The Watcher

23. The New Normal

For the rest of the day, I stayed clear of the cash register and let Amber do her shiny happy people routine every time someone new came in. Instead I busied myself making coffee and helping Callum as he ferried dirty glasses and dishes to and from the dishwasher. As I waited from him to bring another crate of clean glasses up, I hovered by the doorway, picking at the chipped dark varnish on my nails.

The bell on the door dinged and on impulse I glanced up to see who had walked in. I could remember a time a month or so ago where I'd tensed every time that bell rang out. As I thought about it now, I realised it had been weeks since I'd flinched at the sound. This time was no different as I saw Atticus walk through the door and an eagerness radiated through my chest. He shot me a sly smile as he settled in his regular seat. There was something about sharing his secret with him that felt almost titillating.

"Well damn," Callum uttered from beside me. He'd already placed another crate at my feet, although I hadn't noticed him even coming up the stairs.

"What?"

"I've never seen you smile like that." With his curiosity piqued he tried to peer past me.

"What happened? Did someone fall off their chair again?" He hung from the doorway as he swung round to see into the bar. "Remember when that absolute monster broke one of the stools?" His eyes, a mix of fresh sage green and toffee, lit with a devious glint as they crinkled in the corners.

I tried to stifle a smile. I could still remember how the thin stools legs had given way as the man tried to reach back for the bowl of crisps on the table behind him. The thud when he hit the ground had reverberated through the wooden floor. Emma had rushed to help him, but that had just made it harder not to laugh. She was a girl who could be blown over by a stiff wind, and he was a man three times her size. All she could muster was the strength to spin him around on the polished floor while his arms and legs flailed in the air.

"Shush! That's so harsh" I snickered, trying to keep my composure. I knew I shouldn't laugh, but the guilt from the moment had long worn off.

"Fucking funny though," Callum snorted. "He was flat on his back like a beetle for a good ten minutes," he gasped through bouts of laughter, leaning against the doorframe for support.

I chuckled as the memory ran through my head, but the laughter died off as my eyes caught sight of Atticus. He wasn't writing today, instead he had a copy of 'The Portrait of Dorian Gray' in his hands and a frown of concentration on his face. His shirt fought against his bicep as he rested his elbow on the table with his hand wedged in his hair.

Callum's wiped the laughter tears from his cheeks and scanned the bar. "Oh I see."

"What do you mean 'I see'? There's nothing to see."

"Sure." He grinned, looking me up and down with a knowing glance. "Tell that to your face. You look happier than a nun in cucumber patch."

I balked, but I couldn't fight off the smile creeping on to my face. "Jesus, Cal, what goes on in that head of yours?"

"Bitch, you love it," he said with a wink, stealing one of the biscotti from the jar on the counter. In the dim wintery sunlight, his hair looked the same shade of caramel as the sugary treat in his hand.

While he crunched, I took my chance to escape his interrogation and swooped in to steal one of the bowls of sweets Amber was busy filling. I ignored her protests as I made my way to Atticus' table.

I flashed a glance behind me and saw Callum watching avidly, a smirk on his oval face. I gave him the finger before placing the sweets in front of Atticus.

His responding cackle could be heard across the bar before he disappeared back through the doorway.

"So Atticus, is that one magic too?" I teased quietly as I slid onto a nearby chair. In the movement I scanned across the pages he was reading, flicking through the story in my head to figure out where he was up to. As I did, I saw haphazard notes crammed into the margins and arrows winding through the text to point to underlined passages.

He leant back with a wry smirk, letting his hair stand on end as he stretched in the chair.

"You keep saying things like that and you're going to get me in trouble," he murmured playfully, moving forward to cross his arms on the table. His words couldn't be truer, so I wondered why he didn't seem worried. If anything, the way his eyes glittered made it seem like he was enjoying the potential danger he was putting himself in.

As if he could see the cogs turning in my mind, he fiddled with the book in front of him and changed the subject.

"I've never paid much attention to music or literature. It just seemed like noise and words. But I think I'm starting to understand. Or at least I'm trying to."

I peered past his hands to the notes on the pages, each one etched onto the off-white surface with the inky scratches of a fountain pen.

"You don't feel things in the same way we do, do you?" I asked as I saw the questions and musings bordering the text.

"Not really." Atticus shook his head, his gaze fixed on the words before it. "But recently, I feel like that's starting to change," he uttered in a quiet voice, one that was seemed to be speaking more to something inside himself than to me.

"Is that normal?"

He chuckled. "Does normal even exist?"

"Good point," I chirped as I spied a queue forming at the bar. "Shit, I'll catch you later."

I eased up out of the chair and dashed off to save Amber from the growing crowd of disgruntled patrons. Despite her best efforts, her platinum smile had started to slip.

The rest of the shift flew by in a flurry of menial tasks I could do with my eyes closed. By the time my feet pounded down the stairs with my coat in my hand, I was more than ready to throw myself onto the sofa and drink the night away. I halted as I saw Atticus leaning against the end of the bar.

I could see a couple girls from the evening shift admiring his tall lean frame. If he knew they were looking at him he didn't show it. Instead his eyes were locked on me from the moment I stepped through the doorway. For the first time in forever, I felt a smug smile twitch at the corner of my lips. It didn't matter than we didn't see each other that way, there was still something flattering about having someone that beautiful give you their undivided attention.

He pushed off the counter as I approached. "Walk you home?"

"I'll walk myself home, but you can tag along if you want."