I slowly walked the few blocks back home, feeling like this could be the new normal that I would have to deal with at work.
Something about the way Natalie was acting gave me a small glimmer of hope, but I wasn't going to count on anything.
I wasn't sure if I'd try to talk things over with her again, but at least I said what I needed to. It was on her now. Although I wasn't sure she cared.
My thoughts spun around in my head as I neared my apartment.
"Hey Madison," I heard a voice say.
I jumped back and put my hand on my chest as I looked up to find Theo. He was standing outside of the coffee shop locking things up for the day.
"Oh, oops, sorry I didn't mean to scare you," he said to me.
"No you're fine, I just seem to be jumpy lately," I said with a grin, "I was spacing off, but anyway, how's it going?"
"Not bad," Theo responded with a shrug, "just closing everything up for the night."
"I'm starting to think you're the only employee who actually works here," I said to him.
"Sometimes it does kind of feel that way," he said as he looked over at me.
"Hey," he continued, "would you maybe want to go grab dinner?"
"Oh, you mean like, right now?" I stupidly asked him.
"Of course you mean right now," I quickly said, "sorry, ignore me please, it was a long day at work."
"Sounds like you could use a nice dinner and drink then?" He grinned.
"You know what?" I said with a sigh, "you're right."
A large smile spread across his face and he motioned for me to follow him.
"My car is just around the corner in the parking lot. There's an amazing Italian place we can go to," he said.
"Now you're speaking my language," I told him.
We walked back to the parking lot and I got into the passenger seat of his car. This definitely wasn't something that I usually made a habit of, but with all of the tension between Natalie and I, maybe a little spontaneity is what I needed.
I wasn't really sure that agreeing to go to dinner with a guy I barely knew for the second time this week was a safe kind of spontaneity, but I guess time would tell.
Let's hope that this one would go as well as the one with Trevor had, although I was pretty sure that Theo had something else in mind.
"So what made your day at work so long?" Theo asked me as he drove us to dinner.
"It's uh - it's kind of complicated, but basically just a not so friendly coworker," I said hesitantly.
"Got ya, that's always fun," he responded.
"Loads of it," I said sarcastically.
He grinned over at me as we pulled into the parking lot of a small restaurant. I was thankful that it didn't look too fancy, since I was still in my work clothes and was pretty sure that I looked as exhausted as I felt.
We walked towards the door and Theo quickly stepped ahead of me and held it open.
"Thanks," I said as I felt my cheeks turn slightly red.
We walked in and got seated pretty quickly, and I began to look over the menu.
"What's your go to?" I asked Theo.
"Any cheese filled pasta is always the right answer," he said to me quickly, "always," he reiterated.
I laughed at his seriousness about pasta, but he definitely wasn't wrong. I took his recommendation and ordered the ravioli when the waiter came back, and we fell into a comfortable conversation while we waited for our food.
"How did you get started with your coffee shop?" I asked him.
"I worked at a few different places when I was in high school and college and just became really interested in it, both the coffee side and the business side," he said.
"Seems like you've got both of those sides down," I said with a grin.
He smiled back and nodded, "hopefully I can keep it that way, but it has gone pretty well."
Our food came shortly after, and it was another delicious recommendation.
"Do you want to try my tortellini?" Theo asked me.
Wow, a man who was offering me a bite of his food, maybe he was the perfect guy.
"Sure," I said with a nod.
He took some of the pasta on his fork and held it up to me, I leaned forward as he guided it into my mouth. Yeah, he was pretty adorable.
"Okay you're right," I said after I finished my bite, "both cheese filled pastas get an A+ from me."
"See? I wouldn't steer you wrong when it comes to pasta," he said, "or anything else for that matter."
When he smiled at me I couldn't help but smile back. I had told myself multiple times that I didn't want to get involved with anyone, but Theo was definitely making me want to change that.
We finished our meals up and Theo quickly told the waiter that he would take the bill.
"You don't have to do that, but thank you," I said.
"Hey I was the one that asked you to dinner, it's only fair," he said as he grinned at me.
Once he paid we walked back out to his car and he drove me back to my apartment.
"Can I walk you up?" He asked me.
"Well you might have to fight off Trevor if he sees you up there, but sure," I said as I smirked at him.
"I can take him," Theo said jokingly.
"Hmm, we'd have to see about that," I responded as we walked towards the building.
Theo put his hand on my back as we stepped into the elevator and I pushed the button for my floor.
"Well I'm glad you agreed to come with," he said as the doors closed, "even if it was because of your shitty day at work."
"Me too," I said as I felt a small smile come across my face.
The elevator stopped up on my floor and we stepped out and walked down the hallway. We got to my door and Theo stopped and looked down at me. He looked like he was debating what he wanted to say and/or do.
I wasn't usually a "kiss on the first date" type of person, but I had to admit that I wanted that from him.
"I'll see you tomorrow I'm sure, have to have my coffee," I said to him as I fidgeted with my hands.
"Perfect," he said as he stepped forward.
He wrapped me in a hug, which wasn't exactly what I had hoped for, but I'd take it. He leaned back after a minute, but he kept his arms around me.
I looked up at him and he slowly moved his face towards mine. I closed the distance between us and pressed a gentle kiss against his lips.
He seemed to take it as a cue as he brought his hand up to my face and placed it underneath of my chin. My hands drifted down from his back to his waist as the kiss continued.
I thought I heard a noise from behind us, and it made me pull back. I looked around but I didn't see anything.
"Sorry, I thought I heard something," I said sheepishly.
"It's okay," he responded, "might not have been able to stop myself if you didn't do that."
I blushed again as he smiled down at me and dropped his hands back down to his sides.
"Goodnight Madison," he said as he turned and walked down the hallway.
I smiled to myself as I watched him leave, and I turned to my door and unlocked it and stepped inside.
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