Once we both calmed down, Tori blocked her number. "I can't believe she had the balls to call me." She took a deep breath, before placing down her phone. "Anyway!" I jumped at her sudden yell, and I could feel myself freeze in fear when I saw the mischievous look she was sporting out of the corner of my eye. "You've been driving for like eleven hours straight. It's my turn."
"No Tor, it's okay. I don't need a break! I'll just drive the entire forty hours." I almost cried when she motioned for me to pull over.
The thing about Tori was, though she did almost everything in her life amazingly, she could not play Mario Kart or drive with regards to general life, to save her life. Every time we went somewhere I would maneuver my way into driving, but this time I was screwed. She was serious.
I'm gonna die.
"Tor, are you sure? I mean, look how busy the highway is." I pointed to the one car lazily driving ahead of us. Damn, how was there only one car?
She rolled her eyes. "Pull my car over, Y/L/N. I feel the need." Oh no. I'm definitely dead. "The need for speed."
_______________________________________
She actually kept pretty calm with her driving, which was a nice surprise. Before I knew it, the sun had disappeared and headlights were turning on. Tori had some chill music playing quietly, but the mood felt very nostalgic.
Ariana liked late night drives.
"I didn't know that." I looked at Tori in confusion before I realized that I had spoken out loud. "If you don't mind me asking, how did everything start? With Ariana I mean. You've never told me even after all this time."
I leaned my head against the window, eyes closed. Maybe this would help. how could I move on, get past this, if I never let it out? "I never told you because it's one of those cheesy hallmark stories I wanted to save for a special occasion. Like, oh, I met the love of my life in a coffee shop."
"A coffee shop?" There was a smile curving her lips, and I realized how fictional this story already sounded. Like one of those crazy fan stories Ari and I would read and laugh at.
"Yep, a coffee shop. I met the lov-" I gulped. I wouldn't allow my emotions to go that far. I could scratch the surface area with our origin story, but I wouldn't let myself feel anything too deep. " I met Ariana in a coffee shop."
*Flashback*
"Order for Sam!" I looked around, fake smile pasted on my face while I waited for this Sam dude to come get their coffee. A pretty blonde girl, I would guess probably a junior in college, came forward to grab the coffee and napkins out of my hands, and with a sigh, I moved back to the coffee machine to start making the next persons.
It was rush hour for the Starbucks close to campus, and that unfortunately meant all my fellow college students were rushing over for their fix. I had started working this job around three months ago; because, after living here for almost two years, all of the money my parents gave me in the beginning had all but ran out, and ramen wasn't cutting it for my taste buds anymore.
After a few more grueling hours, and a lot more annoying people, rush hour was over and the shop was actually pretty empty. The last person in here packed up their laptop and left, and my co-worker, Stephen, came towards me. "There's literally no one here, so I'm going to take my break. I'll be back in like thirty." I sent a wave his way, and then suddenly it was only me in the entire coffee shop.
I had just finished cleaning up tables and stuff five minutes later, when the chime of the door opening went off. "Welcome to Starbucks, how may I help you?" I turned towards the customer, walking behind the counter while they walked up.
The second they got close enough, I was breathless. She was absolutely stunning. Her long, light brown hair cascaded down her shoulders, she was short and petite but still managed to have a figure, I couldn't see her eyes because of her over-sized sunglasses, but I barely contained a gasp when she moved them up out of the way. They were the loveliest shade of brown imaginable. Almost like chocolate and cinnamon mixed together.
"Hi," I felt a genuine smile light up my face at the sound of her voice. Just who was this girl? "May I have a Iced caramel macchiato with soy milk. Can I also have it grande please."
She looked up, cheeks going a lovely shade of pink when she caught me staring at her. Well that's f*cking embarrassing. I quickly looked down to the register and started putting in her order. "That will be $4.73, but for a beautiful woman like you, it's on the house."
She stopped in the middle of taking out some cash, and her cheeks turned an even darker shade of pink. A small smile took over her face, and I felt a little bit of pride at her reaction. "Oh, thank you so much. For the coffee and the compliment."
"Well, you can always have more of the latter." I moved to make her drink.
I heard a little bit of shuffling, and I disappointingly thought maybe she went to sit down, but she was still there, leaning comfortably against the counter when I looked. "I might have to take you up on that."
I grinned like a maniac while my back was towards her, but when I turned around I made my face more subdued. "So, what's the name on this order?"
Her eyes turned puzzled, and she looked around; probably wondering why I needed her name for the order when there was no one else here.
I didn't.
"You don't know?"
"Should I?" I cautiously asked. "Do you go to my college?"
Her eyes widened, and she honestly looked surprised, but she quickly schooled her expression. "No, uh, never mind, It's nothing. My name is Ariana."
I pulled out a sharpie, quickly writing my number and name on the cup. Handing it over to her, I held her gaze; pretty much lost in her beautiful eyes. "Well, Ariana. Feel free to call me any time for some more of those compliments, and maybe we can both get coffee next time."
A full, face-splitting grin lit up her face, and I literally wanted to just have her smile at me like that for the rest of my life.
"Oh, I definitely will. Next time I'm paying for your coffee."
With a final smile, and small wave, she walked out the door. Almost immediately after, I whipped out my phone and hit google. It was a long shot, but maybe.. 'Ariana in Miami.' Numerous options popped up, along with some pictures. I was going to scroll past them when one caught my eye. It was her.
Hitting it, the link bought me to an old E! News article. 'Ariana Grande back in Miami after breakup' was the headline, but why would she be on E! News? I started to read the words, and nearly dropped my phone on the ground when it clicked.
Holy sh*t, she was Ariana Grande!
*Flashback over*
"Only you could meet, flirt with, and get the number of an international pop star, and not realize she was an international pop star."
Tori laughed as much as she could while driving, and I rolled my eyes while laughing with her. "In my defense, I was never current on what was happening in the world. All I had time for was work and school then, you know that! Remember we barely even had time to hang out for like months at a time."
She nodded her head, conceding. "That was only how you met her though! I want to know how you started dating!"
"You never said that." I groaned.
"Well, I am now. Tell me how you started dating." She was like a little kid, and I whined when I realized she was serious.
This was going to be an emotionally long night.
A.N. I'm going to continue with the flashback next chapter.
