Coffee

Chapter 1

There's nothing quite like the sights, the sounds and the smells of New York City on a rainy, fall afternoon.

The downpour is relentless, you struggle to see as you stand beside the road. Giving up on trying to hail a cab and regretting sending your driver home for the rest of the day, you rush to seek refuge from the icy rain in the first open store you see. As you step through the doorway, you gaze around the place you've found yourself in.

It is modern, neutral, yet somehow warm and welcoming. On one side, books line wooden shelves and sit on display tables, and on the other side is a cozy coffee shop. The place seems new, you've never seen it on your previous trips. You wish you could stay all day if your time in the city wasn't so limited. No amount of time in New York could ever be enough.

The bookstore is buzzing with patrons, but the coffee shop is quiet, save for the hum of the coffee machines and light music playing in the background. The tune sounds vaguely familiar, but you can't place it.

A young woman behind the cafe counter greets you politely. You forget about identifying the song, and place your go-to coffee order. The barista nods, accepts your payment and gets to work. Meanwhile, you continue to take in your surroundings.

Your eyes sweep over the room and your gaze comes to settle upon a man seated alone at one of the tables. Dark hair, styled up, but it looks soft and you wonder what it feels like. He, however, runs a hand through his hair in what appears to be frustration, as he pores over a notebook on the table and scribbles something onto a page. You can almost see the cogs turning in his brain as he continues to write. He wears a charcoal coloured sweater, the contrast almost makes his tanned skin glow. As he picks up the large mug of coffee from his table and looks up, you catch a glimpse of his eyes. They are a deep shade of brown, almost reminiscent of chocolate, or in fact... coffee.

You smile to yourself. A beautiful stranger in a New York coffee shop truly sounds like something out of a rom-com. Maybe romanticizing your life isn't a bad idea.

The stranger sighs and leans back in his chair. The bags under his eyes are a dead giveaway of a person who's trying to figure something out and is most likely purely functioning on caffeine. You would know - you can hardly ever catch a break. But on him, it's oddly endearing...

He tilts the chair back slightly; almost too much, as he scrambles to regain balance. He shakes his head and runs his hand through his hair again. A strand of dark hair comes loose and falls over his forehead.

Cute.

He turns his attention back to his notebook and continues to frantically scrawl across the page. You can't seem to shift your gaze away. The machines whir and the soft music floats through the air with the distinct aroma of coffee, flooding your senses as you watch him.

He pauses, gently biting on his bottom lip, clearly deep in thought. You wonder what constellation of thoughts he is trying to string together, and unconsciously find yourself biting your own lip, your own thoughts taking a different direction entirely.

"Your coffee, Miss?" The barista's call pulls you out of your daydream and back into reality. The stranger's gaze snaps up towards you - you are sure he noticed. Momentarily, you fear he could hear what your mind had to say about him.

Still, you hope his attention was simply due to the call, and not your embarrassing, borderline creepy stare.

You take your coffee and thank the girl. It smells divine...

With the cup, you make your way towards an empty table to finally 'caffeinate' after an intense morning meeting with a group of investors that preferred tea. Alone on yet another business trip, you hadn't really spoken to a soul outside of your meetings, your driver and food orders. You aren't out of your depth, being by yourself is hardly new, but you had hoped at least one of your friends in the city would be around to meet up on your only free afternoon. Walking around New York on your own is nice, but you wouldn't be mad at a little company along the way.