The Boss Lady

The Coffee Shop

He took me around the corner to this little coffee shop, if you would've blinked you would've completely missed it. We had a seat and he ordered us two small cups of coffee.

So, there we sat, talked, and even laughed a little. I told him about what I wanted to do and he told me that it was possible. Which was something that I hadn't heard in a very long time. He sat there listening intently to what I had to say and watching me go on and on.

I took a sip of my coffee after I had finished talking and he pulled out his checkbook. "How much?" He asked and I swallowed my coffee looking at him in the eyes.

"Excuse me?" I asked even though I knew exactly what he meant.

"How much money?" He asked pulling a pen out and I shook my head quickly. Wrapping my hands around the cooled down cup of coffee in front of me.

"I don't want your hand out," I said clearing my throat and holding my head up high.

"Think of it as a friend helping out another friend," He said and I laughed.

"You aren't my friend," I blurted out before I could think of what I was saying. Could I get any ruder?

He sighed and stood up. He grabbed his suit jacket and put his checkbook back into one of the pockets.

"My family is having a holiday party," He began as he slipped his jacket back on and fixed it.

I sat there looking at him and wondering how this pertained to me.

"I'd like you to join us," He said picking up his cup and finishing what was left of the coffee.

"You barely know me," I said laughing, was this a joke? Did someone set this up? It already felt like a set up that he was even having coffee with me.

"Yes, but there'll be a lot of people I don't know there, it'll give you a chance to network," He said setting his cup back down on the table.

He stuck his hand in one of his pockets and pulled out a card. He wrote a phone number on it "I'm just saying to think about it if you are as serious, as you say you are," he said handing me the card.

"It was lovely meeting you miss...I'm sorry I never got your last name," He said and I shook my head.

"I never gave it to you," I said smiling.

"Well, then it was nice talking to you Katherine," He said smiling a killer smile and walking out of the shop.

I had just blown the opportunity to get the money I needed because I was too proud to accept free money. I looked down at the card he handed me, his phone number scribbled on it. I flipped it around and my eyes went wide.

Patrick King.

It was official, I had decided these people were everywhere. I groaned putting my head down on the table. I stuck my hand in the air for the receipt which I noticed hadn't even come and finally took my head off the table sighing as I was about to pull out my card.

A woman came to the table with a rag and wiped it down. She then grabbed the two cups and turned towards me "Can I have the receipt please?" I asked sweetly and the woman quickly responded "Already taken care of hun," She said and I nodded. Of course, it was.

I stood up putting my jacket on and grabbing my bag. I picked up the card and looked at it for a minute biting my lip and tapping it with my finger. I walked passed the trashcan and threw it in there, walking out of the coffee shop.

I started walking down the sidewalk towards my car. Maybe it was a bad idea to throw his number away. It's not like he said here's my number, call me so we can have sex. He simply offered me an opportunity. I might not get a chance like that again. But did I really want to be in a room with the King family? Not particularly.

I stopped walking and stood in the middle of the sidewalk. People rushed around me in the cold city streets and cars honked at each other. I decided that I was gonna go back, I spun around and went back to the coffee shop which was another four minutes back from where I was standing.

Once I reached the shop I opened the door again and looked at the trash. I was just so great at embarrassing myself. It seemed like most people were more occupied with themselves anyway. I went back to the trash can and luckily for me the card was sitting there on top. It looked like some coffee had spilled on it but it wasn't anything that was that big of a deal. I quickly reached in grabbing the card then turned around to leave the shop and headed back to my car.

My stubbornness was going to overtake me one of these days. It was literally going to eat me alive and ruin even the whisper of an opportunity.