@cfthesea
“I’ve had the weirdest fucking day at work.”
There was no vocal greeting as Noah stepped into the coffee shop he had invited Ariel to, merely leaning in to pull the girl into a brief, yet soft hug - one arm around her frame, tongue already busy forming words of disbelief and wonder.
“We were out, alright, and someone called in telling us they had seen a girl in the water”, Noah started explaining while stripping out of his jacket, some drops of water falling onto his shoulders and down onto the tiles of the coffee shop. There hadn’t really been time to get changed after work - Noah was glad he had managed to at least change out of his uniform and into something more casual, but it was still the same casual he had come to work with, an eternity ago in the early hours of the morning.
“And we saw the girl, or I think I did, for a split second before she was gone - I could swear she looked just like you.” Of course Noah had jumped into the water, hence his own still damp hair - but the girl had already been gone, and even after searching for her for at least an hour? She hadn’t re-surfaced.
“I don’t know if it was a stupid prank, there wasn’t a girl anywhere, but I swear I thought it was you for a moment. Never been that god damn scared before.” The prospect of encountering a drowning Ariel during work? That would give him nightmares for at least a couple of days.
“Sorry, I didn’t even really say ‘Hi’ yet - you already ordered some coffee? My treat.”















