Broken Pieces (11 page)

I sit back and take a look around the place. It still looks the same. I know it has only been a couple weeks since I’ve been in here, but that feels like forever when I was used to being here every day for almost three years. It still had the same smell. It’s the “I could get high off coffee by walking in here” smell. Trust me, sometimes I thought I did. I loved working here, but it was defiantly time to move on.

When I turn my head back around, I’m facing the door and see a hot guy walk in, carrying a guitar. He has his head down so I can’t tell if I know him or not. He sort of looks familiar. His jet black hair is spiked up in only a way that he could pull off. His red flannel shirt is undone with an old Led Zeppelin shirt under it, and he has on black skinny rocker-type jeans. I would have to say that he looks good. When my eyes travel back up, I noticed he’s staring at me. Then it hits me … Oh, my gosh! I was just checking Kace out! Holy shit! He has a few more piercings on his face, or maybe I never noticed them before because his hair used to cover them. His gauged ears and lip ring look good on him, though. I also see a tattoo poking out of his sleeves and neckline.

He walks up to me and says, “Kara, is that you?”

I’m a little confused by the way he greets me, but then it dawns on me that it’s the way I am all fixed up and dressed. “Kace?” is all I’m able to say. I am in utter shock that this is him.

He gives me a rock star smile. “Wow! I can’t believe it’s you; look at you!” he says, pushing his guitar to his back and opening his arms to me.

I stand and embrace him for what seems like forever. I even think someone at the table I’m sitting at cleared their throat, but I did not care. I haven’t seen him in a long time. He was bummed when I told him I would not be working with him anymore. He made me promise to still talk to him when I was all rich and I laughed. We had a good friendship and I missed him.

We finally break apart, but he keeps a hand on my back while I introduce him to everyone at the table. The way Lauren acted when I introduced her, well … everybody knows she has a crush on Kace now. I can’t blame her one bit; he is something to look at. He pulls up a chair and we talk about what’s been going on in each other’s lives. All too soon, it’s time for him to warm up with the band. He made me promise I would stay until he was done so we could catch up some more.

So I watched the band get ready, and Kace keeps glancing in our direction. I wonder if he has a thing for Lauren, too. I laugh to myself. The only two friends I have here possibly dating. I really don’t hear the conversation at the table, as I sit and drink my frozen caramel latte. Mmm, how I have missed it. I make a mental note to come back here more often.

Then I realize that I haven’t checked my phone for a few hours. Crap, I hope Drew doesn’t think I am ignoring him. I quickly sat my latte down and reach for my phone, and I don’t have a problem finding it because it is lighting up from an incoming call. I hastily grab it and answer.

“Hello,” I say, sounding out of breath.

“What are you doing?” I can tell it’s Drew from that husky voice, but he sounds … I don’t know … irritated?

“Um, I’m at the coffee shop with some friends.” I didn’t know how to answer when being asked like that.

“I’m sorry, sweetie. You had me worried. I ended up getting off work ten minutes after you texted me.” He sounded relieved for some reason. Was he really worried about me?

“I didn’t mean to worry you. I thought that since you were working late and Lauren asked me to come …,” I say. I don’t know why I feel the need to explain myself.

“No, it’s fine. Don’t worry ‘bout it. So what coffee shop are you at? The one you used to work at?” he asked. He sounds a little distracted, and I hear some road noise.

“Yes … and are you talking on the phone and driving?” I say, curious as to why he would do something dangerous while he is worried about my safety.

“Um … yeah, I was kind of coming by your dorm to make sure you were okay.” He’s acting like he doesn’t know how I’m going to take it.

“Oh, then you shouldn’t be far from the coffee shop. Come on over. We just got here.”

It turns out he’s only a block away so we hang up and I not-so-patiently wait for him. When he finally walks through the door, it feels like if I haven’t seen him in years. I just want to run and jump into his arms, but I remind myself that we are in front of a bunch of people. He looks really amazing, but he doesn’t look like the Drew that I met at the club that night. The “bad boy” is gone. He’s in black dress pants with a blue, long sleeve button-up dress shirt. I can’t see any of his tattoos, but his muscles show through the shirt. He looks good enough to eat. Drew can pull bad boy and business man off really well.

I stand up to pull another chair closer to me, when he grabs my waist and pulls me into a hug. It seems like it means a lot more, but I gladly wrap my arms around his neck and enjoy his embrace.

When he pulls away, he just stares down at me and we have our silent moment together. There is an unspoken truth and reassurance that everything is okay. Finally, we detach from each other, and I introduce him to everyone at the table.

“Guys this is my … friend, Drew,” I stutter, not knowing how to introduce him to other people. We have only just met so I thought “friend” would work. But, by the looks I’m getting from Drew, that wasn’t a good idea.

So I drop my head and pick up my latte again. Thankfully, the band introduced themselves and started playing their first song. It was a song I had heard many times and was an all-time favorite of mine. Out of habit, I start humming to the music. I catch a glimpse from Drew, but he says nothing so I start to sing along with the band.

When the song ends, Drew leans in and says, “I take it you like them?”

I turn and smile. “Very much.” He gives me his heart-stopping smile.

Drew puts his arm on the chair behind me and the moment is perfect. I’m sitting at the table with Lauren, whom I have grown very fond of; my only other best friend is up on stage doing what he does best and rocking it; and Drew’s sitting beside me. After all these years, I feel like my life means something, like it actually makes sense for once. Maybe I’m where I belong; this feels like home.

“Our next song goes out to a special young lady that’s here tonight, and our very own Kace wrote it. We hope y’all enjoy!” the lead singer pronounces into the microphone.

Kace must have met someone and didn’t tell me. Oh, I will get him for that later. He could have at least texted me during the summer. I look around, trying to find a girl that I think he could’ve written the song for, but no one catches my attention.

They begin to play and it sounds familiar, but I can’t put a finger on it. Then the lead singer starts to sing, and I freeze. I didn’t think he would turn that into a song. One day, when it was slow at work, we were messing around and popping off random lyrics back and forth. He said that he thought it would make a good song and later, after work, before I went back to the dorms, he got his guitar out of his car and played me a little bit … exactly what he is playing now.

A part of me is happy he actually followed through with it and made it a song, but he dedicated it to a girl he’s dating now which kind of makes me sad.

Sometimes your first scars won’t ever fade away,

But sometimes the past is just the past.

Move on, move on, baby.

You’re better than that.

The song is bad ass. We are definitely going to have to make more. They start playing another one that I like. Actually, I’m not sure they have one that I
don’t
like. Then they say they’re taking a break, and will be back in ten.

By this time, I have finished my latte and really need to use the bathroom so I let Drew know that I’m going use the ladies room. Of course, according to Lauren’s rules, I can’t go alone so she gets up to tag along. I stop at the trash can to throw my cup away, but Lauren just keeps treading.

“Hey,” someone says directly behind me, scaring me, making me jump and throw my hand over my heart. It is just Kace, though.

“Oh, Kace, you scared the shit out of me!” I say, trying to slow my heart down.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to,” he replies, putting a hand on my arm.

I just laugh it off. “Oh, I’m fine. You sounded great up there!”

“Oh, yeah? Did you like the song?” he asked, sounding optimistic.

“I like all your songs!” I say, but I know which one he is talking about. I just want to know about the special someone.

“You know what song I’m talking about, Kara.”

“I loved it, Kace. I can’t believe we practically wrote that song while joking around in here over a year ago. Gosh,” I say, shaking my head. I can’t believe that it was that long ago; look at us now.

“Yeah,” he says and looks down at the floor, shuffling his feet nervously. This isn’t like him; something is different.

“I’m sorry, but I really have to pee, Kace,” I say, laughing.

He’s laughing now, too. “You had a latte, didn’t you?”

“How did you know?” I raise my eyebrow, giving him a playful look.

He suddenly pulls me toward him and says into my hair, “I’ve missed you, Kara.”

When he pulls away, I just smile and nod because I really have missed him, too. His stance changes and he has a hard look on his face. I turn to see what he is looking at and I find Drew standing behind me. I look back at Kace to introduce them. I finally catch what is going on. They are sizing each other up. Oh no, they have to get along!

“Hey, Drew, this is Kace. I used to work with him here and somehow, while we made thousands of cups of coffee, we became pretty good friends.”

I can see that Drew’s manners gets the best of him, and he sticks his hand. Kace looks more hesitant to shake, but eventually does.

“Kace, this is Drew, my new …”

Before I can finish, Drew says, with a sly smile, “Boyfriend.”

Did Drew just say he was my boyfriend? I thought he looked a little upset about the “friend” comment earlier, but we have only been talking for less than a week. I will admit that it is different between us now. We have probably had more conversations than the normal couple does in a year, but we have not talked about this.

I look back up at Kace and, for once, I can’t read his face. I’m not sure if it is anger, hurt, or a mixture of the two. I hope he doesn’t think we can’t be friends now because I have a boyfriend … that I didn’t even know about.

Kace says, “I have to get back to the band. I will see you later, Kara.” Why does he sounds so sad?

I just stand there, confused as to why he is acting that way. I turn to see Drew staring me down, while giving me a look that I can’t quite read. It’s a mixture of satisfaction and smugness, and I don’t understand it. I turn to Drew, “I still have to use to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.” I don’t wait for a response.

I silently hope that Lauren has already gone back to the table so I can have a minute of peace to sort through things in my head. When I push the door to the ladies restroom open, at least someone is on my side. She must have gone back to the table without me seeing. I duck into one of the stalls and do my business. After I wash my hands, I stand there and try to figure out what was up with the way Kace seemed defeated when he walked off, and Drew’s smug look he had when Kace walked away. I don’t know what I will do if Kace doesn’t like Drew. I have a soft spot for Kace. He’s been through a lot growing up and when he is sad, I am sad. That has been our relationship for the past three years. We feel what each other is feeling, and make each other feel better.

I don’t know how long I have been in here so I take a deep breath and walk out. When I make it back to the table, Drew is talking to one of the guys and Lauren is giving me a look that says we will talk later. I just nod. Before I sit down, I tell them I will be right back and don’t wait for their response. I walk towards the stage.

“Hey, are you okay?” I say to Kace. I’m worried about him.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m fine. Congrats on the boyfriend, by the way,” he says, but adds the last part with a little sarcasm.

I stand there a minute, confused, trying to decipher his words. He is looking down, messing with his guitar. “Do you not like Drew?”

That makes him look up. “Sure, he’s great,” he replies, blandly.

However, the look on his face doesn’t convey his words. I have never seen Kace react this way about anything. It’s time for him to go back on stage so I will have to have a talk with him later. As I turn to head back to our table, I find Drew glaring at Kace. I wonder if I am missing something, but blow it off and take a seat.

The rest of the night went off without a hitch, except Kace made sure that he was not around me the rest of the night. Maybe it’s just my imagination, but I will get to the bottom of it. Drew was especially quiet tonight, too. Since he’s taking me back to the dorm, I will get my chance to see what is wrong.

On the short walk to him car, Drew’s quiet. We get in and leave, but he doesn’t make the turn to the college. I’m confused. “You missed the turn.”