As I took my usual seat in the café, I didn’t expect anything out of the ordinary. It was Wednesday morning, and I had an hour to kill before I had to be at work. I opened up a book and sipped gingerly at my coffee, as I do every morning, and slowly lost myself in the labyrinth of letters on the pages before me. It was some time before I felt as if I was being watched.
I looked up slowly, glancing around the room almost nervously. The café was relatively empty; the usual elderly couple sat in the far back, another young woman like me sat near the door, myself by the window, and a small group of men had just recently walked in. They were all standing by the counter, waiting for their orders and joking with each other. None of them could have been any older than their early twenties, which explained the boyish way they messed around. I shook my head and frowned, about to turn back to my book, when I suddenly realized that one of them was staring at me. He looked away almost immediately when our eyes connected, but I could still see him looking at me through the corner of his eye.
I wasn’t quite as anxious as he, and took the time to study him for a moment. He was tall, very tall. My eyes first glanced over his leather jacket, and then traveled slowly down his impossibly long, thin legs. Come to think of it, his entire body was thin. His arms were almost spindly, I noticed, as he reached over the counter to grab the cup of coffee that the cashier was handing him. Finally, as he turned completely away from me, I noticed his hair. It was simply a mess of dark golden curls on his head, which would have seemed unkempt if it didn’t suit him so perfectly.
The rest of the boys received their coffee, and a few of them waved to the others as they left the café. Only three of them stayed behind and took a seat not too far from mine, and one of them was Mr. Leather Jacket. I had realized by now that he seemed to be much more comfortably dressed than the rest of them, all of whom seemed to be on their way to work. Mr. Leather Jacket, however, didn’t seem to be in any particular hurry.
I was still watching him when he suddenly glanced my way again. I panicked then, for whatever reason, and quickly looked back down at my book. I held it up a little, trying to hide my face with the covers. As soon as I was hidden from his view, I wondered why I was hiding at all. It wasn’t like I even knew this guy. He had literally just walked into the café. What if he wasn’t even looking at me in the first place? He could have just been glancing around and our eyes connected in some strange, perfect moment. Nevertheless, I couldn’t stop myself from peeking once more over the top of the book. She was just turning away, and I sighed in relief.
I finally forced myself to go back to my book and simply ignore him. I wasn’t looking for anything at the moment anyways I had just gotten out of a not-so-great relationship, and the last thing I needed was another jerk to come spilling into my life. Sorry, Mr. Leather Jacket, but you’ll have to look elsewhere. I eventually lost myself in the book again, unable to come back to Earth until I realized that my coffee was gone. I glanced at the clock to see that I still had another hour and a half until I had to be to work, so I got up and bought myself another coffee. I had left my book on the table, but was very surprised to see Mr. Leather Jacket getting up from his table and staring intently at the book as I returned with my coffee. I glanced at him as I passed by, and then set down my coffee on my table. Just before I could sit down, however, I heard someone clear their throat behind me. “Erm, excuse me,” said a soft, deep voice.
I turned around quickly to see him standing very close to me, his two friends abandoned at their table. My eyes connected immediately with two bright blue ones, the corners of which were crinkled slightly by the smile on his face. “Um, hi,” I whispered, nervously tucking my hair behind my ear. I was suddenly a little leery of this strange man who was standing right inside my personal space bubble. He smiled kindly, noticing my apprehension, and shifted himself a little further back.
“Hello,” he replied to me, glancing down at the book on the table again. “Forgive me, but I couldn’t help noticing what you were reading. ‘The Great Gatsby?’ It’s one of my favorites.”
I mentally swooned at that. A man of his age who’s into classic literature? “It’s one of my favorites too,” I said, smiling.
Mr. Leather Jacket grinned and held out his hand to me, “It’s nice to meet someone with good taste in books. My name is Tom.”
I gingerly reached out to shake his hand. “Nice to meet you too. I’m Jena.”
“Jena,” he repeated, before running his tongue over his bottom lip. I hesitated before letting go of his hand, and he gestured to the table. “May I?”
I glanced down, confused for a moment, and then nodded quickly. “Oh, yes, of course.” I moved to take a seat, and he was suddenly behind me, pulling out my chair for me. I smiled, and he went to sit across from me.
“This may seem a little out of the blue,” he suddenly said, leaning closer to whisper, “but I haven’t been able to take my eyes off of you since I walked in here.”
I blushed deeply and gulped. I knew he had been watching me. Of course, I was just as much at fault. I didn’t say anything right away, and Tom leaned back in his chair, crestfallen. “I’m sorry,” he muttered, “that was–”
“No, no,” I suddenly said, leaning over the table slightly, “it’s fine. It’s just…well, I’m flattered, I guess.”
Tom grinned shortly and leaned closer again. “You guess?”
“I guess,” I repeated, smiling. “I mean, it’s not like I know why you were staring at me in the first place. In fact, I don’t know anything about you. You could be just some creep, for all I know.” I mentally slapped myself before the words had even finished spilling from my big mouth.
Tom, however, seemed genuinely entertained by my blunder. He chuckled and rested his weight on his elbows, crossing his arms on the table. “Well, why don’t we fix that?” He laughed, “First of all, I’m not a creep. And second, I haven’t been able to take my eyes off of you because you’re very pretty.”
I blushed even deeper than I had before, and smiled at Tom. “Well. For what it’s worth, I haven’t been able to look away from you either.”
He smiled wider, and bit his bottom lip. “So I’ve noticed.” I narrowed my eyes at him playfully and he winked at me. “However, we still know very little about each other,” he continued, “Tell me about yourself.”
“You first,” I teased.
Tom laughed and nodded. “How about this; for every thing I tell you about myself, you have to tell me something. Deal?” I considered it for a moment, then nodded, deciding that it couldn’t be of any harm. Tom then thought for a moment, before grinning at me. “I am twenty-six-years-old,” he stated.
I grinned, and nodded. “A lady never reveals her age,” I countered, with a wink. He sighed overdramatically, and I laughed. “However, I will tell you that you’re older than I am.”
“How much older?”
“Three years.”
“You’re twenty-three, then?”
“Maybe,” I said, shrugging my shoulders. Tom smiled and nodded.
“Well played. “Anyways, I graduated from RADA, top of the class. I’m an actor.”
“Wow,” I sighed, leaning closer to him again, “Accomplished, then. I’m an English Teacher at a high school down the street. I went to school here in the States.”
Tom pursed his lips and nodded slowly, obviously impressed. “I wish my teachers had been half as beautiful as you, darling. My attendance in certain classes may not have suffered so badly.”
I giggled and bit my lip. Despite his sudden interest in me, and the overall randomness of this situation, I was beginning to like Tom more and more. He was charming, at least.
“Hmm, let’s see,” he muttered, trying to think of something else to tell me. “This is the first time I’ve ever been to New York.”
“I’ve been here since the day I was born. Although, I have to say, I’ve always wanted to go to England.” Tom’s eyes lit up at that and he shifted in his seat.
“Really?” He asked. I nodded and he smiled wider. “Well, maybe, if you decide that I’m not a creep, I could take you there sometime?” He winked at me, and I found myself blushing yet again.
I smiled and nodded, contemplatively. “We’ll have to see.” We were suddenly both quiet for a moment, simply staring at each other. I had almost lost myself in his eyes, when he suddenly spoke up again.
“I’m single,” he said, so softly that I almost didn’t hear him. I straightened up suddenly, a little caught off guard.
“Huh?”
“I was just telling you that I’m single. Now it’s your turn.”
“Oh,” I said, blushing. “I’m single too.”
Tom hummed softly and smiled. “Hmm. Interesting.” I smiled back at him, and he hesitantly reached his hand towards mine. I allowed him to take my hand in his, and he gently raised it to lips. I sighed as his lips brushed gently over my knuckles, before he lowered my hand back to the table. Our eyes connected again, and he smiled. He suddenly glanced to the table where his friends were sitting, and a sigh escaped his lips. “I’m afraid I must be going, Jena. It was an absolute pleasure meeting you.” He smiled sadly at me, and my own smile faltered.
“Oh, okay. It was wonderful meeting you too,” I said, standing up as he stood from the table. We smiled at each and he reached for my hand again, this time pressing something into my palm. He pulled me close for a moment, his lips at my ear, and whispered, “I hope I’ll be seeing you again.” I shivered at feeling his warm breath against my ear, then smiled at him once more before he turned to leave with his friends. I watched them walk across the parking lot through the window, and just as they reached the sidewalk, Tom glanced back at the café with a smile on his face. I smiled in return, and looked down at the paper in my hand. At the top of the paper, he had scrawled his phone number. Beneath it, was a short note:
Beautiful,
Maybe tomorrow morning, I could buy you coffee myself?
~Tom