Mary Alice (mary_alice) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-11-10 13:02:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, alice cullen, michael glass |
Who: Michael Glass and Alice Cullen
When: Mid October
Where: Baxter Bakery
What: Random Encounter
Rating/Warning: Low/None
Status: Complete
Alice was in Baxter Bakery not only because they had the best Sparkling Lattes and chocolate croissants in the world, but also because of the free wifi. She was using it now to do some work away from the distractions of home. She could smell Jasper at her parents’ house now, even though he moved out so long ago. And she felt guilt pooling in her tummy at the thought of moving out, having to tell her mother and father that she was leaving… also, that she’d been keeping her relationship with Jasper secret…
She had a lot of shit going on in her pretty, little head.
So she was focused on work work, and school work, sipping her latte and nibbling on her croissant.
Michael was working one of his rare day shifts since one of the girls had asked to switch with him. He hadn’t had any meetings scheduled for that day so he’d agreed, it might give him a chance to hang out with Shane. He hadn’t gotten to do that lately. He saw the girl sitting at one of the tables and he knew he’d met her but for a few seconds he couldn’t think of her name and then it came to him: Alice. He made his way over to her table with a friendly smile on his face which faltered a bit when he saw the serious expression on her face, as if she was in the middle of something that really shouldn’t be interrupted. But everybody could use a break and he remembered their last conversation - they’d talked about the weird dreams people had here and that thought brought his own dream to the front of his mind for the first time in over a week.
“Hey Alice,” he said as he began clearing the table beside hers of some trash that had been left. “How’s work going?” he asked her with a nod at her laptop.
Just like the girl who fell down the rabbit hole. Alice lifted her eyes from her laptop and broke into a smile at the sight of the guy who worked here. He’d been really kind to her when they’d met the last time. What was his name? She couldn’t think of it, but then… nametag. Awesome. Michael.
“Hello, Michael! Work’s good.” Alice said, turning the computer so he could see the website she’d designed for Glinda Upland’s company. “You want to take a look?”
“Let me just drop this in the trash and I’ll be happy to,” Michael told her as he made his way over to the trash can. Hopefully Audrey hadn’t noticed it, he didn’t want her getting upset over stupid stuff. Not as excited as she was about the wedding. It might not have been much but he thought it was something. He leaned over to take a good look at the computer screen, taking in the website. He didn’t know anything about website design but this looked pretty good to him.
“That looks pretty cool,” he said looking back at her. “You’ll have to give me a business card so I can hire you when I need a website one of these days,” he told her with a grin. “And hope you won’t charge me an arm and a leg. Struggling musician and all,” he added with a shrug.
Alice didn’t know the store owner very well, but the place wasn’t crowded by any stretch. And there was at least one other employee working, so Michael could take a minute to check out her website. Right?
She nodded. “Hey, yeah, I’ll give you a great discount. Just keep the sparkling mochas coming.” She said, lifting her coffee cup for a sip. It was iced. She had a straw. “You play here at the bakery sometimes, right?”
Michael grinned at her comment about keeping the mochas coming. “That won’t be a problem Alice,” he told her honestly. He’d gotten making their specialty drinks down to an artform, and he enjoyed it too. “Tuesday nights. I started playing here a few weeks ago. It’s been fun. Crowds getting a little bigger every week I think,” he told her. He wasn’t bragging, although he was proud that he seemed to be gathering a fan base here in Orange County, he was just stating a fact.
“Then I’ll have to come back on Tuesday to see. You sing, right?” She asked with almost a teasing tone in her voice. “You know there’s nothing hotter than a dude who sings and plays the guitar. I hope you know that.” She gave him an exaggerated wink, as if to say a guy who looks like you but also sings and plays an instrument? especially a hot one like a guitar? can nab any girl he wants. It was playful, though. She wasn’t interested in Michael that way. Her heart already belonged to someone else.
“Most Tuesday’s I sing too,” Michael told her, his already friendly tone warming up even more as they talked about his music. “Oh the real clincher in my experience is when they find out I can play the piano too. But that’s mostly when I’m at the house, I haven’t really felt the urge to play it up here yet. Maybe that’ll change sometime in the future though with the right incentive,” he told her with a flirtatious smile, playing along with her. He didn’t mean it. He was more interested in finding out what might be going on with him and Gwen than any other girl. He wasn’t ready to say he was falling for her, they hadn’t known each other that long, but he was definitely crushing on her. Seriously crushing.
“Ooh, piano, too? That’s almost too much.” Alice kidded, lifting her latte to sip from the straw. “There’s a pretty nice piano over there. There’s another guy who comes in and plays, isn’t there?” She asked. Alice was starting to think that maybe she should come in more often to listen to the local music, the local talent. “What sort of incentive would it take to get you in here to play piano, hmm?”
Michael grinned at her kidding. “Trade off for the guitar lessons. I had to take piano too,” he told her with a half shrug. “Robert yeah. I’m not sure if he has a set day every week. He’s really good though. I’ve heard him a couple of times,” he told her. “I’m not sure of his last name but his first name is Robert. I think,” he said laughing at his own memory lapse. “I might be willing to consider playing the piano if a pretty girl asked me.”
“Oh, yeah? And do you have a pretty girl in your life right now?” Alice asked. Flirting was fun, even when she really didn’t mean anything by it. It might get her into trouble some day, but for now she was enjoying herself. So much so that she actually reached forward and closed her work computer. Michael was more entertaining than work at the moment, and that was some feat.
“You want to apply for the position if I don’t?” Michael asked her with a wink. He didn’t mean anything by it and it didn’t occur to him that Alice might think he did. It was fun flirting and it was innocent enough wasn’t it? Gwen knew he was a flirt and she hadn’t complained about it, she seemed to enjoy it he thought. He took a seat at the table next to hers, the one he’d just cleared and leaned forward a little.
Alice laughed. “I must admit, the thought had crossed my mind. But I’ve got a--” Whoa. She couldn’t use the word ‘boyfriend’ because… that’s not what they were, was it? She couldn’t say ‘brother’... though, that was closer. ‘Soul mate’? That might work. Damn. Her face fell a little, but it only fell for a moment. Then she forced the smile back on. “Is it a lengthy application process?”
Michael liked the sound of her life, if he’d been having to describe it to someone he’d probably use the word musical, but he didn’t like it as much as he did Gwen’s. It didn’t bring out the same response in him, the urge to grin or laugh with her. Alice’s just made him smile. He noticed that split second that her smile faltered and he thought about asking her what was wrong but he bit the question back, instead answering hers in a teasing manner. “Well, you already pass the visual portion of it. Let’s see, what else,” he said, pretending to think for a minute. “But I’m betting you were going to tell me you were seeing someone,” he said, getting serious and thinking back to what she’d been saying before her question.
Alice gave a laugh, raising both eyebrows at his compliment. She went slightly pink along her nose and cheekbones, then nodded. “Yes, even though I pass the visual,” she gave him a wink. “I’m seeing someone. So, I’m afraid that you’ll have to find someone else to apply.” She lifted her latte for a quick sip, then went on, “Mmm, it’s really hard for me to believe that you don’t have a pretty girl ready to beg you to play.”
Michael smiled at her and said “I’m seeing somebody too. I think. We haven’t discussed what’s going on between us yet,” he told her a little awkwardly. “I can’t really picture her begging though. I think all she’d have to do is smile and ask me to play for her,” he said quietly.
Alice’s eyes twinkled at that, and the grin on her face grew a whole lot warmer. “Well, you should talk to her about it, then.” She said, her voice taking on the ‘awww’ quality of a woman looking at a cute kitten, or baby duckling. “Why haven’t you asked her to be your steady yet? If all she has to do is smile and she’s got you wrapped around her finger…”
Michael felt himself get a little red in the face at the simple way Alice said it. He knew he needed to talk to Gwen about it but everytime he tried, he couldn’t come up with the words when he was around her and it wasn’t something he wanted to talk about over the phone or in a text. “Probably because I haven’t known her all that long. And I haven’t told her that I like her as much as I do,” he told her. Alice was easy for him to talk to even though he didn’t know her very well.
“Well, that’s a good place to start, isn’t it?” Alice’s face broke into a very happy expression at that thought. “If she’s gone out with you a few times, I’m sure she feels the same way. I mean, how could she not? You’re adorable, and you make excellent coffee, and you have a great sense of humor. Who doesn’t love a musician?” She asked, then laughed. “Stop me before I make myself fall in love with you.”
Michael laughed to himself at the way Alice just laid it out there. It was one thing to think it to himself, it was something else entirely to hear it from someone else. “You’ve got a point there Alice,” he told her quietly. “And I’d hate to risk stealing you away from the guy you’re dating,” he told her with a wink. “So I should probably get back to work,” he said standing up a little reluctantly. “Thanks for talking to me,” he said giving her a quick smile before going back to work.
Alice’s cheeks went a little pink at the wink, and she nodded. The grin remained steadfast on her features as she looked up at him. “Of course. Hey, anytime.” She said, nodding once, then let him go back to work and turned her attention back to her computer and her own work.