being put up with Maddie and Wesley truly felt like a punishment. Wesley, because he was Wesley. Son of a very wealthy, very famous judge, who did not wish to be here but was to please sweet old daddy. And Maddie, because she was Maddie and she had her bit of history with the short redhead.
Needless to say, she had been the only one truly putting up the work for this very exaggerated, very out of their depth, very fictional case. It annoyed her, but it wouldn’t have nearly as much as it did right now if she had managed to stay on her schedule. It wouldn’t annoy her if she could just remember what she wanted to write down.
As if to make things worse, right as her fingers hovered above the keyboard, ready to type a generic sentence, hoping it would get her back on track, one of the baristas shouted her name loudly. She raised her hand in a single motion before it dramatically dropped back on her keyboard.
Caitlyn didn’t notice the coffee being put down next to her, but she did notice the woman in front of her letting out a low whistle. It felt mocking and patronizing. Once again, she opted to ignore it. For the sake of her goddamn sentence. When a few seconds passed and she could still feel the other woman staring at her, she looked up from her computer, trying as hard as she could to keep her composure.
“Can I help you with anything?” Caitlyn asked, her voice strained and cold. If she were to be honest, she’d hoped the woman would not take up on her offer and would just let her be.
Because the world seemed to be against her today, the woman replied. “You know, arrogance and rudeness are an ugly look on a pretty face like yours.”
“I am not arrogant.” Caitlyn sputtered back. She felt her face heating a little, but it had less to do with being flustered and more to do with pure anger.
“Coulda fooled me.” She replied, taking a sip of her coffee. Black, double. Like Caitlyn’s. Although judging by the face she made when she gulped down, she didn’t seem to particularly enjoy it. “Are you single?”
Now, she was pushing it. Caitlyn didn’t have time for that. In other circumstances, she wouldn’t have minded. Quite the contrary. The girl’s looks were very easy on her eyes; she couldn’t deny that part. And Caitlyn desperately needed to get laid, if Jayce’s words were anything to go by.
She didn’t reply, only kept her answer to herself. Still, the woman let out a snort of laughter. “How shocking.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Caitlyn retorted. Now, not only was she annoyed, but she was also offended. She hadn’t even answered anything. The woman had just assumed. For all she knew, Caitlyn could very well be in a relationship as of right now.
“How long did your coffee take to get to you?” The woman asked, bringing Caitlyn back to her current problem.
“Ten minutes.” Caitlyn sighed back. She drank out of her cup. She understood why the other woman made that face earlier. “Not even good.”
The woman let out a pensive hum. “Mine came in two. And it’s decent. See what you get when you’re kind.”
Her patience was reaching its limits. She didn’t have time for this. She didn’t have energy for this. And today was not the day to receive a lecture on manners by a stranger. Not when she still had so much to do and so little time.
“Come on, big girl, chin up. I’m sure there’s something sweet under all that arrogance.” She said, smirking at her. As if that wasn’t enough, she gulped down the rest of her coffee in a single shot, winked at Caitlyn before lightly slamming the table with her palm. She stood up, flashing her one last smile. “See you around, Cupcake.”
Caitlyn was too angry to wish for anything other than never meeting this girl again in her life. She was also too angry to even try to make sense of that random interaction.
She let out a controlled sigh, staring back at her computer. It’s whatever. Let’s go back to what I was doing. It doesn’t matter. She thought to herself, like a mantra. It’s whatever. It doesn’t matter.
Her computer died not even thirty minutes ago, once again cutting her off in the middle of her sentence. How had she not even noticed the battery being so low? It wasn’t in her habit to not put her computer on charge during the night. Regardless of how wasted she could be.
And as if the universe hadn’t tricked her enough just yet, when she dug her hand in her bag and came up empty, she recalled forgetting to pack her charger as she left her apartment in a hurry.
Walking back there, she had a hard time focusing on anything, her mind drawing her back to this morning’s interaction. She knew she hadn’t been the kindest to anyone who had crossed her morning. Yes, her parents had raised her better. But she had her reasons. It was unfortunate, but that didn’t mean she was a snobby, arrogant asshole. Not on a daily basis.
When she reached her apartment door, she heard a large commotion inside and prayed to everything that she wasn’t going to land on some terrible scene of her roommate going at it with her best friend. Hence, the reason why she loudly slammed the door on her way in.
Mel didn’t seem to appreciate this very much, which was okay because everyone and everything seemed to be against Caitlyn today. She bursted out of the kitchen, her hands on her hips, a frown settled on her face.
“What the fuck, Kiramman?”
Caitlyn didn’t fully know what to say then. Something between, I’m sorry for slamming the door, and I really wish I could murder your mother. Instead, her mouth spoke without her consent. “Do you think I’m arrogant?”
Mel’s frown relaxed, staring deeply at her roommate. Caitlyn didn’t care about anyone's opinion on her. She didn’t. Except she did. Her roommate’s answer came in too late, too politically correct, and too ambiguous to be anything she had been wanting to hear.
“It depends on your definition of arrogance.” Ever the Poli-Science student.
They both stared at each other for a second. “Whatever,” Caitlyn whispered. “Your mother is all up my ass right now, so I’ll be in my room if you need anything.”
When the clock hit eleven that evening, and when she was reaching the conclusion of her part, a knock echoed on her door. Whenever she looked up from one of her textbooks to look at anything else than her laptop, a sea of stars would swarm up her vision. Which definitely could not be considered a good thing, but she had finally worked hard enough that she could start to think she could get back on her schedule by tomorrow afternoon.
Her door cracked open. “Hey, Cait.” Soft, tentative. She didn’t need to look up to know who was speaking.
“I think Mel told me she’s going to this party downtown with her classmates.” She says absent-mindedly, her hand roaming on the open book in front of her.
“I’m not here for Mel,” Jayce says, letting himself in. “Wanted to check on you.”
“I’m fine.” Her fingers were now typing on her laptop in a robotic manner that probably looked a little scary from the outside. She wasn’t entirely convinced that she was fine either. She couldn’t remember the last time she got out of her chair, nor the last time she ate or drank anything. It didn’t matter much. She needed to be done with this, and if saying she was fine was convincing enough for Jayce to leave, then the world would finally be going her way.
Except it didn’t. Because today it truly didn’t.
“Sure, squirt, whatever you say. I brought Chinese food from the corner restaurant.”
She hated it when he called her that. He did it once when she was nine, and she had been so angry her entire face had turned red. He thought it was the most hilarious thing in the world and hasn’t stopped since. Nowadays, she didn’t acknowledge it, hoping he would eventually grow bored with it.
“Put it on the table, I’ll be there once I’m done with this.”
Caitlyn knew that the fight was right at the tip of his tongue. Still, he held it, sighing loudly, disapprovingly, before stepping out of the door. Distantly, her mind went back to the girl from this morning. Maybe she had been right, and Caitlyn was arrogant and rude.
That night, Caitlyn fell asleep on her desk, her screen still lit up, her books still opened and scattered around.
The next time Caitlyn saw the girl was two days later, in the same cafe, at the same table as it had been last time. Caitlyn had already been there for an hour and had just ordered another round of coffee when the chair in front of her shrieked against the floor tiles.
“Is this seat free?”
This time, she took the time to observe the other woman. She wore the same roughed-up sweater, although the hood was off today. Her jeans were ripped in multiple parts, and Caitlyn wasn’t entirely sure they had been bought off that way. Still no jacket, but considering the bright, warm sun, she didn’t find it nearly as frustrating as it had been last weekend. Her hair was just as colorful as it had been back then, but this time she could see the long half-mullet sort of haircut she had. It was odd and lacking uniformity, but Caitlyn found herself thinking that if anyone could pull it off, it’d be someone with that face.
Caitlyn said nothing, only gesturing to the seat with her hand. The barista yelled her name, and after she raised her hand, walked straight to her. She sent them a smile, letting out a quiet thank you.
“Oh, I see there is hope.” The other woman said, a sarcastic smile on her face. “Not all of it is lost.”
Caitlyn leveled her with a glare. “Afraid I don’t look so ugly anymore?”
The same barista yelled a name she couldn’t quite catch, but the girl raised her hand and sent a sincere smile to them before accepting the coffee. “I didn’t say you were ugly. I said arrogance is an ugly look.” She replied, taking a sip of her coffee. She tried to hide it, but Caitlyn could clearly see the way her face twitched at the steaming coffee, most likely burning her mouth. “But it’s interesting that you remembered that, out of everything.”
“Quite hard to forget a random stranger calling me arrogant and rude on a Sunday morning.” By now, her laptop had turned off. She should get back to studying.
“You were being rude and arrogant, Cait.”
“Don’t call me that.”
It didn’t sit right with her that she still didn’t know the stranger’s name. It annoyed her to know that she didn’t catch it when she had the opportunity to. She was slacking. The girl just laughed, wide and open, to the point that Caitlyn wasn’t entirely sure she wasn’t making fun of her.
“Sure, Cupcake.”
“Don’t-,” Her voice fell short. There was no point in trying to bicker, she knew it. “Whatever.”
She clicked on her laptop twice, the screen coming back to life before her eyes grazed over the last paragraph she had been writing. This case had been killing her since she had taken it, and the only thing she wanted was to be done with it.
It was quiet between the two girls, Caitlyn’s fingers dancing on her keyboard as the girl across from her was humming a low tune under her breath. Caitlyn found it a little odd to go to a coffee shop to scroll and hum, but she didn’t mind it. Not really. Not today. Not too much.
She couldn’t exactly say how long they stayed like that, in silence, but when she looked up from her laptop, the place was packed and the woman was gone. Next to her empty cup sat a small paper napkin with numbers scribbled on it. Underneath read, “For when you don’t feel rude and arrogant. - Vi.”
“Excuse me, can we sit on the rest of the table?” A group of teenagers was staring down at her, expectantly.
“I was leaving. Have the table.” She said in a hurry, grabbing her things as fast as she could.
By the time she got home, she couldn’t find the piece of paper anymore.
Now she had a name, she guessed. A name and no promises of meeting again. Somehow that felt both thrilling and unnerving. She thought back of the state the other woman had come in. She surely didn’t carry a pen around. Caitlyn, on the contrary, had a pencil case full of them. Which could only mean one thing: Caitlyn didn’t even notice her burrowing a pen.
What was it with that woman that felt both like a mystery and the most annoying thing on earth to Caitlyn?