"How could I just run off like that?" Lannie deeply sighed, as she made her way towards Hyde park. Several days had passed since her encounter with Erik. "What a fool I am," she laughed to herself at how ridiculous she must've looked to him when she ran off suddenly. She finally found the courage however to walk back into the park. She hoped that by chance, she'd not only get her notebook back but to see him as well. Even though Lannie's palms started clamming up from nervousness, she walked closer and closer to the bench where she had been drawing the day her and Erik met. Remebering how charming the man was, her entire face turned into a pinkish hue.

Approaching the bench, she took out her new blank sketchpad and started to draw the barren trees. In the few days that had passed, winter had arrived. Fat snowflakes immediately fell onto the notebook ruining the pages. Frustrated, Lannie shut it and tucked it away back into her tote bag. "I suppose I'll just admire the snow for what it is," she sighed, leaning back on the bench as she watched the enormous snowflakes flutter down from the light grey colored sky. It was a quiet peaceful morning. "What should I even say to him?" she asked herself aloud. "Oh hi, sorry I totally ran off the other day and couldn't even explain why I ran off like that," she sarcastically practiced what she'd say to him aloud.

Habitually tugging on her earlobe, Lannie assumed that nobody would ever want anything to with someone so...odd. Yet, there was a glimmer of hope that she clung onto. Wishing that perhaps this case was different. Maybe for once, someone looked at her with understanding instead of pity, or curiousity like she was some sort of a science experiment. Nothing made her blood boil more than those who knew the truth and ogled at her with pity. Or those who never took into consideration how she felt, but tried to explain to her how she felt. Not many people took the time to put themselves in her shoes. Everybody always thought they had the best answer for her. When truthfully, there was no one who could ever have the answers for her. She was stuck with her own demons, that Lannie would never be able to truly slay.

Metaphorically, her mind was like a computer that had a piece of hardware missing, or better yet, had circuits that were misconnected, making her mind malfunction. Simply put, she was just a flawed design. Or at least that's how she perceived herself. She wasn't angry towards it. She understood there was others that shared the same fate. Yet, it was so hard to come across anyone who had the same flaw in their design. So she kept herself as guarded as she could towards others, tired of the same thing happening again and again.

Yet, for whatever reason, she found herself foolishly letting her guard down with a man she had recently met. A man, of who's past she had no idea about. There was something different about the man though. It seemed he had a life similar to hers. She just couldn't explain how or why she felt this way. Lannie considered it a gut instinct.

Who knew though, if she'd ever meet this man again? Lannie pulled out her phone, examining the time. She had been at the park for three hours already, just aimlessly staring at the snowfall in silence. "I suppose it wasn't meant to be," she convinced herself. She didn't want to go home just yet though, so she headed to the Inner Sanctum cafe that was. She wanted something warm that would also help cheer her up a little bit.

Even though the bus that she would take to get downtown smelled of piss and dirty gym socks, she loved riding it. There was something about transportation vehicles that always seemed to calm her down. Lannie also remembered to take her medicine this time, so there was no worry for the next few hours. Her mind was buzzed for the moment. In it's own drunken stupor that allowed her to be careless and happy momentarily in time.

Departing from the public bus, she tugged her winter coat tighter around herself. It sure was a calm winter storm but the bitter icy wind had found a way to curve itself through downtown, breezing past the people who hurriedly sprinted to their destination. Lannie could barely feel her nose when she had gotten to the entrance of the cafe. Carefully stepping inside, she smiled as the heated room welcomed her in. "Oh, what a lovely smell," Lannie admired as she sniffed the aroma of freshly ground coffee beans and recently baked pasteries.

She approached the counter and glanced longingly at the bakery case. "Hmm," she contemplated aloud. It was a tough choice for her when choosing any sort of food. "What do you recommend?" She curiously asked the barista. "Well, if you're looking for something comforting I suggest our made-from-scratch cinnamon roll," the barista exclaimed pointing to the enormous roll. "Oh man," Lannie gazed in awe at the pastry that was almost as big as her entire face. "Perhaps if I had someone to share it with," she pondered. "T-That's a little too big for just me though," she thought. "I think I'll just go with an americano and a croissant for now," Lannie told the worker. "Thanks though, that cinnamon roll looks exquisite, I just don't think I-I could eat that," Lannie awkwardly explained.

"Where should I sit?" she scanned the cafe for any open seating. There was a corner booth all the way at the back of the cafe. "That seems cozy and quiet," she whispered. Grabbing her drink and pastry she made a bee-line for the spot. However, it seemed as though there was someone who had already claimed the spot, just facing the direction she couldn't see. "O-oh I'm sorry I thought this table was open," she stammered quickly nodding and turning away.