I've just decided to get up and leave the café when someone approaches me. I look up, mildly confused, because I don't think many people know me around here. And it isn't like any of my subscribers know how I look like for them to come see me.
It's a young man, around my own age, somewhat good-looking. I'm still confused why he's coming to meet me when he sits down in the chair across from me.
'Um, hello?' I say experimentally.
'Hi! I'm Ryder, and I noticed you were talking to Amelia earlier.' He says with a smile on his face.
'Oh? You know Amelia?' I say, raising my eyebrows.
'Yeah, I come here a lot of times. I wanted to get a part-time job here, and I was going to talk to Amelia about it, but she's not here right now and you were the only option.'
I see some gaping holes in his attempt to talk to me, but I let it slide. 'Uh huh? And what did you want to talk to me about?'
'Oh, just how it would be to work in this environment.'
I wave a hand around me. 'See for yourself. It's a good place to kill some time at, to be honest.'
'That's good to know.' He nods. 'What's your name?'
'Eh, you can call me Art.' I lean a little back in my chair. I still don't understand why he came here to talk to me, especially when he can just wait and talk to Amelia after her shift or call her. Surely he has her number if she's his friend. And if he just came here to talk to me because he was looking for a "friend", why did he come to me? I'm not particularly good-looking. Maybe just for plot convenience. I don't know.
'Art? That's a nice nickname.' He smiles. His brown eyes crinkle when he smiles. 'People call me Rye for fun sometimes.'
I laugh. 'That's cool.'
His smile widens, and I can't help but smile back.
'You said this café is a good place to kill some time in. What do you do?'
'Huh? I rarely come here, to be honest. But when I do, I either draw or I come here for a snack.���
Ryder raises his eyebrows, his expression one of interest. 'You draw?'
'Yeah. I'm not very good, though.' I shrug.
'I've been trying to learn how to draw for so long,' he says with a scowl. 'My drawings never come out the way I want them to.'
'I can teach you,' I blurt out. Ryder blinks in surprise.
'Really?' he asks, as if he can't believe his ears. I begin to regret it, but I continue.
'Yeah. If you want.' I shrug again.
'That's cool!' he smiles. 'You mean it?'
I shrug yet again. 'Yeah.' Maybe he'll take my mind off Kara.
'Well then, you might need my number.' He says, still smiling. I shrug again, and then tell myself to stop shrugging. We exchange our contact numbers.
I stand up. 'I have to go now. I've been here longer than I'm supposed to.' That's not really true, but I need an excuse to get away. I really do need to edit that video, though.
'Oh, okay.' He stands up too, a little disappointed. 'It was nice meeting you.'
He extends his hand, and I shake it. 'Yeah. Same here.'
'I hope we can meet again, Art.' He offers me a smile, and I return it.
'Yeah. Have a nice day.' I say awkwardly and turn around to go out of the café.