Stereos

Peyton Riley had never been so mortified in her life. Her grandfather, who she had only left unattended for a minute, was off arguing a poor guy’s ear off. When she got closer, she realized with absolutely no ounce of satisfaction that her grandfather was talking about her.

The guy who he was talking to was tall with soft features. His eyes were kind as he patiently listened to her grandfather talk about everything and anything that had to do with her. “This one time, when she was two, she was out in the front yard, playing with the hose, as naked as she was when she was born –”

“Okay grandpa,” Peyton admonished, swopping in and looping her arms through one of his. She briefly looked at the other guy, who just smiled kindly at her. They both turned to the elderly man.

“I was just telling him how –”

“Yes, grandpa, but I bet he doesn’t want to know about that.”

“How would you know, Pay-day?” he asked gruffly, turning to face her. “It was plaguing him since he saw you, I could tell.”

I’m sorry, she mouthed to the other guy, whilst trying to steer her grandfather away.
---
He had been patiently waiting for his coffee when an elderly man had approached him. “I’ve got a granddaughter about your age. How old are you, eighteen? Nineteen?”

The question had caught him off guard, since he hadn’t really been expecting the man to come to him. But as quickly as he was surprised, he was formally ready to answer any question. “Nineteen,” he responded.

“The exact same age as her. She works here, you know.”

And after he told the elderly man his age, he didn’t get another word in. But he enjoyed talking (or listening) to him. Something told him the man would continue talking even if he wasn’t there, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave. It was fascinating to know about the time his granddaughter went streaking down the sidewalk out in front of their old house.

Just then, a petite girl with auburn hair approached them out of nowhere. “Okay grandpa.” She wore an apron with the café’s logo on it, which led him to believe that she was the granddaughter this man had been talking about. Once she looped her arm through the old man’s, she tried to coerce him into silence. She looked at him once, and he took note of how her eyes were just as nice as her hair. They didn’t look at each other long, because the old man demanded both their attention again.

She tried to diffuse her grandfather’s explosion of talking, which didn’t happen, so she ended up steering him away. After mouthing an apology to him, she was able to get her grandfather to sit down at a table far enough away from him that his words were indistinguishable but he knew the old man was still talking.

“Excuse me!” A young guy’s voice broke through his thoughts, and he faced the counter. “Are you going to order, or are you just going to – oh my god you’re Luke Schenn!”

Luke bowed his head in humility, a slow smile appearing on his face. “Yeah, that’s me.”

The kid looked like he was hemorrhaging, so Luke awkwardly shifted on his feet. “Can I just get a coffee?” He asked slowly.

The kid, who finally snapped out of his star-struck awe, punched it into the computer. “Yeah! Yes! Luke Schenn can have coffee.”

“Thanks.”

No sooner had the kid gone to make his coffee, did the older man from before return. “Her name’s Peyton, and she works here every day except Saturdays and Wednesdays.”

He nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Just then, the older man moved in, as if to conspire with Luke. “She’s on the smaller side, but what she lacks in height she makes up for in personality. She’s just like her mother – always gets in trouble with the guys because of that pretty little smile –”

“Grandpa!” Peyton returned, a heated look on her face. She no longer wore an apron, and she carried with her a jacket and a purse. Presumably both hers. “I left you over there and you promised you would stop bothering him!”

“I’m not bothering him!” he defended.

She turned to Luke. “I’m so sorry. He hasn’t had his medication today –”

“I’m not on medication, Peyton,” Grandpa Riley interrupted.

“They all say that, grandpa. Now let’s go. I’m taking you home before Grandma sends out S.W.A.T after you.” She gently pulled on her grandfather’s arm, while dangling a key ring. “You know what my car looks like. Why don’t you go sit in the passenger seat?”

Peyton made sure her grandfather was almost at the door before she looked at Luke. “I’m really sorry. I’m not sure how he even got away from my grandmother, but he’s harmless, I promise.”

She looked completely frazzled, so Luke smiled as if to reassure her. “It’s fine. I learned some things about you that I don’t even know about my sisters.”

Peyton smiled crookedly. “Well, I can’t win them all, right?”

A horn honked from outside the café, and both of them turned at it. Peyton sighed, which caused Luke to look at her. “I’d better go before he tries to drive off. There are only so many tickets he can talk himself out of before they just arrest him.” Even though she rolled her eyes, he could see the humor behind it.

She moved around him, bidding him farewell with a head nod. He had said hardly anything to her, and it was nagging him. She was extremely nice, he could tell, so he wasn’t sure why he had let her do all the talking.

He looked over towards the door, where she would undoubtedly be exiting. As he did, she looked over her shoulder at him and gave him a fleeting smile.