Diana
A Twist of Fate
“Come on Di, get up! It’s almost nine already, I’ll be late for my shift.”
She pulls her blanket aggressively, only to receive a groan in return.
“Let’s go, I can’t go to work before I see you enter the bathroom. If I leave you now, God only knows when you’ll get out of bed.”
A pillow flies, and perfectly hits the girl in the face. “Shut your face, Sadie. I’m not eight; I don’t need a babysitter. You can just leave and lock the door behind you.”
“Get up now or I’ll seriously drag your ass. You have an appointment with your client today anyway, you have to wake up sooner or later.”
“I choose later.”
To prove that she wasn’t bluffing, Sadie grabs Diana by her feet and drags her out of bed.
“Good God, Sade! Fine, I’ll go take a shower.”
The other girl still stands on the same spot, unmoved.
“You can go now.” And there she goes.
Being woken up that way is never the start of a good day for Diana, especially with the pain that’s taking over her head from the hangover. In fact, that is one of the things that she despises the most, that’s why Sadie is the only person whom she allows to do that to her.
As soon as she puts on her distressed jean shorts and a tanktop, Diana goes downstairs to grab some breakfast. She doesn’t seem to find many things to eat, remembering it’s the end of the month, so she grabs a banana and heads to the living room to turn on the TV. The first thing that comes up is a recap of last night’s E! News that covers the red carpet of the 2013 Billboard Music Awards, and a shot of One Direction comes along.
“Are you serious? It’s only nine-thirty in the morning and those bloody boys are already on the TV. What a way to please the morning eyes,” says Diana, sarcastically. After flipping through some channels and deciding that none of them is worth to watch, she turns the TV off and heads back to the kitchen to get some coffee.
“Well, of course. Of course there’s no coffee. How can I not see that coming?”
Realizing her crucial meeting is coming up early, Diana snatches her photography gears, purse, and keys, then immediately goes out the door. She starts to go before she decides to go back in to get her plaid shirt and sunglasses.
“Well hello there sunshine, it’s nice to finally see your face in the morning,” greets Nathan, one of the baristas in Avenir’s Coffeehouse.
Diana chuckles. “It’s nice to see you too, Nate. It’s a bit unusual to see me before noon, isn’t it?” Nathan returns the remark with a smile. “Is Sadie around?”
“She’s restocking beans at the back. I’m here to help though, or do you want me to get her instead?”
“Nah, that’s fine. Can I just get a grande-sized Americano? Oh and one of your cheese croissants.”
“No problem. I’ll be right back.”
Once she gets her orders, Diana sits at the corner table of the café to eat her croissant. She takes a sip of her Americano and slowly takes in the serenity around her as she lights up her first cigarette of the day. The coffee and cigarette are enough for her to make up for her rushed morning; she sincerely hopes that the rest of the day will end up as good as her breakfast. She takes her iPhone out and plugs in her much-used earphone, then presses play.
It is about halfway through the fourth track that she realises when she has been there for too long. “Shit!” Diana shouts to herself as she looks at her wristwatch, realizing that she’s almost late. She quickly finishes her second cigarette, grabs her belongings and utters a short goodbye, “Nate! I gotta go! Thanks for the coffee!”
With her Americano on her left hand and her iPhone on her right, Diana hurries to St. James’ Park to meet with her client to discuss her next photoshoot gig. With her eyes fixated on her phone, she accidentally bumps into a young, firm-chested lad, who wasn’t paying attention to where he was heading either.
“Jesus fucking Christ! I’m already fifteen minutes late and now I’m soaked in bloody coffee! How the hell am I going to meet them now?!” Diana panics as she tries to clean the huge stain of coffee off her shirt, without looking up to see the other person.
“Crap! I’m so sorry, are you okay?” he asks, as he helps her clean up, not that he is any useful.
Diana raises her voice, still without looking at him, “What the hell were you thinking?!”
Being shouted at like that, he is certainly startled, “I’m seriously sor—“
“Running like a maniac without seeing what’s in front of you,” she adds, as she finally looks up and catches his eyes. Diana realizes who that person is, and a sudden silence takes over. She isn’t dumbfounded, nor is she excited; she just doesn’t think that she would meet the very face that she saw on TV, just a few hours ago, this way.
Not knowing how to react to the awkward eye-contact and the long pause, he says, “I’m Harry. I’m really, really sorry I spilled your drink. I was trying to escape from some girls behind me; it’s my day off and I just really need to take a break from them.” Then he realizes, this is the first time he meets a stranger that doesn’t immediately scream at his face, at least not for the same reason anyway.
Diana fights the urge to roll her eyes, “It doesn’t matter to me, does it? I’m fucking drenched in this just before I'm supposed to meet a potential client. Perfect. It’s not even noon yet and I know today is going to be such a marvellous day.”
Harry definitely senses the sarcasm, and the urgency. He is a bit surprised of how upset this girl gets over a cup of coffee. “Please, let me make it up to you.” He skims through his pockets before continues talking, “I can’t find my phone, but let me save my number in yours. I’d be happy to replace that cup of coffee.” He looks at her with scrunched eyebrows and a very guilty pair of eyes. He tries to catch her eyes again, but she keeps on avoiding his. Anyone who looks at him at that moment would know how honestly and sincerely sorry he is.
Diana shakes her head in disbelief, Seriously? Offering a number, really?
“You know what, forget it. I need to go.” Diana instantly picks up her things and gets on her feet.
“Are you sure? Do you want me to—“ Before he knows it, she is already on her way. “But I didn’t even catch your name!” Harry yells, hoping that she can hear him from the distance.
Not long after the encounter, Diana is once again halted by the swarm of girls running in the opposite direction. She actually has to stop walking and switch lanes until the girls have passed.
Are they actually, vigorously chasing that repulsive popstar? At eleven in the morning? Fucking mentals.
Diana snaps back to reality and checks her wristwatch again, only to find that she is already more than half an hour late.
Diana rushes to the meeting while Harry enters a café, looking for refuge. He takes his sunglasses off and is greeted by a perky young lady.
“Hi, welcome to Avenir’s! I’m Sadie, how may I help you?”
Loving it!
3/2/14