Chapter 5

five

Avery – Twenty-Three Years Old

I'm lost in my own head, wiping down the same bit of counter, over and over, Sergi on my mind. Thankfully its quiet.

He's come in a few times since last week, and he spent most of Sunday morning sitting at the back table watching me. I don't normally work Sundays, but they were short staffed, and now I'm glad I was here that day. Some people would say its creepy, but to me, he makes me feel safe, which is crazy considering I only know his first name.

Things haven't been easy since my dad died. When I got to New York, I spent about two months living in my dad's car, which I still drive around now, until I found someone willing to rent to a minor. It's a small one-bedroom apartment in the bad part of midtown, but the rent is cheap and is paid in cash each month. It helped that I paid for three years straight up. I added a lot of bolts to the door, but it'll do for now while I'm trying to save the money Dad left me as much as possible. As soon as I feel uncomfortable living there, I'll move. It helps that I've been using the wages from this job to pay for most of my food and utilities. I've been working here since I turned seventeen; staying at home alone made my mind reel, and I had to do something.

I managed to get my GED before I turned seventeen, and enrolled at the College of Boston. I managed to breeze through it quickly, taking the courses a lot quicker than the average person, managing to knock off two years, determined to get my degree ready for my residency which I have managed to secure at General, if I pass these last eleven months of Med-school at NYU School of Medicine. I need to make my parents proud; they may not have been my biological parents, but they were mine, and I miss them every day

My mind goes back to a week ago, when I first met Sergi.

I was working late and the only one in, nobody else had showed up in the last half an hour, and was I debating closing up and going home when he walked in with the biggest scowl on his face. I looked up as he came to a stop. I felt like my heart was in my throat. His blond hair was short on the sides and long on the top, but slicked back. He stood taller, like a foot taller that my 5'4". His angry green eyes that were seeing right through me are now full of wonder. And his body, well he's the first person I've met to make my body tingle all over. He had muscles that you could see under his black button-down shirt.

I clear my throat. "H-hello, what can I-I get f-for you," I stutter, silently cursing myself for being a fumbling idiot.

He smirks, a dimple appearing on his right cheek, and I clear my throat again. "Coffee, black, please, dragotsennyy ," he says softly. I nod and turn to make his coffee, hoping I don't mess it up. He's Russian, I know that much, I recognize the language from some of the teens that live down the hall from me, but he sounds amazing speaking it. I don't know what he called me, though.

I make his coffee without messing it up, and place it on the counter he's now leaning on with both his hands flat, staring at me. I clear my throat again.

"That'll be $1.20, please." I don't make any eye contact, but I can see his mouth. He smirks and places a $100 bill on the counter.

He murmurs, "Keep the change." I furrow my brow and look at him again, this time making eye contact. I raise a brow at him, feeling sort of insulted and a little bit annoyed. He either thinks I look like I need the money or that I'm a gold digger. He tilts his head, assessing me, clearly wanting to see what I'd do. He's flipping challenging me, huh? Two can play this game.

Nodding, I smile sweetly at him, before grabbing the bill and I ringing up his order, adding my tip in so the till balances out. I place my tip in my apron, and place his change in front of him.

"Your change, sir. That's $97.80. Thank you for the dollar tip, it was very kind of you."

He nods, then does the most beautiful thing, he grins, making his green eyes brighten. He picks up his change, then shoves it in the tip jar. I shake my head at the silly man as he chuckles.

I quickly remove the money, then place it in the charity collection can to help children without families.

He smiles gently at me and says "Sergi."

I furrow my brows. "Huh?"

He smiles again. "My name's Sergi." My cheeks heat with embarrassment but he only chuckles. "I'll be seeing you, Avery. Thanks for turning my bad day around." Sending me a wink, he turns and walks out, leaving me standing here, mouth hanging open and my heart beating so fast, I fear it'll tear out of my chest.

I'm brought out of my thoughts when said man enters the café. I smile wide and go behind the counter.

"You know, I'm beginning to think you're stalking me," I state sweetly, and he chuckles as he comes to the counter. He places his hands on it, then leans in, and I smile at him.

"Well, this is the best coffee I've ever tasted, and I get to see your pretty smile," he says, My cheeks go hot, making him chuckle. I swat his arm and turn to make his coffee. "Okay Avery, this is one question I've been kicking myself over, it should have been one of the first ones I asked." I turn back around with his coffee, placing it in front of him and quirk a brow at him.

"How old are you?"

I burst out laughing. Each time he's come in he's asked me a question, and once I answer, he'll answer the same question. It was a deal we made the second day he came in, because he kept trying to tip me over $50. I don't need the money, well…it would help, but I'm independent, and it insults me, quite frankly. But instead of being rude, I brought up this as a deal instead. His first question was asking me my work schedule, and since I didn't know what he did, he told me he's COO and works six days a week. This age question is his fourth question. He already knows my favorite color is blue—his is green, and he knows I love Chinese food, while he loves a good, juicy burger.

"Twenty-three," I state, and he smiles.

"Twenty-nine," he replies, and I chuckle.

"You're old, Sergi." His mouth drops open, and I giggle while he shakes his head, still smiling. He passes me $5, and I reach to take it from him, but he holds onto my hands. An electric spark runs through my hand and arm, making me gasp. I look up and see he's also looking at our hands before he looks at me with wonder in his eyes.

He clears his throat. "Nothing old about me, dragotsennyy ," he states with a smirk.

I shake my head at him and grab his change, putting it on the counter, not wanting to touch him again, because I fear I'll never let go. I wish I had the guts to ask a guy out, but I don't, especially not one like Sergi. He's way out of my league, and with my past, he'd probably run away from me anyway.

His phone rings and he frowns when he sees the number, but then he smiles wide, and jealousy instantly eats away at me. I clear my throat and grab the cloth I had before he came in.

He gets my attention again. "I'll see you soon, Avs."

I smile at the nickname. It doesn't matter if Sergi is seeing someone; I think we could be good friends, and I definitely need more friends. I tried in college, but the girls looked down at me, so I focused on schoolwork instead of hooking up. In med school, I thought I had made a friend, but turns out, she wanted the answers to some of our exams. She tried to forge my work and got caught when she tried to blame me, stating I was copying her. The teacher told her my age and she paled. I was an outcast after that. The girl was kicked out but not before she told everyone I slept with her boyfriend, then got her kicked out by copying her.

I shake my head and watch as Sergi leaves, but before his does, he turns and winks at me. I hear him answer his phone and my heart breaks a little, which is crazy, I've only known him a week.

"Hey, sweet girl."