Audrey| His mask is off
Violet| YOU GOT HIM TO TAKE THE MASK OFF?!?1
Violet| STAY THERE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, I’M ALMOST HOME
Violet| I’LL BE SO FUCKING QUIET I SWEAR
Audrey shook her head and reached for the black KN95 that had been lying forgotten for the last few hours on the coffee table. Violet might be insanely curious, but she wasn’t going to betray Theo’s trust or let them go backward. Not after today.
As soon as her roommate’s keys quietly clicked and turned painfully slowly in the lock, Audrey spread the mask over Theo’s face and slid the loops over his big ears, arranging his hair back over his right eye the way he always wore it out in public. His face twitched slightly at the change, but he didn’t wake. He must have been really used to having the mask on—or he really was that exhausted.
Violet finally opened the door just enough to slide inside, her cheeks flushed red with alcohol as she closed it silently behind her. She carried her shoes in her hand and padded carefully over to peer at Theo over the back of the sofa, her mouth dropping open as she followed the length of his body. One of his long legs was draped over the arm of the loveseat and the other spilled down the side of it.
He’s HUGE, she mouthed silently. Then she pointed indignantly at the mask.You put that back, didn’t you?
Audrey nodded smugly at her.
Bitch, Violet mouthed, rolling her eyes and slinking over to the bathroom, shutting the door quietly behind her. Audrey suppressed a laugh and waited until she could hear the shower on in full force before finally turning back to Theo. She cupped his cheeks, tilting his head slightly before gently running her hands through his hair again.
“Theo?”
His eyes snapped open and his head jerked toward the bathroom in alarm when he realized it wasn’t Audrey in the shower. He touched the mask on his face before looking back at her quizzically.
She pressed her forehead to his. “Violet’s home,” she whispered. “I put it on for you before she got here. Didn’t think you’d want a stranger to see.”
He wasn’t something to be gawked at.
Theo blew out a deep breath and plucked at the strands of hair around her face. “Thank you, sweetheart,” he murmured, carefully tucking some of them behind her ear. “Sorry I fell asleep. I guess I was more tired than I thought.”
Audrey shook her head. “It was really nice. Don’t apologize.”
He grunted as he pushed himself up off the couch, rubbing his eyes while he straightened and yawned beneath the mask. His eye widened when he glanced at his watch. “Oh shit, no, I should. You have to open tomorrow and it’s already after ten. I meant to leave alot sooner than this.” His satchel was near the couch, and he stood and slung it over his shoulder.
She scrambled to her feet and grabbed one of his hands. “I’m glad you didn’t,” she whispered, standing on her tiptoes and putting her other hand on his cheek. “I don’t want you to go.”
Theo eyed the bathroom door over his shoulder before lifting a hand to rip off his mask, so quickly and so easily this time.
“I don’t want to go either. I’m going to head home anyway, but…” He leaned down and slid a hand along the back of her neck. “I’m not making the same mistake twice.” His thumb softly stroked her cheek before he bent down and pressed his mouth to hers.
The second good-night kiss he gave her was every bit as good as the first. His hands left fire in their wake everywhere his fingertips grazed against her bare skin, and together they lingered there in front of her door, quietly exploring each other’s cadence and the planes of their faces now that they could. Her heart attempted to pound through her chest, and Audrey desperately tried to sear the way he looked and felt into her mind.
Theo hadn’t even left yet, and she already missed him.
When the shower shut off, he finally pulled away from her with a sigh and slipped his mask back over his mouth, his lips swollen and red, his cheeks flushed, and his breath heavy. After one more hug, he turned and let himself out of her apartment, only glancing once over his shoulder to make sure she’d locked the door behind him.
With him gone, her apartment suddenly felt so very strange and empty.
Too quiet.
And too cold.
Seven
It was anexceptionally busy morning when a customer Audrey had never seen before stumbled into the café at 7:42 a.m. on Friday.
That in and of itself wasn’t unusual. They had plenty of new people and one-offs coming through their doors after Theo’s altercation with Patricia went viral on TikTok, even though the fervor had died down in recent weeks. But still: gone were the days of being frequented mostly by regulars with their laptops. A lot more people had found out about Déjà Brew, and Audrey missed those slower, more familiar times, despite the increase in tips.
But it was the way this new customer was so twitchy that caught her attention. He fidgeted the entire time he waited in line to step up to the register, like he had so much pent-up energy, he was about to burst out of his own skin.
