Days Like These... (OPEN)

[KANE JEREMIAH ROARK]

The sun. The surf. Heat. That was all Kane could ever think of ever since this god forsaken weather had took its place in the city as the cool air lingered throughout every corner of the street with its sharp crisp frosts decorated his coat. Being born in Australia has its disadvantages. Australia would be celebrating Christmas in the summer right about now. The lack of snow back home (or none of) made Kane more unprepared for the winter wonderland in the current city that he’s residing in at the moment. To say that he's homesick already would be such an exaggeration, thank fully that was not the case. Kane was perfectly comfortable with his lifestyle as it is. Sure he could use a couple of hundreds but that's why he started his own private business in the first place. Though he could use a break from having hot chinese food take aways and other cheap fast food that swarms the street daily, a meal at a decent restaurant would be nice one day. For fucksakes, he's a fuckin tourist with little money with a tourist visa. Stay in this country long enough and he could upgrade himself to a higher post, that is a refugee. Glamorous.

Brushing off the snow off his coat, Kane stepped into a quaint little coffee shop, with a sketch book in hand and a pencil tucked fittingly between his ears. Sighing, Kane forgot the coffee shop always had an evening rush hour as an excuse for other civilians to avoid the cruel weather. The place wasn’t half full or half empty either. While waiting eagerly in line, he could only hope for one vacant table for himself. Kane had an appointment to rush to after this break, therefore he needed to finish his sketch in time to show his customer. After he paid for his coffee and had a bit of a teasing exchange with the young Sheila who was the cashier, Kane quickly spotted an empty seat by the window. Knowing him, oblivious to his surroundings, he motioned his body towards the seat, his piping hot coffee in hand, and the next thing he knew….his coffee was on someone’s shirt and the cup was suddenly on the floor.

“ Jesus!” he cried under his breath. He didn’t catch a glimpse that the person he collided with was as he was too busy trying to retrieve his sketch book, which was on the floor semi soaked with caffeine. “ Sorry about that mate…I’ll go grab you another one. On me yeah? No worries.” He continued babbling, still busy trying to get coffee stain off of his sketch book. It didn't even occur to him if the person was badly injured by the hot coffee or had stains all over their clothes or anything. Typical Kane.

[valerie]

"One large egg nog latte please" Valerie said, flashing a charming smile at the lady at the cash register. Val brushed the snow off of her shoulders and yanked off her gloves, stuffing them into her coat pockets. As she listened to the familiar sounds of coffee machines foaming and whirring, Valerie fondly reminisced the days when she used to go tabogganing as a child.
Oh, the memories.
Valerie took a crisp ten dollar bill out of her wallet, which she stuffed in her back jeans pocket, and placed it on the counter, receiving her hot coffee in exchange.
There's a nice arm chair over there by the back corner...
Valerie headed towards it, her high heeled boots clicking against the clean floor. While she was walking, she focused on adjusting the uncooperative coffee cup lid.

As Maria Carey sang the chorus of 'All I Want For Christmas', Valerie felt someone knocking into her with a hot cup of coffee. Ruining her black Marc Jacobs pea coat.
"Thanks a lot" Valerie said angrily as she dived for the napkins to her right and dabbed hopelessly at the stain on her coat. Her egg nog latte was discarded pathetically on the floor.

Valerie didn't bother with pretending not to mind. To her, that option was only for push overs. Giving up on her pea coat, she unbuttoned it and threw it in the trash. The hot caffeine had ruined the fabric already; there was no point in keeping it. At least her cream coloured cashmere sweater wasn't damaged. Val looked expectantly at Kane for a decent apology.
What's he doing obsessing over that sketch book?
Valerie wondered. She rolled her eyes at the stranger's babbling as he desperately tried to 'un-stain' his book.

"You a local?" Valerie asked. NYC was a big place, plenty of people had accents so Val had learned not to assume.
"Always go with the benefit of the doubt"
Her father's words of wisdom echoed in her frazzled mind.

[KANE JEREMIAH ROARK]

“Fuck…” Kane muttered while flipping through the pages of his soaked sketchbook. There goes all his artwork, ruined instantly by a cup of coffee. Well, nothing he could do about it now. Kane eventually got up to his feet while running his hands through his untamed hair with frustration as he looked down at the spilled coffee, thinking that his artwork could miraculously appear unstained. It took him at least a minute to notice that the person he collided with was still standing there after realizing when his eyed lingered to a pair of legs that looked like it could belong to a female figure. Kane then quickly turned his attention back to the girl, who looked quite pissed at the situation. Smooth move, you stupid bloke, he thought to himself.

For a second there, Kane thought he was going to get either the slap of his life, a dramatic fit, or worst come to worst…a lecture from the girl. Regardless of what he thought he was going to get, let’s face it…this is New York. People here, especially girls long for attention. What better way to get attention then to cause a scene? Instead, the girl asked him whether he was local, which surprised him. Kane raised an eyebrow while curving a smirk, before giving out a breathless chuckle. “ You’re not going to deport me for spilling your egg nog, are you?” Kane gave his answer half –jokingly, hoping to lightened the mood a little though he doubt that would happen after he caught a glimpse of a sweater in the rubbish bin with a bit of egg nog on it.

Kane was never the guy who would take silly matters seriously. He always thought it was such a waste of good energy. Sure he would frustrate at times, like the time where his sketchbook had gotten soaked 10 minutes ago…but he quickly got the thought out of this head and just went on with it. Don’t know about this girl though, judging by the spiffyness of the sweater, Kane assumed she must’ve felt beyond pissed to be throwing that out. His view drew back to the girl. All he could do at the moment was to buy her another cup of whatever she was having. “ Look, since we’re in the spirit of giving, let me get you another.” He attempted once more, as he looked at her apologetically, a smile curving a little before he dragged himself to the end of the line to get both of their orders.

[valerie]

"You're not going to deport me for spilling your egg nog, are you?"
Valerie raised an eyebrow, one side of her mouth curling up into a reluctant smile.
"Couldn't even if I wanted to" Valerie replied with a small sigh. At least she was still half-smiling.

"Look, since we're in the spirit of giving, let me get you another"
Valerie opened her mouth to argue. She could buy another coffee herself, thank you very much, but stopped herself after a moment of thought.
A guy offers to buy me another coffee after ruining my coat. That sounds about right.
Val swiftly walked to stand beside Kane at the back of the line, might as well place her order herself.

"So, um, what do you think about the weather?" Val asked, attempting to make small talk. She hated awkward silences, they made her seem timid. She was not timid. Valerie looked pointedly at the soft flurries falling outside onto the pavement. Oh, how she loved snow. It was so pretty. Although it didn't do much good in such a busy place like New York City.
The line was being held up a bit by an elderly lady slowly counting her change.
Such hideous pants. Valerie said, resisting the urge to wrinkle her nose at the woman's shapeless ankle length khakis.
"It's falling a lot these days" Valerie commented absent mindedly before she could stop herself.
Of course it is. It's winter in New York. Retarded me. Now why do I have to be so self conscious?

Valerie decided to keep her mouth shut from then, the line was finally moving steadily along anyway. She glanced to her right to avoid eye contact with Kane. An unlucky employee had been sent out to mop up their mess. Val felt slightly bad for him, but then again, that was his job in the first place.
"Next" The cashier called.

[KANE JEREMIAH ROARK]

Kane waited patiently in line as the girl eventually gave in and accepted his sincere offer before she placed herself beside him. He couldn’t help but to observe her for a moment or two while she looked outside, just to get a little jist on what he was getting himself into… though he solely told himself that he was only going to get herself a cup of coffee, no other reason. She did seem a bit high maintenance so there was no way in hell a guy like him would end up with a girl like her. Kane snapped himself out when he realized she asked him a query about the current weather. Well, at least she didn’t seem as timid as he thought she would be…for now. “I wouldn’t know…but apart from the fact that I’ve lost the ability to feel my own arse…” Kane started, while taking a step forward in the line, an old woman was infront of them at the moment. “…i’d reckon I’ll live.” Kane continued his previous statement with a smile.

As he turned to face the girl to offer his smile, Kane caught her giving the old woman a funny look, more of a slight cringe really, and noticed she was viewing the old woman’s legs? Or was it what that old woman was wearing? Kane’s view went back and forth between the old woman’s legs and the girl bluntly. She must be making notes about them at the moment. Everybody’s a critic here in New York. Poor old woman, he thought. Kane knew she was trying to avoid such eye contact, that’s why she was looking elsewhere. From the old lady to the cleaner who was currently cleaning their…no sorry, his mess. That guy shot him a cold look while getting into his job. That was nice, he thought. Soon enough, they were next to place their order. Kane being the inner gentleman that he was, he let the girl place her order before making his. He then collected his caffeine fix by the counter and moved to the side, avoiding every one that is within contact with him, including the girl because we wouldn’t want that to happen again now do we?

Speaking of unfortunate events, after Kane took a sip of his brand new coffee he realized about that coat of hers with the stain on. The cleaner was about to discard the rubbish into the bin, where the coat was. Before he could let that happen, Kane took a few big steps towards the rubbish bin and snatched her coat out from it. She was probably looking and thought he was retarded by then. He was just doing a good deed and if she couldn’t accept it then that’s fine. It was just something Kane likes to do, and that is doing good deeds whenever he could. So instead of caring what anybody thought of him, Kane walked towards the girl once more with her coat in hand. “Is this yours?” he started, with a tone of hesitant in his voice. Kane only relied on his assumptions and it would be pretty embarrassing if the coat didn’t belong to her. “If you want I could get this cleaned. I know a great place not too far from here.” He continued, probably looking foolish as ever. “You wouldn’t even notice the stain was there. Trust me.” Kane went on, finishing it off with one of his frivolous smile. He asked this unknown girl to trust him….the guy who spilled coffee all over her. Does this girl even deserve such good deed from him? We’ll see.

[valerie]

Valerie shrugged then smiled.
"You'll get used to it. Christmas is around the corner and it's probably going to be a white one. Which is good. I mean, who doesn't like a White Christmas?" Valerie blabbered mindlessly, then stopped herself rather abruptly.
She groaned inwardly.
So much for ignoring her self consciousness.

"Small Americano please"
Eggnog's too sweet anyway. She thought brightly to herself. Somewhat reluctantly yet somewhat happily letting Kane pay, Valerie took a sip of her brand new cup of coffee, but withdrew immediately. Her tongue burned in irritation and Val pursed her lips for a few seconds.
Should have waited a couple of minutes Valerie thought ruefully.
Dad's impatient too though. Guess it's in my blood... She let her thoughts wander as she attempted to think of small talk. Kane broke the silence though, which she was grateful for.

“...You wouldn’t even notice the stain was there. Trust me.”
"Um, I don't know..." Valerie trailed off. She could always just buy another one. Heck, with her monthly allowance, she could buy five without any trouble. But he did offer, and he did seem like a rather nice guy. Plus he didn't look that bad either.
But what if this guys a psycho? What if he murders me in an alleyway or something? What if...
Well...
Valerie shifted her weight onto her right foot, trying to make a decision before Kane decided she wasn't worth the trouble
"Sure" Valerie replied quickly. Whatever, it was a wonderful chance to flirt.
"Thanks" Valerie said. Why was he so generous. And nice...
Snap out of it, Val

"Lead the way" She said, a confident smile on her face. She took a step forward towards the door.
"Oh, right! My name's Valerie. What about yourself?" How could she have not asked him what his name was yet? And she hadn't said 'hello' either, which her grandmother had said was the first step to gaining a new friend. Of course, Valerie's grandmother had been alive back then, and Val herself had been nine. Valerie bit her tongue from saying anything dumb, which she somehow predicted she would eventually.