smile at them.

there's a young woman, sitting alone in the back of a small coffee shop. book in hand, she doesn't even bother glancing up when people walk by her and pause occasionally or when a bell chimes, signaling someone entering the business.

a short, apron clad man clutching a pad to take orders on walks to to her table and stops. he taps softly on the table, and the woman rests a hand on her book, her index finger marking a sentence.

'still no friends with you?' the man smile softly.

'no, rey, no friends with me. i'm sure it's surprising.' she shakes her head a bit.

'and no new book yet. how many times have you read that thing? actually, no, i don't want to know,' he rolls his eyes and grins. 'but anyway, ms. zai, are you going to have your usual?'

'of course, rey. honestly, have i ever had anything else?' she asks, gaze returning to her her book.

'you're very right. i'll be back with it in a couple minutes,' he smiles, looking down zai, who is absorbed in her book once again.

'oh,' she looks up at the back of the man's head. rey turns to face her but keeps walking, backwords now. 'by the way, twenty-seven.'

•

'zailynne!' comes a male's voice from behind the employee's door of the cafe, the door nearest to zailynne. she places a finger on a word again and looks up to the door expectantly. rey emerges from the door while slipping on his jacket. he sits down and scoots closer to the long haired brunette. she glances at his suspiciously then goes back to her book.

he stares at her face the entire time, then quickly grabs her hazelnut mocha and stands up and backs up a couple feet. 'ugh, reylyt, get your lips off my drink!' she glares at her friend as he smiles brightly then sits the drink back on the table and slides it over to her.

'well, would you rather them be on you?' he laughs and winks. 'but really babes, i need to get going. i'll talk to you later.'

•

a shadow falls over zai and after a moment she glances up. seeing someone stopped and looking at her, she glances down at her book and marks her place then looks back up.

'is there something you need?' she looks him over quickly and raises an eyebrow.

'hm, no, not really. just wanted to know if i could join you. you looked lonely back here all by yourself, reading,' he pauses to peek at her book and sees a dark pair of shimmering wings gracing the cover. 'and not even smiling. you know, you should smile more,' he nods as if assuring himself.

zailynne raises her eyebrow a bit more and goes back to reading her book. 'why?' she questions.

'because i think it'd be pretty,' he smirks a little and invites himself to sit down across from her.

'and that doesn't make you seem like a player at all,' she scoffs, her eyes still trained on her book. his smirk grows.

'hey, i'm just sayin',' he chuckles and raises his hands in defeat. 'but really i think you should smile.'

'alright.' she says simply and ignores him as he orders his drink and stares at her.

'what the hell is with staring at me today? really, is there something you want?' she says, her tone showing a little bit of irritation, but her expression stays calm for the most part. she saves her place in the book and stares back at him.

'i told you, i want you to smile,' he starts and looks at her with a slightly confused expression. 'is that so impossible?'

'no, it's not,' she gives him an odd look. 'i can smile, and will. i just need a reason to smile.'

'welll,' he stretches the word out, 'i'll make you smile. just wait.'

'uhm, alright,' she glances down to her book and he stands up and puts some money on the table for his drink. 'zai, by the way.'

'shy?' he questions, his eyebrows coming together slightly.

'zailynne, my name.' she clarifies, looking up at him.

'there should be enough there for yours, too. by the way, my name's ceaghan.' he smiles broadly at her and leaves quickly before she can protest her drink being paid for.