Mirror's Date
The early morning sunlight bathed the interior of Thanks A Latte. The cafe was occupied by a couple of elderly regulars watching an old TV set up in the corner. Occasionally the regulars would break their silence to complain about one policy or another, but mostly they kept their own peace, nursing their coffee. The cafe’s proprietress and diminutive barista, was behind the counter. Waiting on a trio of high school girls to finish their order.
Helene Lysingen, or as she was better known by certain people, Nocti, focused on the foremost of the trio. The girl standing in front of her counter fiddling with a phone.
The girl wasn’t quite a regular, but Nocti recognized her. She was a pretty girl, petite with long legs. She wore a long white skirt with a blue top. Her hair… looked like people had been at it before just settling on her normal look. The girl was quiet and typically polite. She was Nocti’s favorite of the 5 members of her little clique for that alone.
The girl was Faith Kang, Yui’s classmate. She was flanked by Hailey and Minerva, two girls Nocti didn’t quite like as much. They were okay. They paid at least. Minerva was looking over Faith’s shoulder, staring at her phone. Hailey was on her own phone, texting.
“He has like NO social media.” Minerva complained.
“Babo's asking me why I'm worried about Cain's tastes~. He's so cute when he's--”
"Hailey."
"Oh, he doesn't know what to get Cain either."
“I’m so sorry ma’am.” Faith apologized to the diminutive barista.
“Take your time, it’s slow right now anyhow.”
“Thanks.” The girl whispered in a small distracted voice.
“Can I help?”
“Doubt it.”
“Hailey!”
“Uh, I’ve got a--” Faith colored.
“She has a guy coming and we’re trying to figure out what to order for him.” Minnie finished.
“Oh…” Nocti smiled viciously. It was a smile that could only come from someone that was called a hag last week and mistaken for a lost child the week before. ‘Must be nice brat~’ “he one of my regulars? I don't recognize 'Cain', but if he goes by another name--”
“I don’t know.” Faith admitted. Her voice trailed off to a squeak at the end of her admission.
“You know Christopher Cain?” Minerva asked.
“Chris-- Oh! Quirk Boy.”
“… quirk boy?”
“Yeah, he’s a regular. He comes in with Inigo, that big girl and Yui of course. He got that nickname when he talked one of my regulars into a--”
“...he comes in with Yui?” Faith asked timidly.
Nocti looked at Faith. She couldn’t help but smile. There was no viciousness to it this time.
“You got nothing to worry about there girl. They don’t have the vibe.”
“They don’t?”
“Well, okay, they have A vibe, but it’s older sister, younger brother. Not the alternative.”
“OH!” Faith’s face lit up.
“You’re so basic.” Hailey muttered.
“I am not!”
“I love you Faith, but…”
“Not you too Minnie!”
“Anyway!” Nocti interrupted with a smile. She’d had more than enough of this young love bull shit for a day. Why the Hell did Shiketsu students keep coming here for first dates anyway? She appreciated the business, but still! “Quirk Boy’s been ordering Iced Coffee with a bit of cream since summer started. Don’t tell him I told you though.”
“Oh… thanks.” Faith whispered with a smile. The smile only born from someone who just learned another factoid about their crush.
Nocti grinned, her customers’ smiles always gave her a fuzzy feeling. Even if those smiles were for something not related to her 5 star service. “Anyway, one Iced Coffee, bit of cream, what else?”
“Oh I’ll have a triple moca no caf—” As the girls ordered their abominations, Nocti’s fuzzy feeling vanished. Maybe she should’ve gone into law, or medicine. Something less complex than taking the latte orders of high school girls.
“Okay, so when I raise my cup.”
“It means I’m babbling.” Faith nodded.
“Right.”
“… is that really all the signals you’ll give me?”
“Girl, if you can’t hook him as cute as you are, he’s not worth hooking.”
“Thanks! … but what if he sees you?”
“Our disguises are foolproof.”
“You’re literally wearing a cap and sunglasses.”
“Cain’s not that observant is he?”
“… you’ve never been alone in a room with him.”
“Minnie?!”
“It was for a group project! Chill! Point is, dude catches the smallest stuff.”
“… okay, cover story then.”
“Cover story?”
“Yeah… maybe we’re lucky Max and Edie didn’t want to come.”
“You’re leaving me in suspense here.”
“Minnie and I can just pretend we’re on a double date with Babo and Bobby!”
“Oh! And we can do a real double date after Faith crashes and burns!”
“MINNIE!”
“I’m kidding! No Faith don’t cry! I’m really joking!”
“What if I screw this up?”
“A. You won’t. B. Cain’s loss.”
“We’re right here. If he’s an asshole, we’ll handle it.”
“Okay…”
It was an early Saturday morning in Kyoto. The city languidly roused itself from its night of debauchery. Through the streets, nearly alone in this light foggy morning was a familiar young man, a Freshman at Shiketsu and freshly out of the Hospital. He was on his way to a date.
Christopher sighed. He was nervous. Why? He didn’t even know Faith. She was pretty enough, but they'd never shared more than idle pleasantries. So, it’s not like he knew or particularly cared about her. He shouldn’t be nervous. It was just…. She WAS the first girl to ever actually express romantic interest in him. He had no idea what the fuck he was getting into. She’d seemed so excited in her texts, maybe it was just that he’d just feel guilty if he wasn’t nervous.
Christopher was breaking several rules right now. With the increased villainous activity in the wake of the Five’s battle and the Night Parade’s recent activities students were supposed to have escorts everywhere. Doubly so for the dipshit that went after one of the most dangerous assassins in history twice. Still, with the quirks he had loaded he wasn’t worried. Worst came to worst he’d teleport back home and drop Hifumi’s quirk. He could still do that right? He and Hifumi weren’t quite friends at this point… but they were close enough the distinction was academic.
‘Doesn’t matter.’ Christopher assured himself. ‘I finally got everything recorded. It’ll be fine.’
Catching his records up from his hospital stay had been the work of days. Between playing catch up, making trips to the Hospital to read to Kaylee, and dad’s anxiety, he’d almost canceled this date. The two hours Christopher had blocked off for this date were sorely needed elsewhere. It’d been tempting to cancel, leave things as they were. He hadn’t.
Thanks a Latte loomed in front of Christopher. He looked through the wide window. The quaint little cafe bore a sparse crowd. The elders of the community gathered together, transfixed by the small TV in the corner of the cafe, sipping tea. A pair of yuppies gathered in a corner of the cafe sending furtive glances outside the window where Christopher stood. The recent villain activity seemed to have them spooked.
Then in another corner he saw Hailey, Hifumi, Bobby and Minnie sitting in a dark corner of the cafe. They wore shitty disguises. Christopher sighed. What could they being doing here? He didn’t want to be a spectacle. He didn’t want to be the victim of some cruel prank. For a moment, Christopher debated abandoning the date. Just as he debated going home, he saw Faith sitting by herself in a corner of the room.
Faith was either oblivious to the presence of her friends, ignoring them masterfully, or so nervous about the date she temporarily forgot their presence. Her hair looked like a dozen hands had been at it before she’d yanked her head away and settled for her normal style. She was fiddling with her phone. She looked like she was checking the time. Christopher checked his own phone. He was five minutes early. Was she really so excited?
OMG!
Christopher grimaced. The enthusiasm in that text was… off putting. Why would anyone be so excited to see him? Maybe it was just an act? Maybe this really was a prank?
Christopher shrugged, one way to find out. He walked to the door. If it was an act, he was going to find out why. He opened the door and nearly ran over his date.
“Hi!” Faith exclaimed breathlessly.
“H—”
“I saw you at the window and just thought I’d come out and say ‘hi!’” She interrupted with a nervous giggle.
“—ello.” Christopher finished.
They stood there for a solid five seconds.
“So~” Faith began. She was looking for a life line. She’d acted on impulse when she’d seen him. Now, she was uncertain what her plan was supposed to be to this point.
Christopher sighed. “Do you have a table?”
“Right! Coffee. Duh.” Faith turned around, thoroughly humiliated. She hurried for her table. A bemused Chris followed. They hadn’t even made it to the table before the next thought struck Faith. “uh, books!”
“I’m sorry?”
“The books in the e-reader how’d you like them?”
“I loved them.” Christopher answered. He cast a sidelong glance to their disguised classmates. Hifumi was trying to get Hailey’s attention about something. Bobby was watching the TV dispassionately. Hailey was staring at Faith as if she could manually control the girl’s actions and Minnie had noticed Christopher’s glance and studied her latte art intensely.
“Really?!” Faith squeaked. She coughed. Then in a much a lower, less enthusiastic voice choked out a “really?”
“Really.” Christopher frowned. Faith was laying on the enthusiasm a little thick. It felt forced. He glanced over at the table occupied by their classmates one more time before he sat across from Faith. ‘So, this is a prank.’ Christopher decided.
Christopher didn’t know what Faith and her friends had planned. Maybe Faith would leave the date and the girls wanted to see how long he’d wait. Maybe she was going to order some expensive crap and stick him with the bill. It couldn’t be anything too heinous if Hifumi was here. It’d have to be subtle so that Hifumi didn’t get too mad. Chris grinned, well played tricking him here, but they hadn’t counted on something. Faith was a shit actress. He’d figure out their little prank and turn it around on them. Faith should’ve played it cooler. No-one in their right mind would be so excited to see him--
Faith turned around as she sat in her chair. A latte sitting in front of her. Her face was as red as a tomato. Christopher paused at the sight. That was a blush. Can you fake a blush?
She looked up at him and smiled.
That wasn’t a fake smile.
Christopher’s brain stopped working.
“Y-you gonna sit?”
He sat at the table.
“So, like, what was your favorite book?”
Christopher glanced at the counter. Maybe if he had some coffee--
“Oh, don’t worry about ordering,” Faith gestured to the cup in front of him. A cup he hadn’t noticed. “You’ve got like, no social media, so I didn’t know what you like, so I just got something ‘safe’ y’know? Though I don’t know if it’s really safe, a lot of people on SM were talking about ‘ice doesn’t belong in coffee’ or something, but I figured you didn’t look like someone who’d say that so I…” Faith looked behind Christopher. Her eyes widened. She was rambling. ‘Shit.’ “--I’m so sorry, I don’t mean to babble I’m just--”
Christopher held up a hand. “Gi—gimme a minute.”
“… okay.”
Christopher stared at the Iced Coffee that had lost fully half its ice. He’d guess this coffee had been sitting on the table for at least half an hour. Which meant she’d got here over 30 minutes ago. She ordered him a drink she’d hoped he’d like. She looked for his nonexistent SM accounts just to see if there was a better option. She was taking hand signals from the table behind him when she started rambling.
‘This isn’t a prank.’ Christopher felt his stomach drop at the revelation. ‘Which meant her excitement wasn’t faked… fuck.’ Christopher felt sweat crawl up his back. There was no way in Hell he was going to live up to her excitement.
“I’m really sorry.” Faith began. Christopher looked up. She looked like she was about to cry already. What the fuck did he do? “I always do this, I just start talking and talking and I don’t stop. I--”
“Quirk Mechanics.” Christopher interrupted.
“huh?” Faith asked in a small voice.
“My favorite book on the e-reader, it was Quirk Mechanics.”
Faith’s face lit up.
Hailey lifted up her empty cup. The predetermined signal to inform Faith that she was babbling. Faith didn’t even look. The girl was lost in a tirade about something Hailey couldn’t quite hear. It sounded like she was giving an example of a computer code? But, no, that couldn’t be! Not even Faith would do that on a date! Hailey wiggled her cup in frustration. Faith kept blabbering.
“Oh God.” Minnie moaned. “She’s blowing this.”
“Should I go over there? I mean, pretty sure Cain saw us anyway.”
“We might have to if this girl doesn’t shut up for half a second.”
“I dunno.” Hifumi tilted his head.
“Babo?”
“… I don’t think Chris is annoyed.”
“Of course he’s annoyed. She’s babbling, have you HEARD that girl babble? I love her and even I think it’s annoying.”
“If Chris’s annoyed, you’d know.”
“Understatement.” Bobby commented. He looked away from the TV. His eyes were heavy with annoyance. He’d been told this was a double date, not a ‘spy on someone else having a date’ date.
“Is he still at the table?” Bobby asked.
“Yeah…” Minnie answered. She felt guilty not using this time with Bobby for an actual date, but she’d promised they’d go on an actual date a later.
“Then he’s not annoyed.”
“… All that is to say, while I liked thinking about quirks like they were computer programs, that doesn’t explain a lot of things. Like humans aren’t the most stable hardware environment, so quirks would HAVE to have technical drift. Oh technical drift is--”
“I know what it is.”
“Right! Sorry. I didn’t--”
“It’s fine, you were saying?”
“Right! Anyway, who’d be running drift management on our quirks? They’d bug if they were a program, for any number of reasons… say if the hardware got screwed up.”
“Like when we’re sick?”
“Exactly! Wait, do they?”
“Do quirks bug if we’re sick?”
“Right!”
“Uh, not that I’m aware of. Most of the incidents that come to mind could be explained by impaired judgment.”
“Then there’s gotta be something more to it right? Otherwise what would be adjusting for hardware faults and code drift?”
“Maybe our subconscious.”
“Ooo, I like that. So, like we’re subconsciously checking for errors in the quirk and adjusting them?”
“If we take this hypothesis as gospel, yeah. I don’t. I think his hypothesis doesn’t adequately explain why mastery unlocks new functionality.”
“What do you mean?”
“Okay, wording, let’s take you for example.”
“I’m a fantastic example, use me as you like!”
Christopher hesitated. From the innocent look on Faith’s face she did not mean to say what just crossed his hormone addled mind. He shook his head. “So, as you develop-- GROW in mastery, you’ll make more complex machines, right?”
Faith nodded. “You should’ve seen the crap I started out with. I’m amazed they walked! … I still have one of them actually.”
“One of what?”
“One of those first little drones I made when I was a little girl, I keep it at home.”
“… cute.”
“What was that?”
“Nevermind. Anyway, quirks grow. That tells me there’s gotta be something in a quirk that’s less deterministic than a program, it’s gotta be more in common with a plant.”
“Like a muscle?”
“Works.”
“I dunno, computer programs can grow just fine, they just need a programmer. Like, say we’re subconsciously performing ‘quirk maintenance’ like you said.”
“Alright.”
“Well, whatever part of our brain that’s responsible for performing maintenance has to understand how the quirk works, or at least have an idea and while we work that quirk that part of our brain thinks of more efficient ways to ‘code’ functions, giving the quirk the space to ‘code’ more.”
“…”
“… what, is that stupid?”
“No. Opposite. I’ve never considered limited space as a factor.”
Faith grinned. “I mean makes sense, when you think about it, it’s just us the quirk has to work with right? We’re finite.”
Christopher nodded. He didn’t have a response to what all she’d just said. He genuinely hadn’t considered that space limitations may play a factor into quirk limitations… was that why he forgot people when he dropped their quirk? Did he just not have enough room for normal functionality? Was that the price of having a ‘once in a generation’ quirk like Mirror Maker?
Faith fidgeted. Christopher looked uncomfortabel. Was it something she said? “Cain, you okay?”
“Fine and you can call me Chris.”
“Okay!” Faith started giggling. “I’d say you can call me Faith, but you already call me Faith. A lot of the girls got annoyed cause you just called us by our first name right off the bat-- NOT TO SAY I DID!” Faith quickly corrected herself.
“I think it’s, uh--” Faith struggled to find a word that wasn’t synonymous with ‘annoying.’ “Endearing?”
“It’s annoying.” Chris smiled. “I know it. I’ve just never gotten the hang of using surnames for peers. Hell, I only just got done figuring out what those cubbies in the entryway are for.”
Faith laughed. The first two months of the year Shiketsu Chris had forgotten to change from shoes to slippers at least once every two days. She wasn’t certain when he’d changed. She hadn’t even really been looking at him before the WcDonald’s… before she saw that look in his eyes.
Faith was pretty sure she’d been the only one to actually see Chris’s eyes before he’d seen Desolator. When the only thing that had happened were microphone guy and jackass getting handsy. Faith… she hated to admit it, but she’d been in a panic, there was no metal in easy reach, the damn table was plastic. She could only hope her friends would bail her out, then in a fit of desperation, she’d looked behind her. She’d looked towards a classmate she’d studiously ignored up to that point.
Faith had known for a fact Christopher would ignore their plight. That he wouldn’t give a fuck if they’d got bullied or worse. He was Kaylee’s best friend and the three of them had bad blood with her. Instead, when she looked back, she saw Chris standing. He was going to intervene. He had less than half a shit to give about her and he was ready to get in a fight for her. That’s what his eyes told her that night.
Faith’d felt safe then. Even before Desolator kicked microphone guy in the balls, she knew she’d be okay.
‘Desolator…’
Upon remembering the assassin Faith remembered her friends’ coaching. IF she ran out of topics she could always bring Desolator up. Should she? She couldn’t think of the next thing she wanted to talk about, but it really didn’t fit the vibe. They were having fun, at least she was, and she was supposed to bring down the room by saying, ‘oh yeah, what about that guy that killed your mom? You got beef?’
Faith flinched. Now that she put it like that…
“Chris!”
Faith nearly jumped out of her seat as Inigo’s voice cut through the air like a knife. The blonde-haired boy put his arm around Chris’s shoulder’s without prompting, that stupid little green dragon preening on top of his head. There was a blur behind Inigo that Faith vaguely remembered seeing at the back of the class.
‘Why now?’ Faith lamented. ‘Why him?’
Faith glanced at Chris, hoping he’d chase Inigo off immediately. To her surprise, he attempted to do just that.
“Hey dude, no offense but now’s--”
Inigo stopped listening to Chris mid sentence. He looked into Faith’s eyes. She tried to harden her gaze to get him to leave. He grinned, so did that little green dragon on his head. He didn’t leave.
“Must’ve been pretty crowded in here huh~?” Inigo asked Faith.
Faith raised an eyebrow. She didn’t follow. “Huh?”
“Sitting across from Chris like this, must’ve been a full house a little while ago, but now that it’s emptied out you just can’t tear yourself away from him--”
“Inigo.” Christopher interrupted. Faith felt her cheeks strain under the heat of her blush. She began to babble a response.
“W-well, no, the cafe wasn’t empty I just wanted to see how Chris was doing and how he liked the books and the coffee here isn’t bad, so I was like, why not? So I--”
“So you invited him out~?” Inigo grinned. He looked so confident that Chris wouldn’t realize what this meant. He could finally cross shipping Chris off of his to-do list! He could help his bro see the light! This boy who didn’t even want a girlfriend when the year started! Now a man on a date… and he didn’t even know! Inigo felt tears well in his eyes. He was so proud.
“… yeah.” Faith finally answered.
“Like a date?”
“Ye--I mean—I didn’t--” Faith floundered. It was a date, but she hadn’t called it that when she invited Chris out. Would he correct her? She didn’t know if she could take that right now--
“It’s a date.”
“…”
Silence reigned at table as Christopher took a sip from his Iced Coffee. He was oblivious to the effect his declaration had wrought upon his audience.
Christopher looked up at Inigo. “Sorry dude, I’d invite you and Hoge to join us, but Faith and I didn’t discuss a double date. Next time?”
“… Sure.” Inigo answered. His head was numb. Gigan’s eyes formed into swirls. Was Chris on a date that he considered a date? Had Inigo stepped into an alternate universe? Was up down? Was other people’s trash a delicious snack? Should he try it? Eating trash? WTF? Were these Gigan’s thoughts? Did Gigan have thoughts?
Inigo felt a hand grip the base of his shirt. “Ini…” Inigo’s head was still spinning as Hoge gently guided him away from the table.
“Sorry to bother you.” Hoge bowed slightly to Chris and Faith.
“No problem. I’ll talk to you later.”
Faith didn’t answer. She was busy inventing new shades of red. Maru dragged Inigo away from the table.
Inigo wasn’t the only one whose brain got fried by Christopher’s declaration.
Faith struggled to process the events that had just transpired.
… forgot to close the fucking parentheses.
“I need to go to the bathroom!” Faith shouted. ‘…should’ve probably set a volume in retrospect.’
Christopher jumped at the sudden volume. Half the restaurant looked over at their table. “O-okay.”
Embarrassed, Faith rushed into the sole bathroom of Thanks-A-Latte. She closed the door and leaned against it. Her brain struggled to overcome what had just transpired. She’d thought of this as a date sure, but she’d assumed Christopher would just see it as a friendly get together. Not that they’d been friends to this point. But maybe after the e-reader--
Faith took a few deep breaths. Okay, nothing worth panicking over, this was a good thing right? It’s not like the date had had a particularly romantic vibe to it before that… and maybe now that could change?
Faith started to hyperventilate. She really should’ve just kept this as a ‘love him from afar’ sort of thing, then she wouldn’t be so scared.
just send it b4 u regret it
Faith frowned as her friend’s text appeared in her head. She smacked her face with both hands. She hoped pain would bring her back to a focused state. ‘Okay girl, you can do this.’ There was nothing bad that had happened so far in this date. So what if Chris had been friendlier than she thought he’d be? He was more confident than she thought, a great listener….
Faith started to feel nervous again. She needed a distraction. Her hand shot towards the phone in her purse. Her hand grasped air.
Faith closed her eyes and silently cursed herself. She’d left her purse at the table. Here she was, a modern girl, in a kindof dirty bathroom, hyperventilating, and she didn’t even have a phone to distract herself with! Faith slammed the back of her head against the door. This was the worst! Everything was going great and she felt like she was about to die!
Faith growled at herself. Her crush called a coy meeting that could be dismissed as a ‘just friends’ thing a ‘date’ and she was hiding in the bathroom. Something was wrong with her! After an eternity, her breathing finally settled. She began to feel more happy than scared. She nodded to herself, she could do this!
Faith put her hand on the door’s handle. She was ready to face him again!
Next time?
Chris had said that to Inigo right after he apologized for not discussing the idea of a double date with her. … wait, was he going to ask her out on another date?
Faith froze, hand on the door’s handle.
Christopher nursed his Iced Coffee. This date had been… relaxing? Fun? Enjoyable? Enjoyable. This date had been enjoyable so far. He’d found talking to Faith easier than expected. He didn’t have to pay scrupulous attention to her to know what she was thinking or feeling. She’d tell him. That was… refreshing. If nothing came of this in the end, at least today had been fun.
Christopher finished his drink.
Christopher looked at the bathroom door. He hadn’t inquired after her urgency. She WAS wearing a white skirt after all…. However, this was getting to be a rather long bathroom break, even if THAT had happened. Had thinking this was a date been presumptuous? Couldn’t be, right? Should he check on her?
Christopher glanced at Faith’s purse. The purse had been forgotten on the ground next to her chair. With villain activity on the rise like it was, could he really afford to leave her purse? He could just take it with him couldn’t he? He nodded, that seemed the safest option.
Christopher began to stand just in time to see Faith come out of the bathroom. She looked determined, like she’d made up her mind about a heavy topic. She sat across from Chris.
“You ok--”
“This is a date.” Faith declared.
“… okay.” Hadn’t he just said that?
“So… we should be doing date things.”
“We aren’t right now?”
“Not like date things. Date things.”
“You can’t just emphasize the same word and expect me to divine a different meaning.”
Faith pursed her lips. Her brain furiously searched her files for something entitled ‘date things.’ The only things that came up were a little more… advanced than their relationship would allow.
“I don’t know.” Faith conceded. “Don’t you? You’re smart!”
“So're you. What makes you think I know anything about dating?”
“Well one of us has to!”
“Faith, you met me at the beginning of the year.”
“Well, yeah.”
“Do you really think that guy came with experience?”
“...”
“Actually, what the Hell possessed you to ask me out?”
“You’re just…”
“Just what? Abrasive? Arrogant? Obtuse?”
Faith restrained a smile. “… thought you were going for alliteration there.”
“I don’t know a synonym for obtuse that begins with an ‘a.’”
“Asinine?”
“Uh, different meaning than what I was going for, but I’m that too.”
“You aren’t.” Faith corrected. Her ears went red. The words came tumbling out and she had no mechanism to stop herself. “You’re smart, brave, and… and kind. I don’t know who told you you were arrogant. Every time I saw you tutoring Kaylee, Yui, Inigo, or anyone else, you never treated them like they were dumb for not knowing something y’know? Even when it was something stupidly basic, you just… taught and--”
Faith stopped. She was getting more than a little embarrassed going through this. “Don’t take this the wron-- actually no, no qualifiers. You’re kindof cool.”
“… oh.” Christopher whispered. He’d expected some token objection. Some effort at being polite. He had not expected… whatever the fuck that just was. A volley of compliments? His face was… hot. Was HE blushing?
Silence. Actual fucking silence, reigned over the table for a solid minute. One party embarrassed at how much she’d just revealed about her feelings. The other party embarrassed at receiving those feelings. Eventually Faith, unable to bear the silence any longer, broke it.
“Anyway, Date things.”
“Right, Date things.”
Silence.
“Do… you wanna get lunch?”
Faith nodded once. She and Christopher immediately got up and left Thanks A Latte together.
...
Seconds later Christopher dashed back into the coffee shop. He grabbed Faith’s purse, before hurrying back out.