Clouds Cover the Sun Because they like the warmth

A Not So Normal Guy

Manon looked back at the closet. Her heart was pounding as she thought back to the evening before. She didn't know if it was the anxiety of meeting someone new, or if it was after what happened in France. As much as she wanted to forget what had happened last night, she just couldn't. She didn't know why exactly. Maybe because the man had a certain uncanniness to his appearance, or perhaps it was the random act of kindness. Either way she couldn't shake it. She walked over to the closet. Hesitantly opening the door to reveal the umbrella inside. Still tucked away in the last spot she left it. She could just leave it there, but then again she could run into him again today. A sudden knock at her door startled her. "Manon. Are you home?" Her aunt Tiffany asked through the door. Manon rushed over. Unlocking the dead bolt followed by the actual door. As soon as she opened it her Aunt let out a sigh of relief upon seeing her. "Oh thank goodness I thought something had happened to you. Your parents said you didn't call last night." Her aunt Tiffany exclaimed. Manon gave her a reassuring smile. "I'm fine, I just got caught in the rain last night." Manon explained as her aunt hugged her. "Oh dear, next time there's bad weather I'll get Claude to pick you up next time there's bad weather." Manon gave her a relaxed smile. "Thanks, I'll call them this evening, but I have to go to work." Manon said as her aunt nodded. "Alright then, don't let me keep you waiting for long. Have a good day at work." Her aunt said as she began to walk away. "Bye aunt Tiffany." Manon said before shutting the door. She looked back at the open closet. It wouldn't hurt to carry it around. Maybe even bring her own umbrella in case it started raining again. She grabbed it before moving over to an umbrella holder, grabbing it and leaving the apartment. Double checking that she locked it before heading off to work.

Almost as soon as she arrived at work she got a weird look from Rebeca. "Why do you have two umbrellas?" She asked as Manon placed her stuff in her locker. "I got caught in the rain, and a man gave me the umbrella. So I have it on me incase I run into him again, and the other one in case it rains again." Manon replied as she grabbed her apron. "A man, huh?" Rebeca teased as she leaned on her hand. "There's nothing going on, get your head out of the clouds." Manon said quickly. Rebeca just shrugged before giving her a small wink. Manon chose to ignore it. Besides she was sure Rebecca would be rather appalled by the appearance of the man. Then again it had been dark. Perhaps it was the lack of light that made him look all gray? Well there was no time to focus on that as she got straight to work. Helping with baking some of the food, and brewing the coffee. More of their coworkers arrived, followed quickly by customers. 

The day went by in a rush. Customers coming in and out as the sun clocked overhead. Slowly but surely descending on the clouds. It was around eight o'clock in the evening. Some of their other coworkers were in the back helping with some things that needed to be baked overnight. Leaving Rebeca, and Manon in the front area. "So you didn't even ask for his name or anything?" Rebeca asked. Trying to pry more information out of Manon. She would be lying if she didn't say it was getting annoying by now. Her fist was clutching tightly onto the rag she was using to wipe off the counter. "Just drop it, Rebeca." Manon said. Her voice had a level of calmness in it, but her demand was still rather firm. "Alright then, I'm going out for a smoke break. Wanna join?" Rebeca asked. As if she hadn't been prying for Manon's information over the last several minutes. "No thank you, I don't smoke." Manon replied as Rebecca just shrugged and left. As soon as she felt Rebecca was out of ear shot she let out a sigh of relief. Finally left with some peace and quiet without being disturbed over a man she just met. Rebeca could be nice, but at the same time she could get annoying really fast. A few minutes passed. Giving Manon time to calm down again, and finished cleaning the counter. She had her doubts that barely anyone would come in considering it was the evening. Those doubts were quickly put to shame when the ding of the overhead bell caught her attention. She almost didn't want to attend the person but didn't really have much of a choice. Though in all honesty that customer was probably going to be more tolerable than Rebeca. "Hello, what can I get... you?" Manon remained frozen for a few minutes. Standing right in front of her was the man from the evening before. The lighting of the cafe confirmed he was indeed colored in the grayscale. Manon was so stunned she didn't couldn't even find the words to speak. Did he follow her home last night? And possibly to work this morning? If so, why not come in earlier during the morning rush? "Well this is an interesting coincidence." The man said out of the blue. He appeared to be just as surprised as she was. "I'll take a black coffee." He said giving Manon some small relief. He was just here to get a coffee. Although it was rather late, who was she to judge? This man walked on the sky, was perpetually in the grayscale, and seemed to have a habit of constantly smiling. Manon typed the numbers into the register. "Will that be all?" She asked. The man nodded. "Your total will be two twenty four." She said as the man pulled out his wallet. Grabbing three dollars and handing them over to her. Manon opened the register and placed them inside the register before grabbing his change and handing it over to him. "I have your umbrella in the back if you'd like it back." Manon said as she closed the register. "Oh, sure." The man said. Appearing minorly stunned. Manon quickly rushed to the back. Only one other of her coworkers was back there. She figured the rest went and joined Rebeca for a smoke break. He gave her a polite smile before going straight back to sweeping the floor. Manon gave him a smile back before rushing back out and handing the man his umbrella back. The man smiled as he took it before Manon turned back over to the coffee pots. She'd have to brew some more. "So how did you find me exactly?" Manon asked as she grabbed another scoop of ground. Looking back over at the man who shrugged. "I figured you must be working in this area, considering I didn't notice you following me until I was over here. I usually get off of work much later, but since it was still early, and some of the shops were open I figured it wouldn't hurt to grab something and see if maybe you worked in the place. I honestly didn't expect for my guess to be spot on though." The man let out a slight chuckle. It didn't exactly calm Manon's nerves though. Even if his chuckle came out rather friendly. Manon grabbed a clean cup from a pile in the corner. "So where do you work?" Manon asked as the coffee began to brew. "At Stryker Financial Enterprises." Manon nodded, so he was in finance. That most certainly explained the level of classiness he had. Though she honestly didn't expect a big business man to be this friendly. Maybe it was just a disguise. Manon couldn't be too sure. Then again she was also making too many assumptions about him when she barely knew the man. Hell she didn't even know his name. She didn't know his name. She nearly slapped herself in the face for that. "I never did catch your name." Manon said as the coffee maker let out some beeps. "Oh, pardon me, where are my manners? My name is Norman Stryker." The grayscale man said, offering his hand out for a shake. Manon hesitantly shook it. "Madeline." Manon replied. She wasn't quite sure if she wanted anyone calling her by her nickname around here. His handshake was firm, but rather gentle at the same time. It was rather confusing. As they let go of hands Manon returned over to the coffee maker pouring the coffee into the cup. His last name was Stryker, and the company he worked for began with Stryker. "Is the company you work for your company?" Manon asked. Norman nodded as Manon handed his coffee over. He blew on it before taking a sip. Manon wouldn't be lying if she wasn't a little impressed by the fact that he could just drink freshly made coffee. "Pardon me asking, but I don't believe you're from here." Norman said as Manon raised a brow. Was it really that obvious? "What makes you say that?" She said, She wasn't going to admit it outright to him. "Tu as un accent."(You have an accent) Manon was a little surprised. She supposed she did have a bit of an accent. Though she never picked up on it herself. "Tu parles français?"(You speak French?) Manon asked as Norman took another sip of coffee. "Oui. Je l'ai suivi au lycée, mais j'ai continué à l'étudier à l'université." (Yes. I took it in high school, and continued to learn it in college.) Manon nodded. "Je vois." "Donc je suppose que tu n'es pas d'ici?"(So I take it you're not from here?) Norman asked as Manon nodded. "Vous auriez raison. Je viens de France."(You would be right. I come from France) Manon replied. Norman nodded as he took a sip. "Alors et toi? Êtes-vous du coin?"(So what about you? Are you local?) Manon asked. "Né et a grandi."(Born and Raised) Norman replied as a pair of footsteps approached the two. Both turned their heads to see Rebecca approach. Based on the expression on her face Manon could tell she wasn't happy, but was faking it with that all too familiar customer service smile. "Oh I didn't think we'd have any more customers for the evening." Rebecca said Manon looked over at Norman. He still had that friendly look on his face, but something was different. She couldn't tell if it was because of the light, or maybe she hadn't noticed it, but his eyes appeared lighter. Maybe it was just her mind playing tricks on her. She looked back at Rebeca who's customer service face had slipped a tiny bit. "I'll take these dishes to the back." She said as she grabbed a set of dirty dishes that had been stacked off to the side. Before quickly rushing back into the back. She could've grabbed them earlier instead of bothering Manon. Yet she chose to ignore it. She looked back at Norman who seemed oddly relaxed, yet his smile seemed a little off. He placed the empty cup on the counter. "I believe I should be heading out now." He said as he grabbed his umbrella. His face returned to that friendly looking face as he stared back at her. "I hope to run into you again, Madeline, and have a good evening," Norman said before turning on his heel and making his way to the door. "You too, see you around." Manon shouted as he looked back. Giving her a small wave before exiting the building. Manon didn't move from her station though. She watched as he began walking back up into the air. It still confused her on how he did that. Yet again there were several people with oddities around them who could probably do the exact same thing. For crying out loud her neighbor Daniela had wings. She could probably fly. Manon would have to ask her about that. Though all thoughts snapped from her head when she heard sharp footsteps on the floor. Manon turned back to see Rebeca with two brooms. "Oh thank god he's gone." She turned back to Manon. "Who the hell was that?" Rebeca asked. Her tone came across more demanding than curious. "He was the man who gave me the umbrella?" Her face turned into that of shock as she looked back out the window and then back at Manon. "That's the man who gave you the umbrella?!" Rebeca exclaimed. As Manon nodded slowly. "And he was literally romancing you even though you barely knew anything about him?" Manon physically paused. Rebeca had been going on every chance they had to talk about how he probably thought Manon was cute which is why he passed her his umbrella almost all day. Took every chance to pry into him being a possible match for her, and then get mad when they were having a conversation. "I beg your pardon?" Manon asked. "Did you not hear him? He was speaking romantically to you in a different language. I could hear it in his tone." Rebeca was clearly not the brightest bulb in the shed. "He was speaking French." Manon replied as she walked over and took a broom. Figuring Rebeca brought them out so they could clean. "Yeah, the most romantic language a person could speak." Rebeca said as Manon grabbed the broom out of her hand. She just rolled her eyes and walked out onto the floor. "Just get to the point." Manon said as she began to sweep on the opposite side of the room. "I'm just saying, people with oddities are not to be trusted. They can be violent. I don't mean to be rude, I just want to make sure you aren't going to get hurt." Rebeca's voice became gentler. Manon didn't trust it, but just wanted the conversation to end. "Okay, then." They spent the rest of the shift in silence. Yet Manon's mind kept drifting back to Norman. She was curious about him, and if it would spite Rebeca she probably would talk to Norman more often. She had strange gut feeling they would be running into each other more often.