Placing his head in his hands, he leaned against the counter and let out a tired sigh. His job was far too tedious; standing at the counter for hours and waiting for customers that only show at certain times of the day and at other times, the cafe might as well be a ghost shop. It didn’t help that he had spent the majority of his night sketching and drawing just for the heck of it.

He turned to said sketch and moved to slide it over to him. It was nothing but a drawing of a bouquet of various flowers, and he’d only drawn it in hopes of brushing up on his still-life realistic drawing skills and so he could have an excuse to delve into the variety of paints Day had bought for him. He had yet to touch or even open them for that matter.

He let his hand rest over the cased paint in his apron pocket and cast a glance to the door that had yet to be entered since the early morning except for the occasional person or two presumably on their lunch break. He took a seat on a small stool behind the counter and was just about to open the paint when his boss rounded the corner.

“What are you doing?” Cassandra asked, peeking over his shoulder in her own curiosity. “I’m just gonna pretend you aren’t supposed to be focused on work for the moment.”

Onyx rolled his eyes with a small laugh. “As if you give a shit. How many times have I caught you texting your friend during work hours?”

“Enough times for it to be somewhat embarrassing,” Cassandra admitted with a laugh of her own. “I’m not gonna lie. I enjoy seeing you spending your time drawing every now and then. Your art is flattering and it’s an interesting difference in your seemingly rough personality.”

“Rough personality?” Onyx questioned. “What a creative way to say insolent.”

“You aren’t insolent,” Cassandra reproved. “I know you better than to think that.”

“Good to know,” Onyx muttered under his breath. When Cassandra began to leave, he quickly spoke up with an odd amount of desperation that even surprised him. “Wait. I have a question to ask you.”

Cassandra paused and turned to regard him with a smile. “Yeah?”

“Your friend… Skylar, and his soulmate…” he trailed off but continued once he got a nod of acknowledgment from Cassandra. “Are they doing okay together?”

“Yeah.” Cassandra’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “They’re soulmates so they ‘ought to be. Why’d you ask?” 

“I was just curious,” Onyx sighed and unconsciously ran a hand down the veins of his arm. “Don’t worry about it.”

Cassandra was silent for a few moments as she took in the glow of his wrists. They were rather close for just coworkers. He confided in her when he felt like he had no one else and she was always there to listen. Perhaps she expected for Onyx to confide in her about his newly found soulmate, but he couldn’t. He didn’t want to talk about it; he almost felt like if he did he would speak it into existence. 

But this was real, wasn’t it? Day was his soulmate whether he wanted him to be or not. The real question was what he should do with what he’d been given. What he should do with the gift he’d never asked for?

She offered a small smile. “Alright. I’m leaving out for a bit, but I should be back soon.” She pointed to the veins on her wrists that emitted a glow of their own. “If you need advice about anything remember I’m always here.”

“Of course,” Onyx nodded and watched as Cassandra swiftly made her exit, glad that she hadn’t taken it upon herself to pry. Putting his head in his hands, he had to hold back a groan when a familiar ding sounded and a customer practically flew through the door.

Straightening up, he offered the customer the best smile he could muster. “Hello, what can I get you?”

The soft sound of pencil against paper soothed him and that wasn’t something he could say about most things. He’d been practically retracing over the lines and curves on the paper for the past ten minutes but he was okay with it. There was no rush.

He glanced up to watch as a couple of kids ran past him with their visibly exhausted parents chasing after them. He couldn’t help but notice that, despite their fatigue, the bright smiles on their faces never lessened even for a second. They were living in the moment and Onyx almost hated how precious it was. He wanted to hate it because it was something he wished he could have but would never get.

A rather strong breeze blew his art from his hands and in an instant, he was leaping up to retrieve said art but was relieved when the woman caught it for him. He walked over to grab it from her with a murmured “thanks” but froze when he noticed the glow of her wrists and the beating of her pulse that happened to match the man that approached her a second later. 

“You’re a wonderful artist,” the woman complimented with a bright smile before walking off side by side with her soulmate; the man throwing an arm around her shoulders and the woman accepting the embrace wholeheartedly within a heartbeat.

He stood there for a moment more before he shook himself out of it and once again moved to take his spot on the park bench. He sat there until the sun began to kneel beneath the earth and families began to return home. He sat there even longer until the laminated windows in a few houses some distance away from him lost their glow and became pitch black as the street lights came on.  The smell of barbecues became faint until they were nonexistent. The sound of nature died down along with the sound of bustling streets.

He felt the wind gently rustle his messy hair and only then did he realize how warm it was. He usually felt as if he was being scorched beneath the burning sun but today felt different. It felt calm and comforting and like he had time.

He had finally opened up his paint and painting felt just as fun and relieving as he had remembered. By the time he was packing his things away in his bag, it had approached midnight. After unlocking his phone, he mindlessly scrolled through his contacts. Alyssa was the first name in the list and he almost pressed the call button until he saw Day’s name just three places beneath her own. 

“What in the hell am I doing?” Onyx muttered to himself. “They’re both probably asleep by now.”

Still, he reasoned, it couldn’t hurt to try.