Arizona Sunsets - Sam Hubbard

III

A sort of routine crept in for Sam and Liz without them even knowing each other's names. In the mornings, Sam continued to come to beans & bites promptly at 8, ordered his coffee from Liz, and they both flirted a bit before Sam left with his coffee and shortly after went to do his morning work out at the gym.

Liz finished her shift at the coffee shop at 10 before heading to the museum to pursue her real job. After the two tours she gave during the week, she went to the gym twice a week or pursued her other evening activities.

Sam, meanwhile, had figured out that the her gym days were Mondays and Wednesdays. They became the days when he had even greater motivation to push through his second daily work out and see her a second time each day. Even though it was mostly just a smile that the two exchanged when they met eyes, Sam was still very happy about it.

His disappointment was all the greater when she hadn't shown up yesterday. It had been Wednesday, actually her training day and in fact she was usually on the treadmill at just after 6 to warm up, but she just hadn't shown up.

Somehow that made Sam pretty nervous coming into beans & bites that morning. Was she okay? It was kind of weird that she had become such a part of his routine that he was worried about her without really knowing her.

Still, he felt a wave of relief when he saw her standing in the back of the counter. She was all right! The ringing of the doorbell made her look up as she did every morning when he entered the coffee shop.

She gave him a quick glance and the corners of Sam's mouth were already going up to exchange their typical morning smile, when she already lowered her head again and turned her attention to the shelves, which she was currently wiping with a rag.

Sam stumbled for a brief moment, but tried not to let it distract him as he walked over to the counter. "Hey" he kept his smile on his lips as she wiped her hands on her apron and looked at him. Still no smile for him.

"What can I get you today?" she muttered almost annoyed as she grabbed the cup Sam had set on the counter. "Flat White, as always" Sam ordered, nervously playing with the card he already had in his hand.

She was in a weird mood today and it just made the whole situation between them weird. Usually they exchanged a few words, never really anything informative, simple small talk, but this time she stayed turned away from him, not speaking a word.

Sam decided to maybe draw her out a bit. Maybe she was just having a bad day, not in the mood for small talk, and he was just misinterpreting her whole attitude.

He cleared his throat sheepishly as she turned back to him to wordlessly place the finished coffee on the counter while she typed the order into the register. "I...I missed you yesterday by the way" the smile on Sam's lips felt funny.

"Excuse me?" confused, she looked up and eyed Sam with a raised eyebrow. "I mean...at the gym. We...we always see each other there on Mondays and Wednesdays, you weren't there yesterday, I...I kinda...missed you" Sam shrugged.

Inside he could just beat himself up for how uncomfortable and awkward he had just made the situation. He couldn't just say to a woman that he missed her just because he saw her every day, but he didn't even know her name.

She seemed to think so too as she eyed him critically. "I didn't know you were so strict about whether I was there or not. But well, I've been...busy" she took her eyes off Sam and continued typing away on the register.

"Can I get you anything else today?" she asked as Sam looked disappointedly at the floor and shook his head slightly. "No thanks" he mumbled before placing a few bills on the counter for her and grabbing his coffee. "Keep the change" he muttered before turning and walking to the door with his head down.