Ah... New story

Aya pinned the last bit of hair back. She took one last glance in the mirror to make sure everything was perfect. There was no point in spending so much time on this is it wasn't the best it could possibly be. Satisfied, Aya grabbed her bag and hurried out the door. She hoped she wasn't going to be late.

Stepping out, Aya was greeted with the normal hustle and bustle of the city. While this certainly wasn't New York or Chicago, it was busy enough. Cars rushed passed and Aya was hesitant to cross the street. She bit her lip, grabbed a hold tighter on her bag, and began to cross at the first open chance she had. She began to shove her way through the crowd on the sidewalk.

"Please. Go faster!" She begged silently. The anticipation was killing her. She dug the note out of her pocket and double, triple and quadruple checked the message. For sure it was today. For sure it was in ten minutes. For sure it was at the coffee house. Impulsively, she checked her watch. "Come on!" she thought. Aya always hated being late.

Her hear leapt when she saw the sign for the coffee house just ahead. Moments later, she pushed herself through the door. The heavenly aroma of ground coffee, hot chocolate, and fudge brownies filled the air. Aya took one deep breath and sighed. Right on time. Her eyes darted to the clock just to be sure.

She scanned the room to find her friend. Where was she? Aya began to play with the strap of her bag. Twisting it this way and that. She closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh in order to calm herself. Blinking her eyes open, she saw a bright yellow piece of paper in the corner of her eye. Curious, she glanced at the table. Spotless except for that one piece of paper. Aya could no longer hold in her curiosity.

She stepped closer, still suspicious. However, Aya barely got a glance before her phone vibrated violently against her thigh. She grabbed the paper and shoved it into her bag. With the other hand, she grabbed her phone. "Hello?" She answered.

"Um yeah, hey Aya. I'm gonna be a little bit late. Hang tight... order some coffee or something. I should be there soon, but I dunno. We'll see. And seriously, I can tell you're scowling. Get over it. People can't always been on time."

Aya rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'll wait." She said and snapped her phone shut. Frowning, she headed over to the counter to order something. Anything to melt away the bundle of stress that was beginning to form in the pit of her stomach. She stared up at the extensive menu placed before her. Hot chocolate. Coffee. Maybe even tea. She tapped her chin while considering every choice.

She cleared her throat. "I think I'll have a, uh," She stammered slightly as she looked at the cashier. She gulped down her nerves. "A, uh...." she took in a deep breath. "Hotchocolatewithabrownie" She said, all the words running into each other and tripping over one another. The cashier just nodded.

"That'll be $6.50." He said, handing Aya her brownie.

Aya fumbled around for her wallet. She pulled out exact change and nodded a thanks for her brownie.

The cashier cleared his throat. "Yeah... your drink should be done short- Oh. Here it is." He said and handed the drink to her. "Have a good day."

Aya nodded, and began to feel blood take over her cheeks. "Thanks. You too." she mumbled and scurried off with her drink. Settling down at a table, Aya was mentally slapping herself. "That was so stupid! Ugh. I should have just not gotten anything. He probably thinks I'm such a weirdo!" However, Aya took a sip from her drink. She tried her hardest not to spit it out. "Hot! Hot! Hot!" She began to panic in her mind. Grimacing, she swallowed it down.

This was was just not her day at all. Giving up, Aya took the yellow piece of paper out of her bag. She smoothed out the crumples that formed in her haste to put it away. She was disappointed when studying the paper further. It was just another flier recruiting actors and actresses for an aspiring playwright to live their dream. Aya frowned and turned over the paper. Maybe something special was on the back.

Sure enough, on the backside, a picture was drawn, looking quickly sketched on there. To Aya, it seemed to be a face belonging to a child. It was short and round, with chubby cheeks. The eyes were big, but not opened all the way. It almost looked as if the child was about to cry. The mouth creased into a frown, and the eyes looked a little filmy. Aya couldn't tell if it was a boy or girl. The artist only had time to draw a few wisps of hair over the forehead. Looking closer, Aya found a series of numbers written in the corner. They were done lightly, and Aya had to squint to see all the numbers. Even then, she wasn't sure she had them all correct.

However, before Aya could contemplate for long, her friend slid into the seat across from her. "Hey Aya. What do you have there?" They tried to peer at the paper.

Frantically, Aya shoved the paper back into her bag. "Nothing." She snapped. "Glad you could make it. Now that you are..." She glanced at her watch, "Over ten minutes late. Lets get to business. I need to be somewhere." Aya lied at the last part. She was just too curious about the numbers in the corner.

"Wow. Someone is a little snappy today. What bit your butt today?" Her friend replied. She cleared her throat. "However. I think it is time that you help me decide the decorations for the wedding."

"I'm no wedding designer. You know that, right?"

"But your attention to detail! It's amazing. I know with you that it will be right. It will look perfect. And what bride doesn't want that on her special day?"

Aya sagged her shoulders in defeat. "Fine. I'll help you. But if I see any hint of bridezilla... I'm leaving. OK? Give me the whole deal with what you have and I'll see what I can do."

Her friend broke into a huge grin. "You are an awesome friend, you know that?"

"Mhm. Sure. Whatever." Aya replied glumly as she realized that the flier was going to have to wait. She took a bite into her brownie and listened to all the details her friend was spilling out.

"Alright, so you know that I want a blue and silver theme right?" Kayin gave no time for Aya to answer. "But not light blue, dark blue. A deep, rich, dark blue. Have you seen my dress? No? Oh.. well you'll get to see it soon. Maybe you can come with me to go pick it up from the tailor tomorrow. But anyway, I have this place reserved. I still need to figure out what flowers I want and everything. It's a small place, so don't worry. I think you can handle it."

Aya sighed. "OK. How many people are coming?" She dreaded the answer. She hoped it really was a small wedding.

"Oh maybe something like... fifty. It's basically close friends and family. Tavor doesn't think that all his colleagues need to know his personal life. I agree... to a point. We're planning to have the reception in the church hall, so don't worry. And I-" But Kayin couldn't finish her sentence. Her pager beeped loudly. "I have to go. I'll email you pictures of the venue later." And like that, Kayin was out the door.

Aya sighed. "I guess it's time to go..." She muttered to herself while collecting her stuff. She took another sip of her hot chocolate, and this time it was perfect. Aya smiled and walked back to her apartment. Thankfully, the traffic eased up just a little bit and crossing the street was not so perilous this time.

However, greeting Aya in front of her door was a package. She frowned, but no matter how suspicious she was, she couldn't turn down the curiosity. Kicking the package forward into the apartment, she wondered if it had anything to do with the flier she found. Sighing, she closed the door and continued to kick the package forward.