Crossing Lines {NaNoWriMo 2017}

Chapter One - Coffee Date

Chapter One – Coffee Date

Present Day

Nothing was comparable to a coffee shop in the winter. Something about the bodies all crammed into tables and on-going lines wanting to escape the cold for a moment while keeping up with the caffeine fix that fueled the holidays. Between college students studying for finals and parents needing a break from their screaming children at their feet, the atmosphere was still the right amount of coziness.

The bell above the entrance to the little café rang again causing my gaze to follow it. "Nope," I muttered to myself, frustrated with the fact that I had been here for a little more than twenty minutes. "He's late. Again."

As flustered as I was to be sitting at a two-person table, by myself, while plenty of other patrons could be using the table instead – I knew I would just have to wait. I knew Xavier well enough that he would be barreling through the door at any given moment and be overly apologetic. It was one of his more annoying, yet endearing traits about him that I had just come to live with as time passed.

I took another deep breath and reached for the hot chocolate in front of me, taking a slow sip as to not burn myself like I had when I first had it placed in front of me. The room temperature, chocolatey goodness melted into my tongue, giving me a moment of serenity before a stocky man came running through the door almost knocking into the woman waiting in the long line.

The man shook his head and offered a quick apology before his gaze started scanning across the room. When it finally landed on my table, a small smile curved on his lips while he made his way over towards my direction, pulling off his beanie to reveal a head of messy blond hair.

"Brie, I'm so, so, so sorry. My mom asked me to run to the drugstore before coming here and it ended up taking way longer than she said it would."

A deep breath escaped when I focused back in on the cup in front of me. "It's okay. I haven't been waiting here long."

He let out a sigh with a smile still on his lips while stripping himself of extra layers of clothing. Even though our small town of Frederick, Maryland had not been hit with any snow, the temperatures and clouds were threatening to bring it any day now. So, one could never be overdressed.

Once Xavier had himself more comfortably clothed for the temperature of our surroundings and was sitting across from me, did he speak again. "Did you happen to order me anything?"

I shook my head while finishing another sip and giving him a small shrug. "They have some new flavors that I thought you would want to look at."

He squinted in the direction of the board above the barista station, I could see his eyes light up before he shook his head and turned his attention back to me. "Ah, I'll order something when the line goes down in a bit," he grinned. "But that milky way, caramel mocha sounds wonderful right now."

I rolled my eyes before matching his goofy little grin. "You know, one of these days you're going to lose all your teeth with the amount of daily sugar you consume."

"You'd still have to love me, remember?" Xavier grinned again, only this time the corners of his dark blue eyes crinkled up at the edges while he glanced down at my left hand.

At the same moment, my thumb came up to graze the metal that was on the table before shifting my own gaze to look at the small diamond ring that was looped around my ring finger. I loved the size of it, it was exactly what I always wanted, nothing that was too flashy, but a piece of jewelry that held a lot of significance to the two of us.

"I suppose I would still have to then," I stole one last glance at my hand before looking back up at Xavier. His eyes had softened, but they still held a little bit of excitement behind them while he watched me. "I would pay out the behind though to get you some damn good dentures."