Ditto Fountain II: A New Beginning

[PrinceCor004]

This is Eden

It's nine O' clock on a Saturday/The usual crowd shuffles in...

If only it actually was a Saturday... Emily Jackson continued to sing along with the Billy Joel song playing on the radio as she pulled into Centreville college campus. Her usual spot near Young Hall was taken, so she snagged an open lot by Albert Hall. "Looks like I'll be walking to science class today..."

On her way across the campus, Em took a slight detour to the student building where the cafe was. "If I'm going to make it through Dr. Landsburgs class, I need some coffee. Hmm, wonder if they have those whole grain muffins today?" Emily pondered aloud as she headed down the stairs to the cafe.

[Lady Arwen]

This is Eden

Romano glanced out of the corner of his eye at Julietta. She was watching him again, with those big greenish eyes. She was odd, and Romano felt a bit bad for her klutz factor. Still, he felt somewhat responsible as he was paying attention to his conversation with Kiev more than where he was walking.

"Just down this way," Romano said, stepping down first, then looking back up at Julietta, "and, er, would you mind grabbing the bar on your way down?"

He noticed Kiev's sharp eyes scanning the cafe. Kiev pointed with his chin across the room and smiled.

"Your girl is here, man. Guess you'll be buying an extra coffee today."

[PrinceCor004]

This is Eden

Apparently the whole grain muffins were out and had been replaced with blueberry and strawberry. It really wasn't that hard of a decision to make, yet Emily was taking her time trying to decided which muffin would go best with a regular cup of coffee... er, make that a large coffee.

While waiting on the nerd ahead of her to finally finish his order (he was rambling about the health benefits of the smoothie he had purchased to a very bored cashier girl), Em idly looked around the cafe. Spotting Kiev and Romano, she waved them over.

Huh, wonder who the redhead is that's tagging along with them. Maybe Kiev finally got himself a girlfriend...

"Getting some liquid courage as well, eh?" Emily inquired with a playful grin as the guys and the new girl walked up.

[Lady Arwen]

This is Eden

"Hey Em!" Romano said, smiling down at his petite girlfriendish person. "Yeah, coffee, and, well, towels."

He made a face and gestured down to his coffee stained shirt.

Kiev had taken advantage of the conversation to order his coffee and get some napkins and a towel or three. He handed one to Julietta and another to Romano.

"Have a towel. And please grab my drink if it comes up. I'm going to clean up some. Morning, Em," Kiev smiled, disappearing off toward the restrooms.

"Thanks," Romano looped the towel around his neck and grinned. "Oh, yeah, Em, this is Julietta. Julietta, this is Emily."

[PrinceCor004]

This is Eden

"Coffee is definitely not your color..." Emily said with a chuckle. "Still, if anyone could pull it off, it would be you." she added before turning to the new girl.

"Pleased to meet you, Julietta. Are you Kiev's new girlfriend?"

This new redhaired acquaintance seemed to be rather shy... and a bit clumsy most likely. Em new Romano and Kiev well enough to know the spilled coffee incident would not have been their fault. Still, she seems harmless enough.

[MountainFireflower]

This Is Eden

"Grab the bar? Oh... uh... sure." Her cheeks flushed, but she did as Romano asked. All three of them walked into the cafe.

Kiev's words stopped her cold. Your girl? Romano has a girl?!

Her eyes landed on the girl at the counter as they approached, and she narrowed them slightly. Hmm.

Julietta absently took the towel out of Kiev's hand and started to dry off, her mind still on the girl. She made a face. Romano's girl, no less.

She was so lost in thought that Emily's words startled her from a deep daze. Her head snapped up. "Oh, um, nice to meet you too," she choked out. Her eyes widened. "Kiev's girl?! No. No. Heavens, no." She let out a nervous laugh. "If I was anyone's girl, I would be..." She stopped short and swallowed hard. "Never mind."

Her brain scrambled to find a new topic. She jerked her head toward the counter. "What did you order?" Nice save, she thought with a flood of relief.

[PrinceCor004]

This is Eden

"Uh-huh..." Emily nodded her head slightly while glancing a "what have you been up to?" look towards Romano. Even though their relationship was a bit off-and-on... O.K, a good deal off-and-on, Em still felt somewhat protective of Romano. Especially if the next girl in line was a ditzy ginger.

"Oh, just a large coffee with extra cream and sugar. The usual." After a brief pause, Emily thought of a question for Juiletta. "Have you been coming here long? To the college I mean."

[Lady Arwen]

This is Eden

Romano caught Emily's gaze and shrugged helplessly. How could he help that he'd been run in to by a ditzy girl he had never met before? Having been reminded that his girlfriend was in the middle of ordering, he decided to leave the girls to talk with each other and turned to the cashier.

"Add another large black coffee to that, and that'll do it," he said, digging out his wallet and handing over his hard earned cash. A few moments later he returned to the girls and handed Emily her coffee, with her muffin balanced on top.

"Should we camp out at a table?"

[MountainFireflower]

This Is Eden

Julietta narrowed her eyes at Emily. So she and Romano were exchanging glances, hmm? Interesting. She frowned at them as the invisible exchange continued between the two. Maybe they were just friends? Not likely, but
maybe—hopefully. She bit her lip and pondered this until Emily asked her another question.

"To the college? Oh yes. I've been here for couple weeks. It's my first year." She shot a bright, slightly-forced grin at Emily. Might as well pile on the charm if they were going to be spending the foreseeable near future together. She then turned to the counter. "A white chocolate mocha, please. And a cinnamon roll."

When Romano spoke, it was all she could do not to melt away into nothingness. "Oh yes, let's go. Camp out at a table, that is," she said, doing her best attempt at the bat-your-eyelashes maneuver.

It was only when she sat down at the table and dug in that she realized what a messy choice a cinnamon roll was. Frosting covered her fingers and her face as she tried to eat the cinnamon roll with grace.

Because, of course, Grace was totally her middle name.

[Lady Arwen]

This is Eden

Romano followed Emily and Julietta to their selected table, then set down his coffee.

"If you don't mind, love, I'm going to heartlessly abandon you in favor of trying to get the coffee stain out of my sleeve," Romano said as he pulled out a chair for Emily. "I hope you don't mind."

He grinned playfully and headed off to the washroom himself, his coffee, phone and sunglasses sitting as little reminders of his impending return...and of the fact that Julietta and Emily were now stuck with each other for at least five minutes.

[PrinceCor004]

This is Eden

"Ah, a newcomer. This is my second semester here..." Emily trailed off slightly as she noticed the other girls forced smile. Good grief, does she really think THAT is a nice smile? Looks like the Joker... This somewhat awkward moment was broken by Romano returning with the food and drinks and asking if the ladies would like to sit down.

"You are a beast sometimes, dear." Em said in mock disdain at her man abandoning her. "Go ahead, though I won't promise that your phone will still be here when you get back. There's a good black market for these things on campus." she added with her own playful smile as Romano left.

So, they were alone for five minutes together... while Julietta was desperately trying to eat her cinnamon roll, Emily sat quietly across from her sipping her coffee. Well, if you like em' like little kids, then I guess she's attractive... Nice face, but WAY too awkward for her own good. This could be fun, though, if she insists on flirting with Romano.

[MountainFireflower]

This Is Eden

"Then maybe you're not so much newer than I am," Julietta said, lightly shrugging. "Just a thought."

Julietta's wide eyes observed as Romano returned and pulled out Emily's chair. The reality of the situation and Romano's non-singleness hit her hard, like a semi-truck. Julietta inhaled sharply but managed to mask it as a cough as she slid into her own chair. Okay. Okay. It's fine. Just... calm down.

But he's taken?! How can he be taken?! He's too cute to be taken, and... and too nice, and...

Her breathing quickened as she stared at her paper coffee mug. In an effort to distract herself, she took another bite of cinnamon roll. She chewed it thoughtfully, letting the taste seep into her tongue. It did little to curb her anxiety and alarm; she continued to hyperventilate like a frightened rabbit.

She gripped her coffee cup rigidly in both hands so hard that her knuckles turned white. Meanwhile, her eyes glazed over as she stared at the table, trying to ignore Emily's presence and all thoughts of Romano.

She'd had panic attacks before, but none of them had hit this hard. One thought floated through her daze... So this is love?

[PrinceCor004]

This is Eden

Granted, she still wasn't overly fond of this new redhead that Romano had befriended, but even Emily felt a slight pang of concern for the girl sitting across from her. She's gripping that coffee rather... firmly she thought before slowly setting her own cup down.

"Umm... You okay, Julietta?" Em asked as she leaned forward slightly to get a better look at the other girls face.

[MountainFireflower]

This Is Eden

Julietta recoiled from Emily's gaze, albeit unintentionally. "Um, yeah, I'm fine," she said quickly, trying to return her breathing to a normal rate. Distraction. I need a distraction. Her eyes skittered around the room before landing on Emily's coffee cup. She forced a wobbly smile. "How's your coffee?"

In the meantime, she whooshed out several hard breaths in an effort to calm down. No. He can't... he can't be taken... No!

[PrinceCor004]

This is Eden

"Oookay. You just looked a tad... stressed." Emily slowly returned to her normal sitting position and sipped some of her drink thoughtfully. Yay, she's crazy too. Nice going there, Romano...

"It's fine. The usual campus coffee, so it's only fresh if you get in first thing." Em gave a slight smile trying to make her breakfast companion feel more at ease. Despite being more than capable of taking care of herself, the slightly crazed behavior Julietta was showing made Em wish her man would return, like, really soon.

[MountainFireflower]

This Is Eden

"Stressed? Um, yeah. I am stressed. I have to write a ten-page paper tonight and I really, really hate writing." That was, of course, not the reason she was panicking, but it was true, and it was a good enough excuse. She glanced at the girl across from her and her brain suddenly went blank, making her panic a little more. Emily was her name, right? She couldn't remember in her deluge of Romano thoughts. At any rate, this girl, whatever her name was, probably thought that Julietta was crazy.

Well, maybe she was. After all, she'd applied for med school and gotten drenched in coffee and fallen in love.

All in the space of two weeks.

"Ah, yes. Well, I'm not too picky with my coffee so as long as it's hot and black I don't mind," she said with a nervous giggle. A tiny bit of tension drained out of her muscles. At last! She was calming down.

...Really, really slowly.