Love at Second Sight

Chapter 24

The return makes one love the farewell.

~Alfred de Musset

***

Savannah wondered when it would stop. It did rain in LA in February, but this much, not quite. And she'd forgotten to check the weather beforehand, as usual. So well, she had no umbrella. Which is why, here she was, standing under the canopy of a café, waiting for the rain to subside. She was listening to her current mood playing in her earphones. The song had been her mood for the past four months.

Just then, a man rushed under the canopy, his hand brushing hers in the process. She stilled, as a familiar zing rushed through her body, alighting a fire in the deepest, most buried parts of her. She knew that touch. But she didn't dare look up. What if it was just her? Wishful thinking and all that. What if the man wasn't who she thought him to be? Her brain was telling her to be rational and not look up. She would end up disappointed if he wasn't who she wished he was.

But her heart obviously thought otherwise, which was why she looked up and found the man already looking down at her. She gasped and then snapped her head to look at her feet.

Holy shit, it was him! It was Zac.

How was he here? Why was he here?

She looked back up, just to be sure it was indeed him. And he was, looking right back at her. This time, however, she didn't look away. She stared right back at him. It was after six months that she was seeing him today. She didn't want to look away. Couldn't. 

She had a proper look at him. He looked weary and tired. Like he hadn't been able to have a good sleep. Like he was drowning himself in work just for the sake of it. Like he hadn't been eating—or drinking his fluids—properly.

After a few moments, when his phone buzzed, he broke their staring contest to answer it. She mentally fanned herself as he looked the other way. The weather was getting warmer, wasn't it?

They didn't acknowledge each other for a while after he was off call. It was getting weirder and more awkward by the second. Either one of them had to do something.

"Hey, can I buy you coffee or something?" he asked at the same time she did, "You wanna catch up maybe?" making both of them chuckle.

"So catching up on coffee sounds good?"

"Sure does."

Again she was bereft of speech, not in the speechless way, in the I-don't-know-what-I'm-supposed-to-say way.

She was so thankful when he broke the ice and said, "This café looks nice. Cozy. We could do the catching up over coffee here, if that works for you. Or, if you have some better place, we could go there."

"In this weather? I'd rather not, and stay here. I like it here, it's small and homely."

"Yeah. Uh, you wanna sit in or, uh, out?"

"In sounds so much better right now." They settled down in a secluded, comfy booth in the corner. She ordered an Almond Latte while he went for his usual, ordinary black coffee. She smiled, he was a black coffee guy all right.

"How's everything back home?"

"Everything's amazing. Everyone's doing well too. They miss you." He shook his head. "I'm sorry I shouldn't have said that."

"It's all right. How about Stella? How's lawyering and all going?"

"She's enjoying it. I mean, I don't understand how someone can enjoy studying the law, but yeah, she does...so it's okay, I guess. As long as kiddo gets to do what she loves I'm game."