BUTTERFLY GIRL

BY KIM WILSON

Author’s Note: Thanks to JennieMR for part of the inspiration for this story. I decided I wanted to write my own lovey-dovey story. Go check her stories out if you haven’t already :P

CHAPTER ONE

Precious butterfly spread your wings and fly. Bob Carlisle, Butterfly Kisses

The first time she entered the coffee shop, every eye was upon her. She came floating in through the glass doors, seemingly oblivious to the attention she immediately gained. Her long blonde hair fell way past her shoulders, hanging loose but slightly messed up from the gentle wind that blew outside. She was wearing simple clothing - tight blue jeans, complete with an assortment of dangling chains, charms and feathers, and a red shirt, with the numbers "1984" scrawled across it. As she glided towards the counter, her eyes became fixed on me. Large, honey coloured eyes which gave an empty feeling... as though she wasn't really there. She fascinated me at that moment, and I couldn't help it as my eyes roamed down her curvy figure, and back up to her soulless eyes. She was in front of the counter now, searching the board behind me as she came to a crucial decision.

Which of the coffees should she choose?

All I could do was watch her as a thoughtful look crossed her face. She followed the lines of text on the board to the very bottom, and then looked towards the top and started reading it all over again. As she shifted her position slightly, causing some of the charms to jingle against each other, I came to the realisation that, if I didn’t say something soon, she’d be stood there all day… not that I’d have minded. I’m quite sure nobody in the shop would have minded either, but explaining to the boss how we only had half a day’s profits in the till because of a pretty girl would have been quite difficult.

“Excuse me miss?” I asked, my voice betraying my nerves. Her eyes froze on what she had been reading, and remained there for a few moments before slowly travelling down and meeting my own. We held each other’s gaze for a moment. Her eyes amazed me… they made me shudder and want to look away and yet, at the same time, they made me want to reach out to her and fill their emptiness.

“I’d like the…” Her voice startled me; I’d been so deep in thought. When she spoke, she sounded light and airy… yet there was something else. Something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. “Large Cappuccino with marshmallows please.”

Her order threw me for a second. I found myself mentally asking what a cappuccino was – even though I’d served about a hundred cappuccinos a day for the last two years. I shook my head before turning my back on the beauty. As I set the coffee machine going, watching it pour coffee into the large-sized white cup, I saw her face flash before my eyes. Her name. I needed to know her name. Quickly, I turned back to her.

“That’ll be two pounds exactly. Anything else?” Alright, so it wasn’t exactly the best pickup line in the world, but I was proud at myself just for talking to her. In reply to my question, she shook her head and then handed the money over. Her hand quickly went to her neck, where a string of red beads sat. I watched her begin to turn each bead with her thumb and forefinger, and felt the tension between us. Most of the other customers had gone back to their coffee and conversation, the usual murmuring of the coffee shop starting back up. Normally, it relaxed me, but at this point, it made me more nervous. Everyone else was able to talk to each other, and I couldn’t even pluck up the courage to ask this girl’s name!

“I, um… haven’t seen you in here before, miss…”

My second attempt abruptly failed as the girl in front of my erupted into bubbly, musical giggles. At first, I just enjoyed the sound and sight of her laughter, until I followed her line of version to the coffee machine behind me…

“SHIT!” I whirled around and quickly switched the machine off before shaking my head at the mess of the cup underneath it. The brown coffee was already drying onto the white porcelain and steam rose slowly from it, twisting and turning as though teasing me for looking like such an idiot… I winced before turning back to the girl, who was now grinning widely.

“I’m sorry, miss, if you’d like to go and sit down, I’ll bring your coffee to you.”

“That’s the third time you’ve called me miss.” The girl said, folding her arms just underneath her chest and giving me a stern look. “This is a coffee shop, not a fancy restaurant. You can call me Butterfly.”

And with that, she turned and headed for the nearest table. I turned back to the coffee machine, unable to hide my smile… I got her name! Mentally, I congratulated myself as I cleaned up the mess I had made. Now I just have to stop acting like a clumsy idiot.