Isaac

That Saturday morning was dark. It was always dark. Everything is alwaysdark. The perks of being blind I guess. Another perk is that it is hard making friends, I mean whatever I don't need a lot of them but ever since my best friend Augustus Waters died three years ago and soon my other friend Hazel Lancaster died a year and a half later I have kinda not attempted to make new friends. My ex-girlfriend still hasn't said anything to me yet either. Whatever, I may just egg her car again.

I have gotten used to walking and living on my own and that Thursday I went to Barnes and Noble to buy an audiobook of An Imperial Affliction by Peter Van Houten. With the amount that Gus and Hazel spoke about the damn thing it must be good.

Cassie

'Give me give me that love I've been waiting for, yeah
I'll catch my hand I've been fighting for, yeah'

I rolled over and switched off my alarm and groaned, my cat Pudding padded my arm and I lazily sat up. I lived on my own in a studio apartment and attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago as a sophomore. I checked my phone and saw two missed calls and three texts from my mother and deleted them all. There was no way I was calling her back. I hopped out of bed and went for a shower.

I wiped the foggy mirror with my hand and frowned. No matter how many products or treatments I used my acne wasn't getting better. It consumed my cheeks and chin and I hated it. I applied moisturiser then a thick layer of foundation to my face to make sure that it wasn't still red. Next there was powder, mascara that complimented my pale blue eyes, lip-gloss and nothing else. I dried her half blonde and half blue hair and made it look my preferable style of messy. Also so that it would slightly cover my face. I changed into my Barnes and Noble uniform, grabbed my phone and earphones, spritzed on some Daisyperfume, kissed Pudding goodbye and headed to work.

"You're late again Cassie." My manager Dave grumbled, obviously unimpressed. I hated my manager. Dave was a miserable middle-aged, overweight, divorced bald man whose only joy in life was to suck out the gladness of his employees.

"I-I'm sorry Dave." I apologised, taking my earphones out. It wasn't my fault that the buses are never on time.

"You are stacking books again."

Great!

I was grabbing a box of books in the storeroom when a shadow grew over my back.

"Hey Cas."

"Hey Tom." I said flatly lifting the box from the floor. I turned and Tom was towering over me with his hands shoved in his pockets. His hair and his eyes were dark and he wore a very confident white smile.

"Wanna go out tonight? It's couples night down at After Lights and I think it would be pretty epic."

"Uh, I can't sorry. I have to finish this art project um thing due in on Monday and I haven't even started it yet." Ilied and shrugged my shoulders innocently and pushed passed him.

"One day Cas." Tom called from the storeroom. Yeah right, he was always the guy to put me in a bad mood.

Thanks for the help.

I was quite a small standing at 5'5". However the box was quite big and the aisles are very narrow so it was difficult to navigate, and at every corner it was always possible to-

The box crashed and broke on the ground with books flying over the place and the two crashing to the ground. I was not in the mood.

"Watch where you're going. Are you-" My eyes widened as I spotted the stick on the floor and the glasses on the blonde guys face.

"Oh my god."

Isaac

There was that goddamned same question again; even if she didn't finish it I knew what she was going to say. It pissed me off, even though I couldn't deny that she had a nice voice.

"Blind?" My voice sounded bitter. "Yes I am." If I was with Gus or Hazel I would've taken it as a joke but with a stranger, I just took it as rude. I helplessly padded the ground looking for my stick feeling utterly embarrassed when surprisingly a soft, small hand held my wrist and handed it to me.

Damn. She smells good. "Tha-"

"Cassie? Shit Cassie. Are you alright?" A deep male voice interrupted and I could imagine him picking his probable girlfriend off the floor, leaving me, the blind guy to suffer.

Thanks for the help.

"Yes Tom. I'm fine!" The girl replied, frustrated. I slowly to rose off the floor and felt all of the objects on the ground and assumed they were books.

"For fuck sake Cassie!" An angry voice erupted from about a metre away. "Turning up late and now this? I don't fucking believe it."

"Dave. I-I."

"Save it. You're fired. Grab your stuff and get out." I heard some steps walk away then felt a large hand hit my shoulder and winced slightly at the surprise of the hard impact. "I am terribly sorry sir for that. That girl is completely useless. For compensation would you like a free item?"

A free item? Cool. "Uh, do you have An Imperial Affliction?"

"Yes sir. Hard Back?" The man asked almost too cheery. I believed that it would be self explanatory that I couldn't read.

"Preferably the Audio Book."

"Oh of course. Tom! Get the man what he wants."

With that I heard another set of footsteps leave and shortly come back. Dave aggressively shoved the Audio Book in my hand and patted me on the shoulder again.

"It has already been purchased so the alarm won't go off on your way out. Is there anything else you would like?"

"No. Thanks." I awkwardly smiled and started to leave. "Thanks again." I waved the Audio Book in the air and left the building.

"Hey. Wait." It was the same girl that I had heard in Barnes and Nobles. I was already five feet down the street and heard running steps from behind me.

"I just wanted to say that I am really sorry about before. About the whole collision thing and being a bitch for asking…well you know." I knew what she meant.

"No it's okay. If you weren't there I wouldn't be holding this in my hand with the same money I walked into the store with."

"Really?"

"Really." We were both were laughing and it felt nice to be laughing like that again.

There was a silence.

"Isaac." I said holding out my hand.

"Cassie." The girl said taking my hand. "But with Dave in there I assume that you already knew that." We laughed again and we let go of each other. For some reason, I believed that her hand felt almost right in mine.

Cassie

I wasn't expecting him to forgive me. God, I thought that he would just pretend that I didn't exist. It was a nice surprise.

"Well. It's been nice meeting you. I assume you want to get doing your own thing-"

"No. Uh no." Isaac paused. "Do you want to grab a coffee or something?" He asked shyly, rubbing the back of his neck. Even though that I couldn't see his eyes, I had to admit that he was pretty cute and that he had good blonde hair. Thank God that he couldn't see me blush.

"Actually. You have a boyfriend. Oh God um pretend I didn't just say that.

"I don't have a boyfriend."

"But what about that guy Tom or something."

"Him? Trust me if we don't I mean didn't work together I wouldn't go near him with a ten foot poll." I said cheerily.

"Really?"

"Really." I smiled sweetly.

"I remember that there is a Starbucks down here somewhere."

"Yeah it's just a few stores down."

"Then lead the way Cassie." Isaac said unknowingly holding out his arm in the wrong direction. I laughed rolling my eyes and tapped him on the shoulder, which told him otherwise. "Oh." He turned around with a cocky smile on his face. "Lead the way Cassie." I laughed again and we both headed for Starbucks.

Authors Notes

I hope you guys like it so far.