Coffee & Street Corners (Complete)

7

I had two options. I could either run out of his apartment, balling my eyes out like the women in movies, or I could try to remain calm and figure out what exactly is going on. Option two was probably the best choice, after all there could be a logical reason behind this madness.

"It's nice to meet you." I said to the smiling woman in front of me.

Ben stood between us; forming a triangular shape. He kept looking at me with uncertainty on his face, as if waiting for a reaction.

Gloria smiled, making the vibe between us 10x more awkward. "So, you're one of Ben's friends."

Friends.

An unknown emotion ran through me when she spoke that word. I can only describe it as a mixture of sadness and rejection, maybe even hatred. The feeling was very foreign to me.

"Yes." I mumbled. I heard Ben gasp beside me but I refused to look in his direction.

What was I suppose to say? How could I possibly explain our relationship? Why should I be the one to explain anything? She is his ex after all. Was whatever we been doing for the past few weeks even considered a relationship? As a matter of fact we never did put a label on it, and we never discussed the possibility of dating. So technically he was never mine to claim and vice versa. And if she really wanted to, she could hold that over my head because at least they knew for certain that they were a couple.

"Ben is such a sweet guy." Gloria continued. "Oh, did you bring those snacks over for us?"

"I'm sorry, us?" I asked. I'm pretty sure she heard me perfectly fine when I said the cream puffs were for Ben.

"Us." She gestured between herself and Ben. She was acting as though she were explaining something to a child. She has some nerve.

I was trying to be civilized but that just ticked me off. "Clearly it's for Ben. You were nonexistent in my mind and a couple of days ago you were nonexistent in his as well."

Label or no label, I felt the need to point out her relevance in his life. Regardless of whether we ended up together at least I can have the satisfaction of speaking up for myself or putting up a fight. Her smile immediately faded. I won't lie that made me feel victorious.

"Carmen." Ben spoke; dragging me out of my short but satisfying sense of victory. His voice carried a sense of annoyance, anger and shock with it.

"Oh now you choose to speak. Where were you when she had me in a corner?" I said.

His jaw clenched and his stare made my skin crawl. He grabbed the box from my hand and placed it on a nearby table. He then dragged me into what appeared to be his bedroom leaving his ex alone. Good, it gives her time to think about what I said.

Ben closed the door behind him and turned to face me. His face was far from happy.

"I bet you're happy she's back." I barked at him before he had the privilege to speak a word.

"Carmen..."

"Was I your rebound?" I interrupted.

He sighed deeply.

"Why else would you not claim me, right? I bet there's some big announcement she just had to tell you! Like she loves you." I started to ramble. "Or...oh my gosh she's pregnant."

"Just shut up and listen!" Ben yelled, stopping my ridiculous babble. "Sit." He pointed towards his large sized bed.

I obeyed and slowly sat on the edge, careful not to fall. I had never seen him this angry. Ben began to pace the floor, whatever it was he was about to say was big. I braced myself for the worst.

"That day when you offered me that cup of coffee, I just thought that you were like everyone else, assuming that I was homeless. You wouldn't believe the amount of people who tossed me change." He chuckled at the thought. "But unlike everyone you sat down and held a conversation with me. You stopped the police from arresting me, others would have looked the other way. Everything you did was because you genuinely cared...and there's not a lot of people in this world like that."

I could feel my heart swell and tears form in my eyes. I kept blinking to get rid of them...it didn't work. "Ben..."

"I'm not done." He interrupted. "When Gloria came to my apartment and I saw her standing there looking at me with that longing in her eyes, all of the memories with her came back. For a second I felt relieved, I felt hope. But that was short lived. Then I thought of you and...I was stuck. I've never been in this situation before. I didn't know what to do. I wanted to tell her to leave but you showed up before I had the chance to. Seeing you stand at my door with that beautiful smile on your face was all the reminder I needed to know that you're worth pursuing. I apologize for not saying anything when Gloria was being the typical...well Gloria. But like I said I never had been in this situation before. My mind was completely blank. My silence didn't mean that I had given up on you."

"So what exactly are you saying?"

Ben smirked and looked me straight in the eyes. "I'm saying that I don't want to be with Gloria. I want to be with you and only you. What I thought I felt for her is how I truly feel for you."

The tears started pouring at this point and all of the love and care that I had for this man could no longer be held back. I jumped off his bed and ran into his arms. He held my face in his hands and planted a long, passionate kiss on my lips. After what felt like hours we finally separated, I gazed up into his eyes and smiled.

"How are you going to break it to Gloria?"

"You let me worry about that."

I sat on Ben's bed, resting against the headboard. It's been about 10 minutes since he left to talk to Gloria in private. I didn't like waiting since there was no telling what she was willing to do to keep him. But I trusted him and I knew that they needed to talk and he needed to say goodbye in his own way. A little while later he walked back into his room with the box in his hand. The cream puffs were certainly cold now. He sat beside me and smiled from ear to ear.

"I thought I'd share." He said holding up the box.

"How sweet." I laughed.

Ben popped a cream puff in his mouth and reached for another. "Of course you know I only picked you cause of your culinary skills." He joked.

My laughter grew and I playfully hit his arm. He smiled at me and placed the cream puff that was currently in his hand, back in the box and placed the box onto his night stand. I looked at him curiously, unsure of what he was doing. He gently pulled me closer towards him and kissed my forehead, then my cheeks, then finally my lips.

"I'm never letting you go." He whispered.

"I wasn't going to allow you to."

How did I get so lucky to find a man so sweet, caring, respectful, romantic and downright gorgeous? I have no idea but, I wasn't complaining. I'd like to say it was love at first sight but let's be honest the man hadn't left his sleeping bag for weeks. But he definitely had something that caught my eye. It's funny how fate can bring two people together. It's like they say, anything is possible. I met my love on a street corner and we conversed over a hot cup of coffee in the freezing cold. How will you meet yours?