Cirilla of Cintra

‘‘Sounds stressful. Hell, it even.. looks stressful.’’ Nodding down at her work, Eddie glances back at the counter for a moment before turning back to her. ‘’Looks like you’re going to need a boost. I’ll buy you a cup of coffee, my treat. Just to get you through all this.’’

Becca had to smile in agreement with a slight nod of her head. It was stressful. But the reward in the end was worth it. “I love my job, but some days it makes me want to scream.” She gave a quick laugh to show it was only a joke. And when he mentioned buying her a cup of coffee, her heart melted slightly, but she shook her head. “Oh--you don’t have to do that.” As sweet as it was, she didn’t think she could accept. 

Usually James took his coffee to go but it was one of the pastries in the case that had caught his attention. And with both in hand, well, he didn’t trust his balance these days well enough to walk and eat at the same time. So he had been looking around the café, seeing that all the tables and chairs were full except for one across from a woman at her computer. He hated to interrupt her but there was no where else for him to sit. It seemed as if she hadn’t caught what he said until a few seconds after and James flashed her a smile. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you. I was just wondering if it would be alright if I had a seat? There’s no other empty chairs or tables. If not, that’s fine as well! I don’t mind.” 

Glancing up at the man, coffee in one hand and a pastry in the other, Becca did a quick scan around the coffee shop. Of course it wasn’t like she didn’t believe him. But it had been almost completely empty when she’d come in this morning which was... a quick glance at her computer’s clock indicated she’d been here for three hours already. And another second for her to register his question again had her nodding. “Oh, yeah, sure. I’m not using the chair, go for it.” She hated that she was so easily consumed and transported somewhere off into workland instead of the present. “Sorry, I’m not usually this spacey.” 

‘‘You.. were too in thought, and I almost didn’t want to say anything. But you knocked these off the table.’‘ Motioning to her stuff that was gathered in his hand, he sets her things on the table beside her with a shrug. ‘‘That’s all. I’m curious, though. What’s got you hard at work?’‘

“Thanks,” Becca watched him set her things on the table. They’d fallen off and somewhere in her subconscious she vague recalled it. But she was in the middle of reading and sometimes that part of her brain wouldn’t turn off. It was a little embarrassing that someone else had to catch it. “Just a project I’m working on for work. My deadline is next week but I’m swamped in meetings for the next few days so I kinda have to work on it in my free time.” 

As much as Audrey tended to get lost on her phone, a side-effect of being the boss and starting fresh with a new salon to top it all, but it still bothered her when people were focused on other devices and weren’t aware of their surroundings. Nevertheless, the brunette gave the woman a smile, mostly because she looked cute. “Yeah, I was askin’ if it was okay if I sat here? Been waiting for a table to get free with no luck.”

Becca’s eyes went to the chair across from hers. It took a moment for her brain to catch up and then finally she answered. “Oh, yeah, of course.” She scrambled to slide all of her work back into her bag before setting it at her feet. “Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to hang out during a rush, but I can’t work at home. Something about the atmosphere just makes me want to sit on the couch in my PJs and be lazy.” 

“Lost in your work?” Joshua questioned with a chuckle. In his hands were pieces of paper that had been scattered nearby and he was checking every table to see who’s it was. “I found these layin’ over there and I just wanted to make sure they weren’t yours before I tossed ‘em. Everyone else said no, so I figured they might be yours. If they’re not…well, looks like they’re going in the trash.”

“Oh yeah,” she answered with a slight laugh. She couldn’t even deny it after being  so blatantly caught. And when he produced the few pieces of paper she’d been missing, she reached out for them wide-eyed. “Wow, yeah, these are mine,” she said quite bewildered. “I thought I left them at home, guess they just fell out of my bag. Thank you.” She was very thankful he hadn’t just thrown them away without asking like many people would. It wouldn’t have been a huge loss--she could always write them up again, but it would have been a big inconvenience and take up a lot of her time. She smiled up at him, ever grateful. “Are you getting a coffee? I’ll put it on my tab...” 

“It’s alright. I know what it’s like to be so focused on whatever you’re working on that you kinda drown out the rest of the world.” Mia chuckled as she stood there, her hand wrapped around the open seat across from Becca. “I was checking to see if it was alright that I sat here. I have some work to do myself, and this seems to be the only seat unoccupied in this place. Looks like it’s finals week or something with all these students here. Is it alright if I sit? I promise I won’t be long, or talk your ear off. I just really need to get this done before the day is over.”

At least Becca felt a little bit better knowing the woman didn’t think she was completely rude. She just got so sucked into what she was doing. And it wasn’t like she was expecting anyone to want to talk to her anyway. Becca glanced at the seat across from her. “Oh--of course,” she said, not even giving it a second thought. “Hold on, let me uh--” she scrambled to grab all of her crap she’d strewn all over the table and piled it neatly on her side of the table next to her laptop. “I don’t mind sharing a workspace,” she smiled, gesturing for the woman to sit down. “I’m Becca by the way.” 

Lost in her own dream world, Becca could easily tune everything and everyone out. Work got the best of her sometimes and it was a comfort to be able to zone in on her computer screen. For longer than just a moment she had the strangest sensation that someone may have been watching her. And then a voice--clear as day though her brain still needed to catch up. Her head turned toward the person and she gave an embarrassed smile. “Sorry, I didn’t catch that. Were you talking to me?” 

the magician: have you ever written a poem or song about somebody else?

“One time, in middle school, I wrote a poem about a singing hot dog, does that count?” 

the chariot: thoughts on astrology?

the fool: do you have any nicknames?

“Well yeah, Becca... but some people call me Beck. My dad calls me Bex. Someone in high school tried to call me Reba. Didn’t last too long though.” 

hermit: what is your favorite soda pop?

“Dr. Pepper is far superior to any other soda.” 

the moon: have you ever written a love letter?

( CRYSTAL REED. SHE/HER. CIS WOMAN ) Did I just see ( REBECCA "BECCA" RAGSDALE )? This ( THIRTY-TWO ) year old ( PUBLISHER ) has been living in Chicago for ( FOURTEEN YEARS ). Some say that they are ( LAID-BACK & INTELLIGENT ) as well as ( SCATTERBRAINED & ALOOF ). If they had a theme song, some might say that it would be ( BLACKBIRD BY THE BEATLES ).