(Eveow?)
Isobel hesitated, fingers hovering in the air above the woman’s arm. Finally, she assented, nodding and pulling back. Alice still seemed to be in pain… but it wasn’t any of her business, and she could tell when she was intruding on someone’s privacy. “I hope you feel better.”, she told her softly, slipping into one of the stalls.
(Apparently schizophrenia causes slurred speech)
Alice ran out of the cafe, badge and all. She leaned against the wall just ts past the corner.
She bit her lip, harder and harder until it bled. The pain cleared her mind, and the scene finally registered in her head. "Shit," she breathed. She'd probably freaked that girl out completely. She stayed put, unmoving, just out of sight of the cafe, just thinking. She needed to calm down before doing anything else.
(Oh sorry, I thought it might have been a typo since I make a lot of those)
Isobel was washing her hands, mind reeling over the events that had gone down a few minutes ago. She was properly torn, should she approach Alice and her her some help, or should she mind her business and leave her alone? On one hand, the situation was worrying and she could need help. On the other, she was just a stranger, and Alice was entitled to her privacy. Sighing, she shook the water droplets from her hands, dried them, and went back to her table. Alice was not at the cashier.
(no worries)
Finally collected enough to remain sane for a good couple hours, Alice decided to get back to work. She couldn't afford to get fired. She was about to push the door open when she noticed Isobel had returned to her table. She ducked behind a tree and looked on as Isobel looked around and sighed.
She looked genuinely worried. Alice couldn't help but smile a little. It'd been a long time since someone worried about her. She settled in her spot and sat down in the grass, looking into the cafe at Isobel.
(mwa haha first hints)
(Uh oh)
Isobel took a bite out of her cinnamon roll, casting another glance at the cashier. Still no Alice. Where was she? Was she okay? Chewing on her lip, she brushed a stray lock of dark hair behind her ear and focused her attention back onto her notes.
Alice noted how smooth her movements her. Elegant.
As soon as the thought entered her mind, she realized how creepy she was being. This wasn't normal, and normal was what she was aiming for.
She jumped to her feet, dusted herself off and walked back into the cafe. Time to get back to work, Ollie said.
She stopped dead right in front of the counter. "Nope," she breathed. She shook her head and, ignoring the thought, took her spot at the coffee machine. All this without so much as a glance towards Isobel.
Isobel’s eyes followed Alice as she made her way to the cashier, almost melting with relief. However hard she catch her eyes however, the harder Alice avoided looking at her.
Alice bustled around the cafe, being a perfectly amiable waitress, serving coffee and wrapping pastries. The repetitive rhythm helped her keep a cool head every day, which came in handy. Only occasionally would she look up and sneak a glance at Isobel.
Isobel caught only one of these glances, but it was over to quick for her to offer a friendly smile. She chewed on her lip, shifting her chair slightly so that her back was better warmed by the sun. Tugging at the neckline of her white blouse, she transitioned from reading and memorizing a line to looking back up at Alice.
Alice looked up briefly to see Isobel, playing with the neckline of her top, turn to look at Alice.
She couldn't bring herself to look away this time. Their gaze met.
Isobel smiled triumphantly, raising a hand to wave at Alice. Her gaze flicked down Alice’s body, searching for any signs of pain, but found none. Weird…
Alice gave her a slight smile back. Isobel's eyes traveled down her body, and Alice's smile grew. She took a lemon tart from the counter and brought it to her.
"On the house."
Isobel blinked in surprise. “Oh— thank you!” She smiled gratefully. “You didn’t have to.”
Alice shrugged a shoulder. "I did."
She looked at Isobel a moment before abruptly turning around and stalking back to the counter.
Isobel blinked, but payed the odd farewell no heed. She smiled down at the tart, taking a bite. I hope she's okay..
Alice glanced up at the clock, conveniently seeing Isobel out of the corner of her eye. She was taking a thoughtful bite of the tart. The way she ate was cute, Alice thought. Discreet and clean, but sort of shy.
Alice shifted her focus to the clock. One more hour to go.
Isobel glanced back up at the clock, blinking when she saw how quickly the time had flown. She had about an hour and a half until her first class of the day, but she needed to go back to her flat and get ready first. I'll leave in a few more minutes.. She began cleaning up her things, glancing up at Alice briefly.
Alice felt Isobel's gaze on her, but refused to look over at her. She served a coffee, a hot chocolate, a blueberry muffin and a ham sandwich before noticing Isobel was putting away her things.
Alice rubbed her hands together to stop the sudden chill. She looked up and out window to see _a guard standing there, staring at her. He wore the ever familiar blue uniform. A menacing smile stretched across his face, and her scars started throbbing. She recognised him; as if she'd ever forget him. Her face morphed into a mask of fear which she clumsily held back. She couldn't take her eyes off of him.
"Mike? I thik lgow," she murmured.
(Wait just to be clear she’s hallucinating right? Or is this real?)
(Oh right sorry yeah it's a hallucination)
(I forgot the second underscore)
(it's no problem, sorry for the confusion.)
Isobel finished packing up and glanced towards Alice one last time. Immediately, she registered the terrified expression on her face and stood up, gaze following Alice's to the door. There was no one there.
She pulled away from the bar, squeezed her eyes shut and hobbled out of the cafe.
" A B C D E F G H I J K…" she recited, attempting to block out the fact Ollie was standing two feet away.
Isobel's brows drew together. Grabbing hold of everything, she quickly slipped out of the café and followed Alice. "Alice!", she called out. "Wait up!"
"L M N O P Q R S" she continued desperately barely hearing Isobel behind her. She could hear Ollie's footsteps behind her, and sped up.