Seraphina's Awakening

Chapter Three: First Dates

A long day doesn't even begin to describe the kind of day Sera has had. She's happy to leave it all behind as anticipation begins to bubble up inside of her. Despite Amanda's unending knowledge of the dating scene, she decides against changing. If Jack would be donning his work clothes, so would she. Keeping the tan dress pants and white collared shirt, she did happen to stop home and apply some extra makeup before making her appearance. She parks her white sedan in the spot in front of Jack's Coffee Bean for the second time that day. Sera flips down the visor to double check that she resembles what Amanda calls 'sexy-casual' before running her fingers through her hair. With one last nod of courage to her reflection, she exits the car and heads toward the door.

Approaching, she notices all the blinds are down and the lights are dimmer than usual. A weird feeling settles into the pit of her stomach when she reaches the door. The sign on the door reads: 'Closed', but the hours posted along the bottom clearly indicate otherwise. Looking around nervously, Sera starts to chalk this up to a dating failure and starts to leave when she spots Jack springing through the double doors of the kitchen. One more deep breath and she knocks softly. Hearing her knock from a few feet away, his eyes immediately meet hers. He appears to visibly relax, and his lips curl into a smile. Within seconds, Jack is holding the door open for her, welcoming her inside. Sera's eyes greet him shyly before glancing about to notice the whole ambiance has changed. The holiday music is replaced with something sultrier. The lights are all dimmed, and the brightest glow in the place emanates from the tea light candles scattered all about. The tables and chairs are moved to the side until all that remains in the center is a small table for two. Even Jack has spruced up, wearing a black-collared shirt with khaki pants. She catches a whiff of cologne upon entering.

"Wow," comes tumbling out of Sera's mouth as she continues to gawk. Tugging at her shirt uncomfortably, Sera realizes then, maybe she should have listened to Amanda. To be honest, she's a little taken aback by the spread. The way he asked was so... casual.

"So, I figured you'd be hungry, and I've made us a little something to eat." Jack breaks the growing silence.

"Well, you were right—I'm starving."

Jack places his hand on the small of her back, guiding Sera to the center table. "Let me check to see if it's ready."

Disappearing through the double doors again, Sera uses the time to take one last gaze about. Garland wraps all over the walls and candles glisten back at her. "Oh. My. God," she mouths to herself before Jack reappears with two plates of his famous Panini's. He brings them to the table on one arm with a steaming latte that smells like warm caramel in the other. His arms gracefully place the plate and coffee in front of her before slipping into the remaining seat. Jack's eyes scan Sera, enveloping her like a warm summer day. She glances away nervously trying to look at everything and anything to draw the attention off her.

"I'm happy you came."

"Why wouldn't I? This place is my favorite."

"I'm happy to hear you say that, you know this is a new business venture for me."

"Well, you picked a good one." Headlights shine through the blinds causing Sera to jump. Thankfully, Jack doesn't appear to notice, because he's uneasily looking up from his hands.

"It took me a while to work up the courage—I mean look at you." His hand motions toward her.

"Me?" Sera responds after her first bite of the Panini.

"Yes, you. Sera you're—" But she never gets to find out what she is, because he abruptly stops talking and looks at the blank space beside her. If Sera didn't know any better, she'd swear he shook his head minutely.