You were staring. You knew you were staring. You just couldn’t stop yourself. His face was just so... perfect! His stature was tall and lanky. The way you dreamed your boyfriend would be like. His long fingers tapped his lips as he contemplated the menu before him. Did he know how attractive he was?

“I think I’ll have a large Americano and a bagel,” He said, his eyes taking one more glance at the menu and then they narrowed in on you. Wow, those eyes. It was like he could see into your soul and know everything about you.

“Excuse me?” you watched his eyebrows tilt into a frown. Then you realized he’s ordered and he’s waiting for you to confirm it back to him and probably get the hell out of his face.

You face burns up red. How could you make such a fool out of yourself? “I-i-i-i’m sorry... I’ll get it right away!” you stutter and practically run behind the counter. He probably thought you were just one of those stupid girls that were always staring at him. You imagined that he probably got stared at a lot. Who wouldn’t stare at him?

You try to keep your mind busy by making his order. Americanos were your speciality. He was sure to take one sip and fall madly in love with you. You peek around the machine; you just wanted to look at him one more time. The light streamed through the windows and his hair appeared to light up and look an even lighter blonde then you originally thought. The way he was reading the newspaper, made you wish you could sculpt. Surely he would make a perfect model?

“Bagels ready!” shouted the chef behind the order counter.

You put the drink on your tray and place the bagel with it. You swiftly go right over to the perfect guy’s table and put his order down. He nods to you in thanks. You stand there, your arms around the tray as you watch him eat. He delicately bites into the bagel, wiping off the access cream cheese. You wish you were that thumb that got to touch his lips. After chewing, he grabs the Americano and takes a few gulps to wash the bagel down. At last, he turns to you and smiles. But the smile never reaches his eyes. It was a polite smile that you fake for a stranger to get the frig away from you. You feel disappointment creep into your heart.

“What’s the matter?” It was obviously time for you to leave, but you couldn’t tear yourself away.

“Was the drink okay? I usually get raves from the Americano’s I make...”

“It was delicious,” there again was that smile that wasn’t a smile.

You felt your customer service smile slipping into place as well. Well, there goes that dream. “That’s great. I’ll leave you to it,” You bow and walk away in regret. You weren’t able to make an impression on him. You’ll probably never see him again.

You serve the rest of the customer’s in the restaurant with a heavy heart. You just can’t help yourself. Why couldn’t you be prettier? Or have a way with words to charm him? What about having courage to ask him for his number? You belittle yourself in your mind until your shift is over.

“You okay?” Victoria, the girl you were friends with at work, pokes you in the ribs.

You can’t help but burst into laughter. Victoria knew your weakness of tickling. She grins at being able to make you laugh.

“I’m... okay did you see that guy that was in the store in the afternoon? The blonde one who was really tall?”

Victoria nodded, “He was a hottie, for sure. Did you ask for his number? Did he say no?”

You groan. You knew you were making this out to be bigger than it really was. “No, I didn’t even do that. I just made him an Americano—”

“Oh my god, I love your Americanos!” Victoria interrupted. See, that was the usual reaction. You wonder why the model-like guy hadn’t appreciated it.

“I know. He said it was delicious but it just seemed like he wasn’t sincere, you know?”

“Ah, forget him ______,” Victoria slings her arm around your shoulder, the good friend that she was. “A pretty boy may come and go, but a solid man is what you need for your first boyfriend. He sounds like a jerk. Oh I know!” Victoria slams her fist into her other hand “Come with me to Henry’s house. He’s got a couple of friends over and I want to hang. Maybe you’ll meet someone there.”

“Victoria, I don’t really feel like going out and entertaining...”

“Come on!” Victoria pleads. “I don’t want to be the only girl there! You can pick anything out of my wardrobe and keep it.”

She sure knew how to bribe you. Vitoria had a walk in closet that received new purchases more than once a day. You envied her for her ever increasing collection.

“Fine,” you concede to her.

Vitoria squeezes you in a hug. “Let’s go!” she says, grabbing your hand and running in the direction of her house.


~~~

A mistake had been made. You knew you shouldn’t have agreed to go with Victoria to Henry’s house. You and Victoria were the only girls, and made you the awkward ones out. Henry and Victoria had a flirty relationship. They weren’t together, but whenever they hung out it was like they were together. Henry had a smattering of friends over. You could see why now. This was all a cover. Friends over meant it wasn’t serious between Henry and Victoria. You just wish they would go out and get this over with. You were tired of being a third wheel so they could be comfortable with each other.

You examined the hem of the skirt that was now yours. It was silky and floral and it even felt expensive. Anything to distract you from the conversation Henry’s friends was having. You scrunched your nose in disgust. You weren’t used to being in the presence of boys.  And you certainly weren’t going to shove yourself into a conversation about whether big s were better than small perky ones.

You sigh and get up from the couch you were occupying. Maybe there was something in the kitchen that you could drink. Luckily, Henry was the owner of a coffee maker, so you helped yourself. You dug through the scarce cupboards to find some sugar. You smelled the milk in his fridge and let out a sigh of relief that it wasn’t bad. You mixed the three ingredients together. You blow on your creation to cool it slightly and take a large amount in your mouth. You swirl the flavours over tongue and finally allowed yourself to swallow. You let at a satisfied “ah”, happy you had produced once again, another good cup of coffee.

“That’s looks good, can I have a cup?”

Your head snaps ahead of you. A boy was leaning on the on the counter, smiling at you. You blush unconsciously. You didn’t know you had an audience.

“Sure,” you find yourself saying, and start the whole process over again. You find yourself stealing a look through you eyelashes every once in a while. Was today your lucky day or something? Another cute guy in your vicinity was too much. This one had ridiculously sharp cheekbones and his smile curled! In contrast to the other guy, this boy was very friendly. 

“You come here with Victoria?” the boy asked.

“Yeah, I kind of ended up being dragged along.”

“Me too,” the boy sends another one of those curly smiles your way and you find yourself getting comfortable in his presence.

You handed him the coffee you made and he drinks it deeply. “Wow, this is good!” he remarks, surprised.

“I work at a coffee shop,” you explain to him.

“You’ve got to give me the address, I want another one of these,” he tips his coffee cup to you in a salute.

You scratch the back of your head, embarrassed at the compliment. This was what you had been looking for from the guy at your work. What a weird turning of the tables. “Thanks.”

A loud yelling came from the living room and the boy rolled his eyes. “No wonder you came to the safety of the kitchen. They can be so stupid sometimes,”

“I...I’m not really used to guys that much. Are you all like this?” you ask, genuinely looking for an answer.

The guy pretended to think about it, “No, not all of us,” he replied, mirth shining from his eyes.

You feel a happy smile occupying your face “That’s a relief.”

“Look, do you maybe want to—”

“_______!” you hear Victoria yell your name over the boy’s question.

You send an apologetic look to the boy, “Sorry, I’ve got to go.”

“I don’t even know your—”

“There you are! We’re leaving!” says Victoria, grabbing your arm and bodily hauling you out of the apartment without as much as a goodbye or explanation.

“Ugh, Henry can be such a guy sometimes. That place was getting lame. Let’s go home and cry over that new Korean drama you’ve been watching,” Victoria complains while we head back to her house.

This is not a good sign. When Victoria wants girly time it usually means she had a fight with Henry. You tucked your thoughts about the smiling boy in the back of your mind. It looked like you were going to be making another double chocolate want to drown in your sorrows drink tonight.