My Knight In a Grey Hoodie

Jitters

Rosé

The loud honk of a car horn and the chirping of city pigeons let me know it was time to wake up. Immediately my head was throbbing and my memories from last night was a messy blur of tears and embarrassment. Welcome to my life.
I immediately ran to the kitchen to brew my morning coffee, the smell within each strong drip engulfing my apartment in the sweet scent. I poured in my almond creamer, a swig of cinnamon, and a sprinkle of sugar to satisfy my sweet tooth. Ah, if only life was as simple and delightful as having morning coffee.
          My dog Max walked up to my seat and looked at me with his ashamed stare, probably because of how I was neglecting the apartment. Crumpled up pieces paper with old story ideas and potential interview outfits were scattered all over my studio. I scooped up Max in my arms and scratched his tummy to make up for the mess.
          I was still in disbelief that I saw Joshua at that coffee shop yesterday. In reality, the most shocking thing about it was him seeing me look like a complete mess, passing out of exhaustion, and getting kicked out at the end. I don’t even know how I made it back home through that horrible storm without my umbrella. 
         Wait, didn’t I have my umbrella in my purse? Hold up, where is my purse? I ran scrambling through my messy apartment for it before I realized that I left it in the café. Great.
        I mean it’s not like I still had feelings for him, going back to an emotional turmoil was something I didn’t want or need. Seeing him was like a scar from childhood, it doesn’t hurt, it's just an embarrassing memory that sticks with you. 

    I took one last sip from my coffee to give me the energy to get through the awkward situation. Standing tall and giving Max one last tummy rub, I left toward the cafe with a skip in my step.
                     
 I wonder how he got here. The guy who aspired to be a musician (or an english teacher if it didn’t work out) was working for a coffee shop down 55th St. I would say he was my first love, but since it never worked out, I’d call it a jitter. Something that made your heart feel like you ran a mile, but eventually it goes away because it was a sweet and caffeinated experience. It must be the sugar in my coffee that made me suddenly poetic. 


Before I knew it, the illuminated sign that read “The Bean” was right in front of me. I take a super deep breath, let it out, and open the chiming door. 
Instead of Joshua greeting me with his awkward hello, a girl with black, almost blue hair welcomed me to the shop. Honestly the brilliance and ambition in her eyes scared me at first, I was almost tempted to buy something then and there.
“What would you like to order miss? I love our new tumeric latte and it gives you essential vitamins and…,” she continued brightly. I didn’t want to cut her off but I really didn’t come here to waste the few dollars I saved for myself each month. I smiled and nodded as she explained all the endless benefits of the dull orange drink in the promotional poster beside her. Why did my mom raise me to be so courteous to others?
“Although that drink does sound tempting,” I said as if I really wanted it. ”I’m actually looking for a barista named Joshua who works here.”
She paused and took a second to see if she recognized me. “Oh wait is your name Rosie? He just left from his shift.” A part of me twitched from my mispronunciation pet peeve, but I shake it off.
“I guess so,” I chuckled. Low and behold she brings up my red purse from below the counter. 
“So before I give this to you, you need to tell me one thing. How do you know Josh because something about his expression this morning tells me that your a blast from his past,” she says wiggling her brows. “Girlfriend, Ex, crush, or friend?” 
“None actually,” I said with a tone of embarrassment. “Just an acquaintance.”
She laughed in response, not in a sarcastic way, but as if she was pulling a prank on me. “You didn’t have to tell me anything, I was just messing with you! Are all you east coasters so gullible?,”she said clapping as if she won. “I’m Irene by the way.” 
 As odd as this encounter was, she reminded me so much of my friend Lisa, who always tried to make light of things. If only she could lend me some of her positivity. 
My phone buzzed, letting me know that I had another interview in two hours for a publishing company. “Well it was nice to meet you, hopefully we’ll see each other around,” I said grabbing my bag, waving to Irene, and heading out the door.
I ran to the subway to head back home and look job worthy for the interview. If these last job attempts fail, I would have to end up going back to L.A., so I absolutely needed to try my best. Since it was the noon lunch break rush, the train was jammed with people and personal space was non-existent. I squeezed my way into the train, holding on to the handlebar for dear life since there weren’t any seats. As the train emptied out into each stop, I finally found an empty seat and gladly sat in it. I got so used to running in and out of the metro that I rarely had the time to sit and enjoy the commute. I popped in my ear buds, and put on some Lo-Fi tunes, the best genre of all time in my opinion. 
Before I knew it, I had to get out of my comfy seat to get off to my stop. As I head out the door, someone’s hand grabs my wrist and drags me toward the other direction. Panic and anxiety engulfs me. 
“Let go of me, I think you have the wrong person!” I said trying to get my hand away from the guy who wouldn’t show his face. The worst thing about having severe anxiety is not being able to scream or even speak because it overwhelms you. His pull gets stronger and my arm is in pain.
All of a sudden, a stranger in a grey cap and hoodie shoves this guy away from his grip on me, yelling, “Didn’t you listen to her, leave her alone!” I was still shaking, grateful for this amazing stranger. I fell to the floor unable to compose myself after this sudden experience. 

“Rosé let’s get out of here.”

It was Joshua. He tried to lift me up so I can stand and we walk as fast as my body can go. 
“Are you okay, can you hear me? Oh my I’m so sorry this happened,” his voice races. I try to respond but my voice doesn’t come out. I’m still trembling, yet not as bad as I was in the station. 
“I’m sorry I-I just need a min-ute to calm down. I have bad anxi-,” I attempt to say.
 But he shortly says afterward,”Don’t worry you don’t need to speak. It’s going to be okay,” he says carefully holding my shoulder as if it was broken glass. I’m grateful and relieved.
Josh stays with me at the bench out of the station for almost an hour, keeping silent and helping me calm down. 
“So you remembered me?” I say without thinking. I honestly couldn’t imagine what I would do if I saw this happen to an acquaintance. Would I have been as bold?
“Of course, Rosie.” He says with a smile, probably knowing from my sister that I cringed yet laughed when people called me that.
Immediately a smile rose to my face. 
“Man your face hasn’t changed!” he said trying to lighten up the mood. “I mean in a good way, meaning like you haven’t changed and your smile too but-.”  
I interject, “You too.”

 

 

 

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peachyjoy
JITTERS IS FINALLY BACK AFTER A LONG HIATUS. So much had been going on so I had to take a break from writing. But I’m glad to be finally back hehe~

Comments

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_tsukasa_
#1
Chapter 8: I'm really glad you're back an you updated on Josh's bday
pastamochi
#2
Chapter 8: Waaaahh i'm so happy! This made my day! And also, josh admiting his feelings for rosé solved me ToT
_tsukasa_
#3
Chapter 7: Oooooh i like the pov at the end
pastamochi
#4
Chapter 7: This ship is finally silently but surely thriving! Hoping for more advance moments but take your time author haha
pastamochi
#5
Chapter 6: Ajsakskkskkks thanks for updating author! ?
pastamochi
#6
Chapter 6: Ajsakskkskkks thanks for updating author! ?
_tsukasa_
#7
Chapter 5: I love the story, I really look forward to what will happen. I wonder how will Josh find out that Rose wrote the letter before, damn I'm too excited for this
pastamochi
#8
Chapter 4: I hope you know how much i love you for making a rosé x joshua fanfic! I've been shipping them lately and I find it really hard looking for decent fics of them.Thank you very much for writing Jitters and I love the way you write this book! I hope you update tho. ? Thanks again and God bless! ?
chasingfivetw0
#9
Chapter 3: ooh yay! she got the job! i’m rly liking josh’s cute little encouragements and how it’s p platonic rn haha ~ ty for the update!
iuhnehc #10
Chapter 3: Really liking the vibe of the fic! Keep up the good work :)