Someone to Remember

The next morning, at a too early four a.m., Maya arose from her pillow and rubbed her eyes groggily. Even though she had been doing this system for the past three months, her body hadn’t quite adjusted to it yet. The memories of being in high school and having to wake up at six mocked her, making her feel envious of the two extra hours she so desperately craved. Trudging off to the bathroom to shower and prepare herself for the day’s work ahead, she blindly grabbed her khaki-colored work jeans and the black polo that completed her uniform and threw them onto the bathroom floor. In a brisk five minutes, she managed to shower and wake herself up. After, she changed into her work clothes and silently walked into her kitchen.

A loud crunching sound was all that could be heard throughout the home, aside from the occasional patter of her cat’s paws against the floorboards, as she took a bite from an apple.

“Morning, Link,” she mumbled to the feline as he jumped up onto the counter beside her. He nudged his face against her arm and mewed in response. A smile spread across Maya’s face and she scratched his head lovingly. Link was her only companion while she looked for work and a roommate to help her pay rent, and he definitely kept great company whenever she awoke in the early morning and got home in the late afternoon.

After spending the next forty five minutes tending to her companion and getting some light research done, it was time for her to leave. She slipped on her heavy coat to fight off the cold London weather and grabbed her keys.

“Be good,” she called out to her cat, who could not been seen in her peripheral vision. “And don’t eat all the food in the house.”

With that, she locked her door and headed out of her complex, snuggling into the warmth of her coat. It took her about ten minutes to get down to the shop, since no one was really awake at this time, except for the wealthier businessmen she passed on the street every morning. Once she arrived at her work, she fumbled with the keys slightly in the cold and unlocked the familiar establishment.

The hours passed at a painfully slow rate for Maya, and when she finally looked at a clock, it was only ten fifteen. The shop hadn’t had many customers that day, so her boss let most of the other workers leave early. Maya wished she could have been one of them, but she elected to stay since she desperately needed to make money. Early days and days off just weren’t an option for her. Not yet, anyways.

About five minutes later, the familiar chiming of the bells tied to the door rang out. Finally, she thought. A customer at last. It was a tall man with short, curly, golden-brown hair, dressed in what seemed to be casual wear for someone with an important job. As he approached the counter, Maya prepared herself with her usual greeting. But when he stopped in front of her, she felt her stomach fill with butterflies. She knew as soon as she saw his intense, icy-blue eyes that he was the very man that inspired her to start down her dream career road.

She fumbled with her words, as if she’d forgotten how to speak, and the man waited patiently, not even noticing her as he glanced at the menu above her head. Finally, she managed to form a broken question.

“H-hello,” she stuttered. “Wh-what would you l-like today, s-sir?”

The tall, pale man looked at her as if she hadn’t said a thing. “What was that, miss?”

She cleared her throat nervously and repeated herself a bit louder. “What w-would you like today, sir?”

“Oh, I think I’ll have a tall coffee with one of those croissants over there in the display.”

Such a simple sentence threw her off completely and she grabbed a cup with a shaking hand and pulled a pen from her apron, simultaneously punching in the prices on the register. His voice mesmerized her in general, but hearing it in real life, not on a screen, talking to her was something she couldn’t fathom.

“A-alright, one tall coffee and a croissant,” she repeated back to him to confirm his order. “Will that be all f-for today?”

“Yes, I do believe that’s right.”

She barely nodded as she told him the cost of his nourishments and he handed her his payment. Maya struggled to count out his change while her heartbeat pounded in her head. She shakily handed him his change and wanted to smack herself for the next thing she was going to say.

“And c-can I get your name for when the coffee’s ready?”

She didn’t need to ask his name. She already knew every bit of it by heart. But it was the shop’s policy to ask the customer’s name, no matter who they were. And now, she felt like an idiot.

“Hm? Oh, it’s Tom.”

She quickly nodded again and turned around to make the coffee as soon as he had walked away from her. In her mind, she reminded herself to calm down while she brewed his drink and placed a croissant in the toaster to warm it. After all, he was still a normal person, doing things a normal person would to start off their day.

Her head turned back briefly to look at the lean man, watching him sit at a small table and pull a newspaper from inside his jacket. A smile played at the corner of her lips as she poured hot coffee into his cup. The quiet ding of the toaster told her his croissant was done as well. Carefully, she put the pastry in a small paper bag and a lid on the cup of coffee.

“Tom,” she called out at a quieted tone, now standing by the edge of the counter again. Her impulse was to walk over to him instead of him to her, just out of her own common courtesy, but again, shop policy overruled everything.

His head popped up and he refolded his paper, leaving it on the table he was sitting at as he walked back over the counter. He smiled warmly at Maya as he approached her.

“Thank you, um–,” he paused as he scanned her apron for her nametag. “Maya.”

Her heart seemed to have skipped a beat, hearing his voice say her name.

“Not a problem, Mr. Hiddleston,” she blurted out before thinking. Tom raised an eyebrow at her curiously as her eyes widened a bit.

“You know who I am?” he inquired.

She nodded sheepishly, ducking her head down slightly. “Yeah, of course I do,” she mumbled quietly.

“Then, why did you–”

“Policies,” she said quickly, cutting him off. When he nodded in understanding, she felt a bit of tension release.

“So I’m taking that you’ve seen some of my work, yes?”

“Absolutely! You’re the reason I became an actress.” His facial expression changed to one that read a bit of doubt.

“Really?” he asked. “Then, may I ask why you’re here, working at a small coffee shop?” Her face fell slightly and she shoved her hands into her apron, feeling embarrassed.

“Well, I’ve only been acting for a few years and I just moved out here from the U.S. and I needed a job to give myself a steady income until I landed a role.” After explaining, she looked back up at Tom. The warmth in his eyes gave her some sort of strange comfort, as if she were talking to a close friend.

“I see,” he said. “And have you gotten any interesting parts yet?”

“Not yet, but I’m hoping to get one soon.”

“Anything in particular?”

She scoffed quietly, shaking her head. “Anything where I have a bigger role would be nice.” His smile and subtle laughter gave her some reassurance that he knew what she meant.

“Between you and me,” he started, the smile on his face curving further upwards as he leaned closer to her on the counter. “There’s this new movie I’m auditioning for that also happens to need a female lead. Maybe you’d be interested in that, perhaps?”

Her ears perked up slightly and she looked over at him, looking for any sense of humor on his face. When she couldn’t detect a trace of any, she grinned and nodded quickly.

“Absolutely,” she replied enthusiastically. Tom reflected her grin and pulled out a piece of paper and an elegant looking pen from his jacket. He began writing down all the necessary information for her, occasionally glancing up at her while she waited patiently. As he finished, he slid the paper her way and took his coffee and croissant in exchange.

“There you go,” he said. “I hope to see you there, bright and early.” He smiled warmly at her. “I’d love to see how you do.”

Maya felt her cheeks turn pink at his words and quickly folded the paper, stuffing it into her apron. “Thank you, so much. I don’t know how to really express how grateful I am, really.” She smiled bashfully and let out a soft giggle.

Tom reached his hand out and placed it gently on hers, making her blush a bright red color. “Don’t worry about it,” he replied, giving her hand a soft squeeze. With that, he nodded and thanked her before walking back to his table to grab his newspaper and leaving.