Chapter 2: Seraphina

Seraphina

A few months later...

Sera's heart thrums in her chest as she wanders along the busy street. Huge buildings sprout up all around her. They loom above, shadowing her in their massive wake. Her eyes dart across the numbers over the storefronts. Where is it? Her hand wraps around the vial dangling from her neck, and she continues to look around. People pass her without a second glance. She hears a few snickers or sighs as she ambles into their way.

She turns to a lanky man in a suit, "Excuse me, can you-"

The man passes by without even glancing up from the phone in his hand. Discouraged, she turns around and attempts to grab the attention of another. As Sera opens her mouth, the woman pushes past her as if she weren't even there. Will no one help her?

She twists around, glancing at the passing faces until they turn into a blur, and the numbers on the stores make no sense. Everything swirls into a massive tornado of confusion.

A bump from behind causes her to tumble forward. Her knees break the fall and her hands feel like they will have gravel engrained in them forever. Sera rocks back onto her heels and climbs to her feet, attempting to wipe what looks like a gum off of her hand. A glare of light sparkles in her eye and takes her attention from her dirty palm. She glances up to meet the light dancing back and forth across her face.

The sea of suited people part and cause. her eyes to focus on a lone figure. He's fussing with a watch on his wrist, causing the glare to shift back and forth across her eyes. Behind him, the sun is setting between the buildings casting a romantic orange hue around him. His other hand pushes a stray hair back as he turns her way.

Their eyes meet. A smile slowly spreads across his face, his blue eyes alive with a light brighter than the sun behind him.

It's him.

She makes he way toward him, finding her hurried New York pace. She quickly becomes the one that pushes her way through people. He watches her, amused, and she rushes up the street towards him.

Sera is a few feet away from the Handsome stranger when he extends his arm for her. Her fingers outstretch, reaching for him. Her hands twitch, begging to graze their way across his strong jawline, and she stares up into his beautiful blue eyes that put the Caribbean Sea to shame. Before she can reach him, he too, becomes only a blur of orange and red hues of the sunset.

"Mm, No! No. No," Sera mutters, rubbing her face back into pillow. "Just s few more minutes. Just a few more." The harder she tries to return to the dream, the more awake she feels. It's the dream about that guy again. She dreams of him frequently-at least once every night since she turned eighteen. Sometimes she will spend all night just trying to find him. Just like all dreams, it must come to an end. With a sigh, she lets the mysterious stranger with blue eyes vanish.

The light purple walls of her room come into focus when she rolls onto her side. Sera is still reminiscing about her dream. It's so hard for her to wake up sometimes. Maybe she could sleep forever. She finds herself wishing she could live in the other world, the one her subconscious has created. She's still contemplating this when her alarm clock blares to life behind her. Sighing to herself, she rolls over and out of beed to begin the routine that is her daily life.

Sera climbs over her little stool and settles onto it. Her fingers begin gliding foundation across her skin. She blinks rapidly, finally focusing on her reflection. Her head tilts in a curious manner, leaning closer to the minor. Those bags under her eyes seem to be getting darker. No matter how many hours of sleep Sera seems to get a night, it will never seem to be enough. If she didn't know any better, she'd wonder if she were actually participating in those dreams of hers. Although, she wouldn't mind participating in the ones involving the handsome stranger. His eyes are bluer than anything she's ever seen, and they seem to haunt her even at night. Her fingers move her auburn hair behind her ear. Even that seems dull under the morning light. She twists a strand between her fingers, inspecting those split ends of hers. Before her fingers fall to the necklace at her throat, they trace their way down the little vial before dancing along the silver cord at her collarbone. It's the only piece of jewelry she ever wears. She never even takes off, not even to shower.

The cell phone beside her chimes to life with an incoming text. She jumps. Whoops, if that's Amanda it's probably because she's running late, again.

By the time Sera's white sedan pulls up to Jack's Coffee Bean, she has shaken the thoughts of her dream and replaced it with a hint of anticipation. When she notices her parking spot right in front is free, she realizes this might be one of the good days. There seem to be so few of them lately. One look at the small shop with the green awning and big welcoming windows and things just seem better. Lately, the coffee house is the only place Sera seems to feel at home. It quickly became her favorite place—besides her subconscious—a few months ago. It's quiet, relaxing, and their coffee is pretty addicting. Not surprisingly, it's the only coffee shop in the little suburban town of Angelica, N.Y. Angelica is the kind of town that's just far enough from any city to not have a corporate coffee chain, but just big enough to not know everyone you went to high school with. The small, homey feel is what makes her like it that much more.

Her smile deepens when she notices Jack is behind the counter today. Jack and Sera seem to have developed a little flirtatious banter ever since he opened the small shop. His back is facing her as he puts the finishing touches on a customer's drink. His curly, golden hair and tan skin are stunning even under the florescent lighting. He epitomizes the whole California-surfer look. Sera doesn't miss the way his back flexes when he places the lid on the cup before turning around to hand it to the woman in front of her. His blue-green eyes meet her gaze as soon as he turns, his face lighting up in a smile. Secretly, she's had a crush on him for months now, but she's too shy to actually admit it. Besides, a bad break up almost a year ago has caused her to take dating off the table, but maybe for him, she'd make an exception. Her fingers twist slightly as Jack makes his way to the register. Redness creeps into her cheeks, and she glances away pretending to read the menu behind him.

"Good morning, Sera, What can I get for you? The usual?" A huge grin covers his face as he leans his hands on the counter expectantly.

Sera can't help but return his big smile. She's flattered he even remembers her name, let alone her drink. "Am I here that often to have a usual? Oh Lord, I'm going to have to switch up my routine then."

"Nah." He turns, grabbing a cup off the counter and flipping it high into the air before catching it, now facing the other direction. "I wouldn't have it any other way." His last words are just barely audible as the machine next to her groans when he flips the nozzle. She attempts to distract herself, by glancing down at her cell phone. "Headed to work?"

"Yeah." A deep sigh escapes her lips.

"Aw, come on, it can't be that bad." His eyes echo his smile when he hands her latte.

"Do you ever jus have one of those days where you think to yourself, if I see one more cup of coffee...?" Her fingers wrap around the cup, only Jack doesn't seem to release it right away. Their hands meet, both holding the coffee, when he leans in slightly smelling of the wonderful coffee that always fills her with comfort.

"What are you doing after work?"

After months of daydreaming about it, here it is: one simple question. Stunned, all she can manage to stutter out is, "Uh, nothing."

"Someone called in sick, I've got to work double. You should stop by after work and keep me company." His finger slowly slip through hers, finally releasing the coffee to her. Jack then leans his elbows on the countertop intently awaiting a reply.

"Yeah, I'm sure I can stop by later." For some reason, she's finding it hard to wrap her mind around the fact that he wants to see her agin. It's been a while since she's been hit on. She hides another blush before starting to leave; all she can think about is making it safely to the car before she does something completely embarrassing.

"Maybe I can prepare a snack... or dinner or something? I mean you're going to be starving coming from work and all," he calls after her, drawing her attention. The group of high school age boys in the corner begins to snicker at them, if she wasn't scarlet before-she is now.

She glances over her shoulder. "Sounds great, I'll see you later," she tells him, hoping that it sounded casual before walking out the front door. Jack's eyes are on her back the entire way. She can feel them through the window. Once she closes the door of her car, closing her into a cocoon of safety, she finally feels like she can breathe again. Her hands grip the steering wheel before resting her head in between them.

"Oh. My. God. Did Jack just ask me out?" she mutters to herself her fingers toying along the necklace at her throat. I have to tell Amanda. The last thought is what gives her the drive to get to work on time, for once.