moments ; k.powers

02

Jess almost laughed when she saw Keith again. He had two bandaids, Dora the Explorer band aids, placed carefully over his right eyebrow. There was also an obvious scratch stretching from the side of his ear to his chin.

"What happened to your face, handsome?" she asked, a smile curling on her lips. Jess watched as he fumbled around with his hands. She felt bad for the person standing behind her who would have to wait for their coffee, but they would have to wait.

"Uh, I had this... altercation with a cat," he chuckled nervously, "what would you like?"

Jess rocked a bit on her toes. "Uhh," she mimicked him, "surprise me." And then his eyes went blank.

"Surprise you?"

Jess nodded her head.

Keith licked his lips. "Well, um, I'll just make you the best drink I know how. And that is a strawberry-banana-blueberry smoothie. I hope you enjoy it." She didn't say that she was allergic to bananas and decided to deal with the itchy throat for a few hours. Jess watched him move around the kitchen, careful to give Dari enough space to work herself. Finally, he placed a lid on her drink.

"Here you go, Jess. Enjoy." He smiled, his cheeks slightly pink and his forehead shiny with sweat.

"Thank you, Keith." She took her drink and took a sip. Thankfully, the banana taste wasn't that strong.

"Is it- I mean, do you like it?" He rested his hands on the counter and leaned closer. Jess felt her cheeks get hot.

"Yeah, I wanted to ask you something actually." Jess set the drink back down. "Will you go out on a date with me?"

Keith's eyes went wide. "Me? I- are you sure?"

Jess chuckled. "Yes. I'm sure."

"When? Tonight? Tomorrow? I-" He was stammering.

Jess grabbed his wrist and pulled a pen out from her pocket. "How about this? I'll give you my number and you text me to arrange the details. Cool?"

Keith relaxed a bit.

"Cool."