The Morning Train

5. Freebies

It was four in the afternoon, there were only three customers in the cafe and Gwen was having her break so Jamie was left alone at the counter. At exact 4:30, the door chimed and 'he' walked in looking much worse than he did that morning. If that morning he only slightly looked like a walking zombie he definitely is one at this time. He looked very tired and stressed out coupled with the bags under his eyes and his hair was now messed up like he got frustrated and pulled them on his own, his bag was open revealing messy papers and hanging from his shoulder while his jacket was thrown over his other shoulder.

Jamie felt bad for him, every morning he seemed to be blooming with life and energy, the energizer of the group but now he looked like death itself, his life sucked out of him. His mischievous face now reeked of stress, the light in his eyes became dull, his shoulders slumped and tired, the spring in his steps gone as he dragged his feet across the cafe and into the counter.

"A melon bread, apple pie and coke" He stated tiredly.
Jamie quickly put his orders on a tray as he rummaged for his money. Giving her the money he walked across the cafe tray in hand and plopped down a table furthest from the counter. Jamie watched curiously as he rummaged through his bag and set his laptop on the table along with some papers. Biting on his melon bread and keeping it on the hold of his mouth he opened his laptop and typed for a while. Jamie stared as he continued to type away looking at his papers from time to time with the bread still clamped in his mouth, not taking a bite of it.

'Is he not going to eat that?' She thought confusedly as she looked at the uneaten and still whole bread caught in his mouth. A few more minutes later when he seemed satisfied with his progress he stopped typing for a while and finally munched on the poor bread. A bite, a two, a three, and then he picked up his papers again, reading while he munched away on the bread. The bread was already in half when he began to type on his laptop again and the bread was yet again abandoned but on the tray this time.

He continued to work like that for half an hour until the apple pie was left in half on the tray with the coke also halfway in the tall cup. Throughout his progress Jamie watched on at the counter unaware that she's staring until Gwen poked her to the sides causing her to jump away.

"What the heck was that for?!" She hissed at Gwen recovering from her earlier shock.

"You're going to burn holes on his head if you don't stop staring" She remarked amused with a teasing smile.

"I wasn't staring at him I was looking at the logo at the back" Jamie directed her eyes up at the logo at the back, a cup of coffee being eaten by a bread with the name Bread Cup written on an arc above it.

"Really?" Gwen stated with a clearly amused and unbelieving tone but before she can comment further the door to the kitchen opened revealing Larry.

"Hey Gwen! We need some hand in here we're running late on Mrs. Rogers' order!"

"What?!" Gwen squawked with disbelief as she ran to the kitchen. Nobody wants to deal with a grumpy old lady especially when their orders are late.

Jamie meanwhile returned her gaze to him who was still typing away on his laptop, his apple pie four or five bites away from disappearing. With his new side that she got to see today she got intrigued and wanted to know more about the guy on the train. So with a nervousness that was unlike her she went up to him with two melon bread and a refill for his coke in a tray that she tightly held onto. She was thankful that the other customers left early leaving only the two of them in the cafe otherwise she wouldn't have the courage to talk to him with other people around.

Standing a few steps beside him he didn't seem to notice Jamie's presence, too engrossed in his work to notice her approaching. With a soft 'excuse me' Jamie was instantly met with tired but soft light brown eyes.