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Her gaze widened in surprise for my use of her name, and she smiled, biting her lower lip. “It’s pronounced Eh-vao-nna,” she clarified.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Eh-vao-nna,” I repeated slowly, seeing her nod her approval and move to the left side of the counter—like everyone did to pick up their order. “Careful, it’s hot.”
She glanced at me and then at the coffee, observing it like she was about to drink consecrated wine, the blood of her enemies, or something equally ominous. The guys and I exchanged a glance, the anticipation growing in my gut as I waited for her to try the drink I’d personally made for her.
Placing both hands around the steamy cup, Evanna took a strengthening breath, closing her eyes while she slowly brought it to her mouth for the first sip…
Then she spit it out all over me.
“What is this sorcery?!” she bellowed while I blinked, drops of coffee sliding down my entire face.
Everyone laughed.
“What’s the matter, is it bad?” I asked, confused, reaching for the brew to take a sip—I wanted to make sure that I hadn’t screwed anything up. Yeah, she made me nervous, though I didn’t know why.
“No!” she squealed, taking it away from me, and almost hugging it. “It’s delicious,” she whispered as though it was a sin. Looking at it like she was afraid drinking it would mean selling her soul to the devil. she sighed resignedly, and mumbled something under her breath that sounded dangerously close to “I’ll be damned.”
Lifting the cup, her eyes closed and she took a long and slow sip, her mouth moving as she savored it.
I just stood there, face dripping with coffee, skin sticky from the caramel, staring at her plump pink lips like an idiot. And then Evanna licked them, sucking away the whipped cream.
I was dead. Dead.
DEAD.
“I’m sorry,” she finally offered, taking the napkin next to her and reaching for me.
I instinctively leaned over the counter, letting her dry me off as I looked into her eyes—my lips curving into a half smirk. Her cheeks blushed that beautiful strawberry hue, and she looked away.
“So,” she whispered after taking a few more sips, “do you think we could talk?”
Blinking, I came back down to reality, and looked behind me to see that Josh was taking care of the customers too while I had been hypnotized by her. “Oh, um, sure. But I can’t right now with the place so busy.”
“I can wait,” she offered, seeming nervous too. “Can I stay here? Or do you want me to leave?”
“No, of course you can stay, I—”
Her attention shifted from me to the sandwich Josh placed on the counter, its delicious muenster cheese and black honey ham smell wafting through our noses. Evanna’s stomach growled so loudly that Josh and I heard it. The hue on her cheeks deepened.
“Here, it’s buy one, get one free Thursday,” Josh lied, pushing the sandwich towards her.
I frowned. “We don’t have a buy one, get—"
“She is hungry, dude.” Josh gave me a pointed look, walking away to prepare the order again. “Godzilla…” he mouthed from where he stood, and I rolled my eyes.
When my attention returned to Evanna, I found her glancing at it. Pain filtering into her features from hunger, but she didn’t touch it, just looked at me like she needed my permission.
“You haven’t eaten, have you?”
Golden strands swayed as she shook her head and my gut clenched. Taking a couple more napkins, I sliced the sandwich in half, and wrapped one half in the napkin, handing it to her. A true, appreciative smile captured her face and she accepted it, taking a hefty bite.
“Just a moment please,” I pleaded with the customer waiting for me to take his order, and I walked around the counter to her side. Lifting Evanna’s plate and coffee, I walked her to the partial subway car and sat her at the table inside it—a few girls took selfies next to the attraction. “I’ll be back as soon as the rush dies. Probably half an hour. Is that okay?”
“Yes,” she answered with her mouth full, devouring the panini.
It felt weird just leaving her there. I wanted to sit next to her and forget about everything else, but I still had to work, so I rushed back to the register.
The minutes passed torturously slow.
