When Love Becomes A Need (When Love Standalone #1)

Chapter 1

Fatima

Beep.

Beep.

A deep, aggravated groan escaped my mouth.

Grabbing my pillow, I dug my head under it, not wanting to get out of the comfort of my bed.

Finally tired of hearing the beeping of my alarm clock, I reached over and hit it a few times until the alarm stopped.

Sighing deeply, I stuck my head from under my pillow and stared at my ceiling. Every day was the same thing; my life was slowly passing me by, and I felt like I had done nothing exciting to brag about in my twenty-four years of living.

Slowly, I dragged out the bed so I could shower and get ready for my day.

While in the shower I thought about my job. Although I enjoyed it and I met a lot of different and interesting people, it wasn’t my passion. It paid the bills and I could have flexibility, but it wasn’t what I thought I’d be doing right now.

Once I was showered and dressed, I went through my hair routine.

Since I was running late, I didn’t go full out.

I slapped some product in it and threw it into a natural bun on the top of my head.

Giving myself a once over before walking away from the mirror, I grabbed my keys, phone, and camera bag before walking out the door.

When I got outside, I had to pause.

A moving truck, I thought. My next-door neighbors had moved a few months ago and it seemed they had finally found someone to move in.

Not having time to meet the new neighbor, I hurried to my car so that I could make it in time to open the shop.

____

I sighed as I turned the ‘closed’ sign around, indicating the coffee shop was now open. I’ve been working here for the past five years ever since I started college.

Soon after getting hired, I was promoted to manager.

I had been coming here since high school and grew close to the owners.

The fact that it was a family-owned business was beneficial.

They gave me a lot of leeway and pretty much let me make my own schedule.

I usually chose to open in the mornings so that I could have the rest of the day to myself, minus the one day a week I closed.

I sat behind the counter, knowing I would be the only person here until eight.

Reaching down, I went into my camera bag and grabbed my camera. Since there was no one in the building but me, I decided to look through the pictures I had taken yesterday. I had gotten some really good shots at the fountain downtown.

Smiling to myself, I admired my work. Photography was more than a hobby to me. It was my passion, something that fired my soul. I often got lost in my camera for hours. I’ve always had this passion since I was a kid and was given my first camera by my grandfather. He was also into photography.

The door to the coffee shop opened, and I heard the bell ding from above it, but I was so lost in my pictures that I tuned it out.

Someone cleared their throat, gaining my attention.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” I said, looking up from my camera. I paused as my breath got caught in my throat. The man in front of me was gorgeous.

I wasn’t sure who the man was. We got a lot of regulars being that this was a small city and they supported local businesses.

His skin was the color of a gingerbread man: brown and smooth looking. He had hooded, black eyes that seemed to be boring intensely into me. The man had dark brown dreads perfectly braided into two French braids down to the middle of his back.

I licked my lips as my eyes moved down his body.

His body was athletically built; it didn’t seem to have an inch of fat.

The t-shirt he wore, showed off his muscular, tattoo-filled arms. His chest seemed to poke out slightly, showing how solid he was up top.

He wore some basketball shorts, and from what I could see, he was fit on the bottom too.

This man’s body looked like it was sculpted to perfection.

“Aye, little mama, you gone take my order?” My eyes snapped back to his face. His voice sent an odd spark through my body. It was deep yet raspy.

His square jaw was covered with a well groomed beard that surrounded his full pink lips. Finally, my eyes met his and I detected a hint of annoyance in them.

Letting a nervous laugh off, I swallowed hard. “I’m sorry. How can I help you?” I asked, setting my camera on the counter and wiping my sweaty hands on my apron.

“Yeah, let me get the Wake Me Up smoothie.” His bushy eyebrows were scrunched together. “And a croissant… toasted.”

Slowly nodding my head, I turned around to start getting his order together. For some reason, the stranger had me nervous, causing me to almost drop the smoothie ingregients.

Fatima, get a grip. I took a deep breath and got myself together.

“You took these?” I whipped around and noticed the man had my camera in his hand.

“Hey, that’s private!” I shrieked.

He ignored me and continued to go through my camera. My heart began beating faster in my chest.

Although I knew I was good at my craft, I didn’t like people to see my work until it was edited and printed. I took so many different pictures and not all of them were as good as I would have liked them to be.

The blender stopped and the oven went off simultaneously.

First, I took the croissant out and placed it in a paper bag, then I finished preparing his smoothie.

“Here you go,” I said, sitting his order on the table.

I held my hand out. “My camera please?” I requested.

He stared at me curiously. “You took all of these?”

Slowly, I nodded my head. “I did, and they weren’t meant to be shared.

The man lowered my camera and smiled at me. His smile almost had me melting on the spot. His teeth were straight and whiter than white.

“Your pictures are very nice.” Feeling my cheeks grow red, I smiled shyly.

“Thank you!”

He finally handed me my camera. “How much do I owe you?”

My face twisted in confusion. “Huh?”

“For the smoothie and croissant. How much?”

“Oh, right.” I slapped my head and released a nervous laugh. I hit the screen a few times.

“Eight dollars and twenty cents.”

He nodded and went into his pocket. Handing me a twenty, he gathered his stuff and then turned to leave.

“Wait, your change!” I called out after him.

“Keep it, beautiful!” He threw over his shoulder.

A goofy smile appeared on my face as I cashed his order out and sat back down before grabbing my camera.

The mystery man’s cologne linger behind him, causing me to inhale deeply.

Something about the man who just walked out of here made me curious to know more about him.

In no way, shape, or form was I looking to date anyone, but I couldn’t lie and say I wouldn’t mind getting to know the mysterious stranger.

____

“That’s a great shot,” I mumbled, bending down and closing my left eye.

Shifting my camera to the side, I clicked the button to capture frames of the dogs in the field I was in. It was later in the afternoon and a lot of people brought their dogs out to the park around this time to walk them.

I was trying to build my portfolio, so every picture counted. The mystery guy’s compliment about my work had me feeling so good about myself that I couldn’t wait to finish my shift at the coffee shop so that I could head out.

Every day after I got off, I usually found some place to take some photos. Sometimes I would make it quick; other times, I would be out for hours. Today was a long day.

I took a few more pictures, loving the shots I was getting, when my phone started to vibrate in my pocket.

Placing my camera strap around my neck, I dug into my pocket.

Seeing it was my best friend Isabella, I quickly answered.

“Hey chica,” she said happily into the phone. Her bright, light-skinned face popped up on the screen.

“Hey boo,” I said, sitting down on the grass and pulling my legs to my chest.

“What are you doing?”

“The usual, at the park taking pictures.” Isabella smiled and shook her head.

If there was anyone that knew how important photography was to me, it was Isabella.

She often heard my rants about how I wasn’t satisfied with my pictures or heard me complain about wanting to take my photography to another level.

Being the best friend that she was, she always listened and push me toward my dreams.

“I should have known,” she snorted. “Do you think you can cut your time short and meet me for dinner?”

By her expression, I could tell she was going through something and needed to get whatever it was off her chest. If I had to bet, it was her sorry ass boyfriend.

“Of course. Our spot, one hour?”

“Perfect! I’ll see you there!” She hung up and I shook my head.

Deciding to get a few more shots in before I wrapped things up, I quickly took the camera off my neck and got back in position.