Carter P.O.V.

I couldn't stop the endless thoughts of Valerie popping into my mind after seeing her twice within the week, especially after Thursday. She was this unexpected arrival in my life, a big exciting mystery that I wanted to unravel. The way she spoke and carried herself confirmed what I felt when I first saw her. Valerie was different. It threw me off.

The way she stood on the patio garden balcony at Alec's parents' house, basking in the moonlight and gazing up at the sky, it made me feel more than physical attraction. I wanted to get to know her. She left me stunned as she walked off, masterfully rejecting me and slipping away. I hadn't experienced that in a long time. Girls always approached me and had always wanted my attention and the attention of the world I could give through my exposure. But there she stood, not even knowing who I was, and not wanting an ounce of my attention.

It was like fate wanted us to meet again as we stumbled across each other on the set of The Chase, out of all the days we could have come to visit our respective friends. As I caught her, I felt dozens of tiny butterflies fluttering across my skin. She was tiny, barely reaching the tip of my chin, but her body felt like a perfect fit in my arms. We connected so well and everything flowed naturally as we chatted for a little while, her laugh was like the gentle twinkle of wind chimes. I can't believe how totally captivated I was.

It took a whole lot of willpower, but I gave it a solid four days before I had tried to call her late Monday afternoon. I didn't want to text her first, I had always preferred to call or FaceTime, and let's just say she had a habit of pulling the rug out from under me...

"Hello this is Grace from Bean Crushers speaking, how can I help you?" an unfamiliar upbeat voice came across the speaker.

What the... ?

"Uh hi, sorry I think I may have the wrong number," I responded utterly confused, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Wait did you say Bean Crushers? Are you a coffee shop?" I perked up, remembering that Valerie had previously said she worked at one.

"Yep we're a small café just bordering the UCLA campus."

It was all slowly coming together. I shook my head and chuckled in disbelief at how she had played me. Technically she gave me a number to contact her, but it wasn't necessarily personally hers. I knew she had her own cell too, because she used it to talk to Ellana. Weird. She was being evasive.

"Oh right. do you know if Valerie is working at the moment?" I asked to confirm my theory.

"Uhhhh sorry who's this?" She paused hesitantly.

"My name is Carter Bryson, I met Valerie a couple days ago and she gave me this number," I explained, hoping to come across not too strangely.

"Wait! Like... the influencer?!" She said excitedly. "Carter Bryson you said?"

"Um yeah..." I laughed rubbing the back of my head.

"Oh okay wow... so Val normally does the lunch shift on Mondays. Just missed her."

Bingo.

"Can I take a message?" the girl pressed on.

"Let her know to expect me."

"Uh sure thing." Grace laughed. "Bye."

"Great, thankyou! Have a good day." I wasn't going to let her slip away again so easily. My mind raced with ideas of what I could do to get a little payback for her earlier deception. Maybe I'll toy with her just a little.

So that brings me forward to today. Lamely sitting here on a Wednesday night waiting in anticipation to see whether Kean had successfully gotten Valerie's number from Ellana yet.

I had swallowed my pride and decided to ask for help. Wondering why I hadn't gotten her number myself already from the party, I had to go on and enlighten them with an edited version of what had happened between us. The boys roasted me for a solid while after that.

The pinging sound of my phone went off as I looked down at my screen.

(213)-555-4818 😉

Use it wisely my friend.

Finally. Thanks bro! 👌🏽

~

Missed you at Bean Crushers

Sorry about that... called in sick

You're bloody hilarious you know that 🙄

It's a gift 💁🏻

So what do I owe this pleasure to?

Pleasure hey? Baby girl I haven't done anything yet.

But just say the word and I will 😉

It's a figure of speech, Carter.

Well someone seemed to forget what her

actual phone number was.

Very sneaky btw

I didn't need you to blow up my phone whilst I was studying

Plus I thought it might have been funny 😛

I'm a distraction hey... 😏

So, when are you working next?

I'm not telling you that!

You could be some stalker for all I know

You shouldn't have given me the number of

your workplace then! 😈

I wanted to see if you would bother for real

Can't make it too easy for ya.

Girls gotta protect herself 🤷🏻‍♀️

I would never hurt you

That's what they all say!

and that was a very cliché line

Touché

I meant it though.

👍🏽

You're an enigma you know that.

In a good way.

I decided then and there, that I may need some caffeine sometime soon and a chance to work my magic. A little stalkerish I must admit, but she was proving to be a difficult one to crack, and I wanted to see her again.

~

Saturday morning rolled around and I got up to hit the gym for a workout before I made my way over to Bean Crushers to see Valerie. Let's just say she doesn't know I'm coming.

The strong smell of coffee and baked goods hit me as soon as I stepped through the quaint little shop. College students littered the place happily chatting, whilst others sat mulling about with their laptops open and notebooks laid out.

Then I saw her.

She emanated warmth and sweetness, laughing as she brought over a toasted bagel for a customer. I can't deny that she looked ridiculously hot in some ripped high-waisted baggy jeans, a T-shirt that was tied in a knot at the back which accentuated the curve of her waist, a cute apron over the top, and her hair tied in a messy bun. It was something so casual, but she made it look great.

I began strolling towards her, and she finally turned in my direction. She froze for a minute in recognition, nervousness flashing across her face before recollecting herself with a neutral expression.

"Fancy seeing you here," I smirked.

"Carter," she nodded at me tentatively. "How did you know I was going to be here today?"

"You can thank your coworkers."

"What did you harass them?" she fired back quickly narrowing her eyes at me.

"Nope, they fell victim to my charm." I gave her a smug smile.

She rolled her eyes and made her way back to the counter, whilst I followed right behind. "Would you like to order something or just stand there?"

"Hmmm... what do you recommend?" I leaned on the counter casually, peering down at her.

"Well I like the hazelnut lattes," she commented, her stormy grey eyes flickering to the register screen as she fiddled with the buttons.

"Cool, I'll get a medium caramel frappuccino then thank you." I promptly replied with extra enthusiasm, totally shrugging off her previous suggestion. I wanted to see how far I could wind her up as a little payback for the number prank.

"Okay... that's $4 please," she looked at me, scrutinising my face for any indication of what I was upto.

"Actually never mind, I will get the hazelnut latte." I grinned cheekily, after a long moment of faux thinking.

"Sure, cash or card?" she responded in a courteous tone, never faulting from professionalism.

I promptly swiped my card to pay for it and watched her walk over to the coffee machine where another barista was also busy whipping up drinks.

"Could you add almond milk in that instead?" I piped up at the exact moment she started pouring in the milk. "I forgot I was lactose intolerant." I lied.

She snapped her head towards me with an unimpressed look on her face and bit down on her plump lower lip. Fuck it looked sexy. Although it was probably to stop her from saying something she'd regret.

"Yes. That's fine. That would be just 30c more. Anything else?" she asked, plastering on her fakest customer service smile.

"You know what..." I pondered, tapping my chin in thought, "How about a cream cheese and smoked salmon toasted bagel?"

"Coming right up. Now, if you'd like to just take a seat. In the corner. Very far away from me so I can do my job." She stated, folding her arms. She tried her best to be reprimanding, but I could see the hint of amusement in her eyes.

I chuckled, "No, I think I'll stay right here, front row seats are always the best."

She came over and handed me my drink, as I wrapped my hand over hers and whispered a small thank you. Her breathing became irregular and her eyes darted to where our hands came into contact. The sparks felt intense, I could feel it all the way down to my toes before she wiggled her hand out. Shortly after, my bagel was delivered (by another waitress I might add) as she had gone back to manning the register, or purposely trying to avoid me...

I dug into my food, scrolling through my phone checking notifications about an upcoming project. Secretly though, I was totally watching her work, pulling a silly face or smirking at her every time our gazes met to throw her off. I needed to reign in my developing stalker tendencies real fast, I thought to myself. I couldn't help it though, she was so fascinating and so easy on the eyes, I was drawn to her. I decided I'd teased her enough and it was time to leave. I made my way back to the counter where she stood next to a chalkboard up near the display cabinet, drawing a cute caffeine-related quote and an accompanying sketch.

"Wow, that actually looks pretty good," I commented genuinely from behind her.

"Thank you. So, have you had your fun with me yet?" She turned towards me raising an eyebrow, seemingly amused by my behaviour. Good, she wasn't too upset with anything I did, otherwise I would have felt like a complete jerk.

"Yeah," I chuckled, "I gotta go now."

"On your way to annoy some other girl?"

"No, only you." I bit my lip in response, her eyes keying into the action. "Thanks babe." I smirked, reaching over to place a $20 bill into the tip jar, giving her a playful kiss on the cheek.

She gasped softly and blushed, frozen as she watched me exit the store.

I threw a wave over my shoulder and closed the door.

Mission accomplished.