Rowan

Chapter 5 | Rowan

Rowan stepped into the warm cafe; her eyes immediately finding the dark-haired man. His grey eyes were on her own, and she felt a blush creep up her neck.

She absentmindedly tugged at her jacket, letting her gaze wander around the uncharacteristically empty cafe.

There was something she wanted to do, but the thought of asking him sent a jolt of nerves through her stomach. But he had seemed so nice the other day- had even approached her first. She glanced up at him from under her eyelashes. Could she?

She paused as she neared his table, and he looked up, giving her a crooked smile, which she nervously returned.

"Hi," she said.

His smile widened ever so slightly. "Hello, Rowan."

She glanced down at the table. "Would you mind if I sit with you?" Her voice was soft.

Something flickered in his eyes so quickly she nearly missed it. "Of course not."

Pulling out the chair, she lowered herself into it, pulling out her sketch pad. "There's something I wanted to ask you," she began. "I was wondering if I could draw you."

She risked a quick glance up. His eyes had darkened to a steel grey as he studied her from across the table. His mouth turned up slightly on one side into a crooked smile. "There's nothing special about me. Why would you want to draw me?" It was clear that beyond the smile on his face was a legitimate question.

She was silent for a moment, unable to tell him the real reason. The truth was that she was fascinated by the man before her. He was both beautiful and handsome; so strong in his bearing and yet with an air of fragility to him that she couldn't explain.

And then there were those eyes. She couldn't get them out of her head; had tried drawing them multiple times over the previous days with no success.
She just couldn't get them quite right and had hoped that she might do them justice if she could have him right in front of her.

Instead of explaining these things she just shrugged, giving him what she hoped was not too guilty of a smile.

He seemed satisfied with this response and returned it. "I would be honored to have you draw me."

She let out the breath she'd been holding, relief flooding over her. How embarrassing that would have been had he refused.

His expression was unreadable when she looked back up at him. He was just studying her with those eyes.

"When are you free?" she asked.

He cocked his head ever so slightly, maintaining his steady gaze. He was silent for a moment. "Whenever. I don't have much going on these days." His lips were pulled into a faint smile, as if he were amused by something, but his eyes were stony, and she could tell there was more to the story than self-deprecating humor.

"I have classes until two tomorrow. Would you be able to meet me at three?" He nodded, and she continued. "We could do it here, if you want. Or..." she paused, wondering if she should really be considering inviting this man to her apartment. "Or we could meet down at the park if the weather is nice."

He seemed to carefully consider his options, and she realized that this was seemingly always the case. He was very analytical - never just blurting things out, like her. "It's up to you."

She tried not to scowl. She really did. But she absolutely hated it when people refused to give a straight answer, and he didn't seem to be very interested as it was, which wasn't helping her confidence.

He let out a half laugh, startling her from her thoughts. "Sorry. The park would be nice."

She gave him a firm nod. "Okay."