Previous: Captain Oblivious
Ding! A text. “Hey…got a coffee waiting for you. I'm at some cafe lounge place Summer likes to have lunch at with Kaine.” Then an address. “Guess the address would help, yeah?”
“Ugh… What time is it? Gimme some time to get some clothes on. Before you ask, no, I'm not going out in public naked.”
“Oh my god no, please don't come naked. Women are gonna be thirsty enough for you.”
Winter sat in a booth after grabbing morning coffee from her favorite cafe downtown. She was dressed in a simple black wrap dress and sandals, she'd had a criminally early class today, and for all her dedication to her studies, she'd been up late the night before and she was tired. Bleary blue eyes never lost their sparkle as she pulled out her textbooks, then her phone, sending a text to someone.
Troy rubbed the sleep from his bleary eyes as he entered the address Winter had texted him. A red chequered lumberjack shirt with the sleeves rolled up adorned his torso, faded blue stonewash jeans on his legs. White socks and black trainers completed the ensemble, his long brown tresses falling over his shoulders where he couldn't be bothered to tie his hair up this morning. Someone woke him up with the offer of coffee. He spied her sitting in a booth and slipped onto the leather bench on the other side, giving her a slight wave and a non-committal greeting. “Hey.” She'd be able to tell he was tired. If only she didn't think he didn't want to see her.
Winter immediately regretted her decision when he walked in. Oh god it was too early for him. He was tired. Winter, you fucking idiot. She tugged her earlobe under her loose golden hair, her hands falling to her lap. Hey. He sat across from her and her guard went up. Right the hell away.
Hey. Fuck.
Winter, you fucking bloody arsed idiot.
Was this where he said hey listen this wasn't a good idea, I'm just so busy, your sister's a she-devil who might actually be dating the literal devil, I was just being nice. Calm, Winter. You're in public. Happy geniality. Sunny.
All those storm clouds inside and she was still beaming like a spot of sunlight outwardly. “Hey.” She slid the coffee to him and flipped open her text book. “Sleep well?”
Troy reached slowly for the coffee and raised it to his face, inhaling the steamy goodness before tilting it against his lips and partaking of the sugary sweetness within. Oh, good. Stimulants. Something to wake him up. He sighed, he was never a morning person, he'd managed to arrange his lectures for later in the day where he could help it. He'd been up all night sketching his muse. Not that she would know, she'd left after transcribing his notes. He had to get those images out of his mind or he wouldn't be able to sleep at all.
“I… Slept. There was someone running through my mind that needed to be drawn.” Suddenly his eyes weren't so glassy, bleary, and they twinkled as he raised his eyeline to look into her eyes. He couldn't quite match her sunny demeanour, but he did manage a weak smile in return.
Fuck mornings. He wouldn't be here for anyone else, he would have told them to go fornicate with themselves, although not necessarily in those words. “You got back to your dorm safely after you left?” He was slowly waking up. It was a struggle to form sentences more than a few words, but he was managing because he was inspired by the company.
Winter looked up from her book to watch him. Okay maybe he just hates mornings. Just because you had a class at 8 am doesn't mean everyone else does. “Good. At least I was running somewhere. Gotta work off the pizza.” She quipped, her eyes relaxing, sparkling as she saw the twinkle in his own.
“I did get back safely, thank you.” She replied softly. Her phone chimed, two notes. “That'd be Summer with my morning remind to….eat something….” She looked at it, then looked puzzled. “Huh?” She looked at Troy. “One sec…sorry.” She opened the text. “Oh no.”
“Um. Page Six might have snapped a pic of me leaving your dorm. 'A source who lives in the hall says that Miss Caldwell left the room of Troy Evans last night. Could the chunky senior have a romance blooming?'” She read. Her phone dinged again.
Don't you dare let this get to you, Winter Yew! You're beautiful. I'm going to handle this. Page Six is run by arsehats anyways.
“Do you have any of the drawings with you?” She asked softly. Winter always had a cheery smile and a wave for the various gossipmongers who liked to keep social tabs on the little sister of Summer Caldwell, if only hoping to find a reason to hate the nouveau riche Caldwell sisters, and more often than not, Winter was treated with respect, she was pleasant and sunny to everyone she met.
Troy shook his head slightly. “You don't need to work off anything.” He drank more of his coffee, slowly waking up from his groggy state. It was going to take him time since he was woken by the message chime on his phone rather than waking naturally.
“Good, glad you di… OK.” He waited for her to check her phone, to read the text. He could see her nature change. She was crestfallen. Even before she told him what the content of the text was. Page six? The gossip column? He never paid much heed to that, it was always garbage, but here she was, taking it to heart. His jaw hardened. His hand gripped the coffee in front of him, squeezing it between his fingers. DING More texts for her to read.
“Chunky? Who the fuck are they kidding? You're fucking beautiful!” Unadulterated vitriol spilled from his lips. Garbage written about the woman he'd spent the night drawing.
“No, sorry. I didn't think about bringing them with me. I wasn't expecting…” He waved his hand towards her phone. “That shit, this early in the morning.” Even behind her cheery nature, he could feel the drop in her confidence. “Don't let that bullshit get to you. Come back to my dorm room and I'll show you everything.” His drawings. That's what he meant. Or did he?
Winter was trying her hardest to not be anything other than..sunny. But it was hard. “Sometimes…I just want privacy.” She looked up. “I don't know how really famous people handle it. Page Six usually only focuses on the society when there's no interesting celebs around. Most of the time, the social pages ask before they run something about me. Summer can be very vicious…she's probably fucking furious right now.”
Did she want to go back to his dorm? Yes. She wanted to see everything. Whatever 'everything' entailed. He felt like home. A place she could just be. She didn't have to constantly smile.
Troy reached out to take her hand to hold it, to comfort her. His phone bleeped as he got a text. He had other concerns, he was paying attention to the disturbed woman opposite, trying to take care of her. “You're the sister of one of the most powerful women in New York. Who's dating one of the most powerful men in the world. People will use any excuse.”
Bleep Later, shut up phone. “Speaking of, that's a funny name for him.” His lips quirked up in a smile as he lifted his coffee to his lips, drinking down the rest of it. He was definitely starting to wake up if he was able to make that quip.
Bleep It's just going to keep doing that. “Gimme a sec.” He took his hand back from her and pulled his phone from his holster, bringing up the message1) . He frowned, tapped in a response2) , then left it face down on the table as he placed his hand back in hers. “Your sister isn't one to mess with. I'm fairly sure Mr Hayden won't be happy, either, if she tells him.”
Troy Evans's phone bleeped. He took his hand away to look at it again, flipping it over quickly to check the message3) . He frowned. That… Was odd… His hand returned to hers, but the frown didn't leave his face.
Winter nodded. “What's a funny name for him?” She asked, distracted. Chunk. Chunky. Chubby. Cow. “I don't think he will be. I send him puns all the time. I think I make him facepalm. I think he likes me. He's like…potential big brother material.” She looked up at him, her eyes glistening, her lip trembling as he frowned. “Is everything okay?” She asked, forcing a brilliant, jovial smile onto her face.
Get me out of here. I'm screaming inside.
Troy smiled, the frown fading from his face when she didn't realise what he was talking about. “'Furious'. He's the Wolf of New York. If he likes you, that's a good thing. He's ruthless, he doesn't like anything.” The message on his phone… “Yeah, your sister got my number. I figured you'd probably given it to her, but… Eh, I don't mind, she's your family. Maybe she'll be mine some day.”
He gave her hand a squeeze, feeling her trepidation, seeing her confidence waning from the published slight to her self esteem. “Come on, I'll show you the drawing.” He finished the coffee, sliding out of the booth to take her home, not letting go of her hand.
Winter finished her own and packed her bag up. She couldn't leave fast enough. Her hand squeezed his as they left. Public face, Winter. Just a little longer.
Next: Back in the Dorm