A/N: ALAS! I have returned! I don't even know how long I was gone for...
Anyway, I spent all day on this yesterday, and was hoping that you guys could rip it apart for me so that I can improve it (note: when I say rip it apart, I mean.. tenderly take it apart :] ).
Dana hated the holidays. Vivian always harassed her about calling her parents, to make amends, but she said that he’s full of shit if he thinks that she can forgive her parents. As she begrudgingly entered the café where she was unfortunately employed, the smells of the holiday coffees overwhelmed her. Pumpkin spice, Mint, Candy Cane, Gingerbread; none of them ceased to disgust her. As she threw her things into the employee room in the back of the building, Dana cleared her head. She’d been suffering from migraines recently and she wanted to get everything that might start one out of her head. Morgan, the manager, was handling a customer as Dana came out, her apron tied tightly around her waist. “Three fifty-five, please,” Morgan said, banging on the cash register to open the drawer. The thing was ancient, and it was a mystery to Dana as to why they hadn’t replaced it yet. The register was annoying as hell to open.
The ring of the bell that hung on the door drove Dana crazy, and unfortunately for the newest customer, they were about to become a part of her annoyance. “Yeah, can I have a tall Pumpkin Spice?”
Dana quietly began to make the coffee, holding her breath as much as she could as to not inhale the stench of the coffee. She listened to the Christmas music playing overhead, and thought about how stupid they sounded. ‘Fuck,’ she thought, realizing the coffee had spilled over the top of the cup. “Fuck, fuck,” she whispered. Dana grabbed a rag that hung underneath the counter and began to wipe up the mess. “This is just fucking fantastic,” she said. After the mess had been cleaned up, she placed a lid on it and slid it across to the customer. “Five seventeen,” she said, hitting the side of the register. She watched him dig through his pockets and wallet, and when he looked up at her, she sighed heavily.
“I’ll be right back.” He walked through the door to the car parked next to the curb.
It took him five minutes to come back into the café to tell her that he didn’t have enough money. She angrily placed the coffee to the side and began to take another order. She heard Morgan’s loud clacking footsteps echo through the café as she came behind the counter.
Morgan de Marco was a beautiful woman with flowing black hair and porcelain pale skin. She always looked like she should be in an office rather than a café, and even if she was working from noon to closing at midnight, she would often times wear stiletto shoes, and Dana marveled at that.
Compared to Morgan, Dana was hardly noticeable. Dana’s dark brown hair was always tied back to keep it out of her face, and her clothes were always too big. Her curves, even if they were in all the right places, attracted all the wrong attention. Dana was just pretty. But it’s not like Dana wanted to compete with Morgan. Morgan was old, and Dana knew she had plenty of time to find a guy.
Not that she wanted to.
Dana looked up to see another customer walk in, and when Morgan took note of the new arrival, Dana swore she felt the floor tremble. “Brendan! What the hell have I told you?” The fashionista stormed around the counter to confront the man that Dana realized had just been in here; he was the guy who couldn’t pay for his coffee. “If you can’t pay, don’t even bother.”
The man Morgan called Brendan looked over at Dana, and smiled at her. “Oh, Morgan, I think you have it wrong this time. I brought money.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a five-dollar bill. “I don’t think you should be speaking to your regular customers like that. It could cost you.”
Brendan approached the counter, and gave a charming smile to Dana, who remained unimpressed. “Do you still have that coffee or do I have to order again?” Dana stared at him, and nodded, sliding the lukewarm coffee over to him.
“I can heat it up for you, I guess.”
“That’d be great. Thanks.”
Dana headed over to the microwave and placed the coffee inside gently. She was slightly amused by the scene Morgan had caused, and it lightened her day up a bit. When she returned with Brendan’s coffee, she pounded her fist against the side of the register to ring it up again. “Five seventeen,” she said quietly.
She watched Brendan dig through his pockets, and to her surprise, he had come up with exact change. “Thanks,” he said, looking at her name-tag, “Dana.” He walked to the other side of the café and took a seat in one of the window chairs.
“Can you believe him?”
Dana turned to see Morgan, arms crossed and a scowl on her face. “Huh?” Dana hadn’t been listening.
“He comes in here every day, without money, and just orders coffee. It’s a waste.” She ran her manicured fingers through her hair, and rolled her bright blue eyes. “One of these days I’m going to escort him out. All the guy does is take up space.” Morgan stomped away, her shoes clacking on the tile floor. Dana smirked, and returned back to her duties.
*
It’d been three hours, and Brendan still sat next to the window. Dana became a little weirded out by this, and asked Morgan about it. “Yeah, that’s what he does. Every single fucking night. I don’t think he’s got a place to stay. Not that I sympathize for him, the little shit.” Morgan looked at her. “If you get him out of here you can go home early.”
Dana raised her eyebrow. “I don’t think-“
“Oh, come on, Dana. A pretty girl like you will be able to get him out of here.”
Dana shook her head. “No, I don’t even know the guy.”
Morgan pouted, and an awkward silence fell between them. Dana continued to mop the floor. She heard Morgan take in a deep breath. “I’ll give you a raise?”
Dana raised her eyebrow and scoffed. “Yeah, ok. For getting some bum out of the café? It’s hardly even worth it.” Morgan whimpered, and took off. The woman’s shoes seemed to get louder as she got father away, which didn’t help Dana’s returning headache. “Goddamn headaches are a goddamn pain in my fucking ass,” she whispered to herself as she dumped the mop bucket into the sink. The dirty water swirled as it went down the drain, and as Dana examined the water, she became more disgusted with it than she had been while dirtying the water.
She looked at Brendan, and for a few moments she actually found him attractive. Dana hadn’t realized that she was staring until Brendan looked over at her with his eyebrow raised. She quickly turned around and her face flushed.
“Uh, excuse me?” Dana pivoted on her foot and was greeted by a smiling Brendan. “I… um… when do you get off work tonight?”
She stared at him. “Why?”
“There’s a party that I’m going to tonight, a costume party, and I was wondering if you’d like to go with me.” He leaned against the counter. “You totally wouldn’t have to wear a costume, or anything. Just, yeah.”
Dana examined his face, and thought about Vivian, hoping he might doing something that might be a decent excuse. When she couldn’t think of anything, she sighed. “Sure. When?”
She watched Brendan’s eyes light up as he took out a piece of paper from his laptop bag. “Here’s the address. You’ll need this number to get up to the apartment. It starts at seven. I’ll be the nerdy looking musician guy.” He grinned. “Not much of a costume, ey?”
“No,” Dana said. “I guess I’ll see you… there.” She took the paper and slid it into her back jean pocket. Brendan nodded and left the café, and she swore she saw him jump a little as he walked.
*
Vivian stared at her in amazement. “What? You got a date and… what? Oh! We must write this down! October 30th, 2005, Dana Black gets asked out on a date, after three years of being single. Hallelujah!” Vivian smiled at her, and raised his beer bottle in the air in a toast. “Congratulations.” Dana smiled. “What?” Vivian whined. “Be happy, Dana. You don’t want to scare away this new boy, do you now?”
She sighed. “I’m going to find something to wear, ok? You can help if you want, I s’pose, but don’t pick anything too loud. I might get a noise complaint.”
The flamboyant roommate raised his eyebrow. “Did you just crack a joke? Oh Em Gee!” He jumped off of the couch, and darted into Dana’s bedroom, which was the second largest room in the whole apartment, next to the living room. Dana followed him, smiling slightly, amused by Vivian’s delight. If there was one person who could make her smile, it was him. By the time she had arrived to her bedroom, Vivian had torn apart her dresser and was holding up various pieces of clothing to himself and looking in her full body mirror.
“Girl, I don’t know what you were thinking when you bought this!” He threw a puke green tee shirt her way.
“It’s got a tree on it! What’s wrong with it?”
Vivian looked at her, his hand on his hip and eyebrows raised. “Oh, honey, do I have to explain it to you?” He didn’t wait for her response, and hurriedly dug through the pile of clothes that he created. Holding up a red tank top and a pair of ripped jeans, he threw them towards her, and said, “try that on. I want to see how it looks on you.”
Dana did as she was told, and began to strip off her work uniform. “I can’t believe you’re more excited about this than I am. It’s my date, Vivian.”
“I’m just happy for you, that’s all. You haven’t dated anyone since…” The look Dana gave him was enough to shut Vivian up. “Sorry. Dana, come on. There are plenty of fish in the sea, you just gotta look harder!”
“Shut up, Vivian.” She buttoned the jeans and examined herself in the mirror. “How do I look?”
Vivian smiled at her in the mirror, and Dana returned the favor. No one had ever understood their friendship, and neither did Dana or Vivian. When she ran away from home at fifteen, Vivian helped her out, even though she was a complete stranger and could’ve been a murderer for all he knew. He had taken care of her, and he still does, and Dana loved him. Not only for taking care of her, but for being there for her when she left James, and afterward…
“You look great,” he said. “If I was straight I’d rip them all off and bang you against the wall.”
Dana laughed, and went over to hug him. “Thanks.”
She clung to him until he pushed her away, and he said, “ok, I don’t want Shane to get jealous if he smells your perfume on me. I’m going back to watch my movie. And drink the rest of that beer.” Dana cleaned up the pile Vivian had made, and looked at her alarm clock. It read: 9:27 PM. She had an idea of where the address was, but she couldn’t be completely sure.
Grabbing her purse, her coat, and her keys, she kissed Vivian’s cheek and darted out the door.
*
The night was a little too cold, if you asked Dana. She crossed her arms to try to keep warmer as she walked down the sidewalk. The paper Brendan had given her was crumpled in her hand, and she watched for apartment numbers that were so subtly placed on laminated pieces of paper that hung on the doors. “Apartment 23G,” she whispered to herself. 18G, 19G, 20G… The door of which she was supposed to enter had a number pad that she assumed the additional number was for. She took her time punching it in; she didn’t want to embarrass herself, getting it wrong three times.
A buzzer rang, and she heaved the heavy door open with an oomph. The lobby of the apartment building was moldy and dark, and she was reluctant to touch the handrail as she began to climb the stairs. They creaked with her weight, and she was scared that one of them would collapse. She could hear loud music and the thumping of people dancing (or fucking. It could be both. She didn’t know). The window on the landing of the second story was from the floor to the ceiling, and she stood there for a moment, gazing at the city lights. She couldn’t remember when she had ever seen a cityscape, but it had taken her breath away.
“Dana?” Brendan’s voice echoed down the stairwell. She looked up, and saw him leaning over the handrail. “I thought you were going to ditch me…” She listened to his feet hit the stairs as he came down.
“No. Even if I had wanted to, my roommate would’ve made me come.” She smiled at him, and laughed quietly.
“Well, I guess that’s reassuring,” he said.
“I didn’t mean it like that. I wanted to come.” Dana felt a pang of guilt; she’d hurt his feelings.
He smirked, and then looked up at the stairs. “Hey, um, listen, the party’s really lame. I’m sorry I wasted your time. So, uh, you wanna go do something else? I’d hate for you to go home so early.”
Dana thought over her options quietly to herself, and looked outside. Despite the cold, it was a nice night. “Sure. Do you wanna go for a walk?”
lol well loved it anyway thx!