Smile

Thank you so much for reading "Smile"! This is my first original short story, so sorry if it isn't that great. /: I'd love to hear any feedback you may have on it--that would help me a lot!! Anyways, thanks again, and enjoy reading! :3

The Beginning

I met him on a rainy weekend morning. I had dropped out of college three days before, and had been working at a local coffee shop for almost two weeks. At eight A.M. I unlocked the shop doors and changed the sign on them to “OPEN” before going behind the counter. It had been raining since the night before, and the gray clouds hid the early morning sun. There were never many customers so early on a Saturday morning, so I was surprised when the coffee shop door flew open, and in ran a drenched man.

“What can I get you?” I remember asking him, putting on my best service smile. He looked about thirty, eight years older than myself. His tailored suit and expensive briefcase eluded to some important executive job—probably in the city. What does he want in a tiny shop like this?

“Have dinner with me tonight,” he said, looking incredibly nervous and embarrassed.

I stared at him, shocked by his forward demand. I had never met this man before, and he was asking me out on a date! “Excuse me?” Was all I could manage to reply.

“I walk by this shop every morning on my way to the bus stop. And every morning I see you in here behind the counter. You look so happy as you chat with customers, and your smile has such an effect on people—I can see that by the way your customers react to you.” He spoke quickly, as if he was afraid he would forget what he wanted to say. “I'm bad with women, so I've always been too afraid to come in here before now. But I just couldn't walk by this shop another morning without at least coming in and telling you how I feel. I like you, and I would love it if you would agree to have dinner with me tonight.”

“Ok,” I said, setting into motion our wonderful and tragic love story.

Life Together

“Adrian, you're going to miss the eight-thirty bus if you don't get moving,” I whispered, kissing my husband on the cheek. Less than a year after that first encounter at the coffee shop where I worked, Adrian and I exchanged vows, giving our hearts and our lives to one another. Only six months ago we celebrated our one year anniversary. It didn't seem like a year and a half had passed since my father walked me down the isle and I began my new life as Karissa Lane.

“Maybe I'll call in sick,” Adrian murmured. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me closer to him so that he could kiss me on the lips. “I think I have a fever.”

“Liar,” I chuckled, pressing my forehead against his. “You don't feel hot at all.”

“Give me a few more seconds,” he smirked, trailing kisses along my jawbone, and down to my neck.

“Come on,” I sighed, giving him a quick kiss on the mouth before getting off the bed. “If we don't get to the shop early enough, I won't have your coffee ready.”

“You're so cruel.”

I laughed, putting on my khakis and uniform polo. I still worked at the coffee shop where Adrian and I met, running the shop every morning to afternoon. Because the bus into the city left thirty minutes after the shop opened, Adrian walked me to the shop every morning. We usually ate breakfast together there in-between customers while he waited on the bus.

“I love it when you wear a tie,” I smiled. Adrian worked at a growing law firm in the city, so he worked late into the evenings. Today, though, he would be picking me up from work in the afternoon.