Fated (A Chris Evans Series)

It's You

After Chris returned with Denise's vanilla latte, and his green tea, the both of them chatted at her corner table in Starbucks. The first topic at hand involved their beverage choice. She asked if he really wasn't a coffee person and he explained he wasn't unless his schedule needed him to be, and he found out vanilla lattes were only had once in a blue moon, usually when she was traveling. It didn't take long for them to alter the hallmark of their conversation from a fan with her celebrity crush to two old friends after years apart.

There was a bizarre feeling of tranquility associated with Denise that Chris felt and yearned, hence why he approached her despite instinctually knowing she was a fan. It was an unaccustomed move; the limelight was something he preferred to abscond from. But he was comfortable with her. His nerves weren't taut and he didn't have to question if anything said was going to be used against him after. His career and reputation had experienced vicissitudes caused by things he said before so it was a second nature for him to be prudent with his words, but not this time and not with her. With her, he wanted to be as honest as she was being with him.

Denise was unalike Chris' calm and collected demeanor in the beginning. She thought she was suffering from palpitations and feared he could hear it from across the table. She unintentionally rambled, all the while failing to resist her voice from quivering when it came to certain points in her sentences. She even felt compelled to hide her clammy plans under her butt in fear he'd reach over and give her hand another pat or gentle squeeze. As the hands ticked by, she was able to mirror his sense of tranquility, and her capability to be present in the moment without fearing she'd embarrass herself evolved. She didn't know what it was about him that normalized him despite his celebrity status and deadly good looks, but for a second- she could almost forget that she was talking to Chris Evans.

It never occurred to her that Chris would be everything she'd imagined he'd be. He was more, if that was even possible. The way she'd portrayed him in her stories was- as far as she could see- a hundred and ten percent accurate. The man was sweet, funny, intelligent, and real. What one saw with him was what one got. His questions, his comments, and his interest in what she had to say weren't ostensible. She got so lost in the conversation, in his dazzling blue eyes that she feared she wouldn't be able to write a narrative surrounding her recherché encounter once he walked away. But there was heavy doubt she needed anything to remind her of this. She was confident it would be something she was going to remember on her deathbed, which was surely moments away if he continued to smile at her the way he was.

The pragmatic side of Denise's mind reminded her not to fall harder, or get even more attached to the man she clearly had no chance with. He was a talented and successful movie star, and she was just an aspiring screen writer with student loans. As genuine as he was being, she knew he was only talking to her to pass time in a boring airport. But the hopelessly romantic and imaginative side of her said otherwise, it assured her Chris wouldn't waste his time with anyone he wasn't interested in. Whether or not his interest had a romantic or platonic background, the assiduity with which he devoted himself to succeeding in Hollywood kept him from investing in people he had no further intentions with.

Denise was aware these were all conclusions she'd simply devised from the interviews and articles she'd watched and read about him. She'd accepted a while ago that with him, her judgement would perpetually be askew in accordance with her own writing. She understood he was on a pedestal, but it didn't affect the trust he'd unknowingly earned from her. She trusted he was a good man who was worth befriending, and loving if she were ever lucky enough to acquire those chances. She wasn't naïve enough to think she'd have a chance at being his girlfriend like she'd always dreamed of, but maybe- just maybe, she had a chance at being his friend.