55 Coffee

"Hmm?" Julian looked up at Gradis, his heart skipping a beat when he saw her determined face.

"I'll find time for you, make it myself if I have to!" Gradis promised. She held onto his hand again, "once I hold your hand, I'm never letting go!"

Julian grinned, his entire mood rising just by her words. "Really?" he asked.

"Yup," Gradis giggled.

"You're…" Julian began, pinching her cheeks, "you're really the cutest."

Gradis flinched from his attack and slapped his hands away. "AISH! If you're happy then don't pinch me! You'll stretch my skin," she huffed, patting the spot on which he had pinched, "don't be so mean!"

Julian chuckled as he watched her throw a fit, completely drawn into her every move.

"What are you staring at?" Gradis asked, her voice raised slightly to show annoyance, "wondering when you're going to hurt me next?"

"No…" Julian muttered softly, "just...watching."

'Huh?' Gradis wondered to herself as a blush grew on her face, melting away a bit of her anger. "Don't stare… you'll wear a hole into my face."

Julian smirked, "not sure that's the only thing you should be worried about in the coming months… staring isn't the only thing I can do.."

"Huh?" Gradis paused, taking a moment to think about his comment then blushing intensely when she realized what he meant, "please be careful of where we are when you talk…"

"Why? You're embarrassed?" Julian chuckled, his entire aura brightening with each laugh.

"Only natural to be," Gradis replied shyly.

"Cute," Julian shrugged.

"Stop it and eat already," Gradis gushed, stabbing her fork into a piece of his meat and stuffing it into his mouth, "your food is already lukewarm."

Julian's face scrunched up as he tasted the warm-ish meat, "ugh…"

"That's what you get," Gradis teased, going back to her salad and eating a bit of the tuna with the same fork.

"You-" Julian stuttered his eyes trailing her hands as she lifted the fork, stuffed with leaves into her mouth and back down to the plate.

"What?" Gradis asked, covering her mouth as she spoke between bites, "is there something on my fork or something?"

"Ah...nothing," Julian stuttered, turning back to his meal and eating it silently.

*

Gradis pushed open her apartment's door, trudged in, slipped off her heels and threw her briefcase onto the half wall separating the kitchen from her living room, barely flinching when it slid off and fell to the floor.

She sluggishly walked up to the coffee maker on the kitchen counter, pressed the power button, and walked away as the coffee she had prepared for herself in the morning, started brewing. Then she dragged her feet into her bedroom, took off her bra, and dumped her body onto the king-sized bed in the middle of her large bedroom.

She wiggled her toes, the stress sliding off her shoulders as the cool air weaved through her once constricted toes, and her loose hair. "When was the last time I felt this relaxed?" she asked herself as sleep slurred her words. She was about to go to sleep when the sleeping thoughts at the corner of her mind decided to give her tasks she had tried to forget.

She pushed herself off the bed, scratching her head as she walked into her living room and into the kitchen, picking up the ready coffee and drinking it immediately, waiting for the caffeine to kick in. She picked up her briefcase from the floor and heaved it unto the kitchen counter as she sat on top of a high silver stool. She pulled open the cover of the briefcase and sifted through the numerous files of papers to find her apple laptop, shoving the briefcase away when she found it. It was time for the dreaded, long-waited time of her day called 'work through 5 cups of coffee.'