Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda

Chapter Three

Seated at a booth within the crowded restaurant, Chase munched on her turkey sandwich while jotting down notes for her latest story, which was due in eleven days. She loved her job working at a local magazine where she created short stories for the bi-weekly literary magazine. Although the pay wasn't much to brag about, it afforded her to do the thing she most loved and that made it worth it.

"Excuse me?"

Chase looked up and then further up to a gorgeous face framed by shoulder length curly black hair. The eyes were the first attraction and then everything else immediately followed. Wiping her mouth free of crumbs, the twenty-four year old smiled. "Yes?"

Holding her tray with her left hand, she pointed to the empty seat across from Chase. "A lot of people in here and it's difficult to find a seat. Would you mind if I sat with you?" She glanced toward the blonde's yellow legal pad. "I promise not to disturb you."

You can disturb me anytime you like, Chase thought to herself. A second later she nodded. "Sure, go ahead. Actually, I'm done." Pulling the protective stiff cover over the pages, Chase dropped her pen on top. She really wasn't done, but her characters could wait until later that afternoon. She extended her hand across the table and they briefly shook. "Nice to meet you. Chase Sinclair."

Seemingly pleased that she had chosen to converse, her booth mate smiled. "I'm Micah Ballard and it's nice to meet you too, Chase." While adding two packets of sugar to her iced tea, she asked the writer if her name was short for something else.

The blonde grimaced. "Yes. Chastity."

Micah paused stirring, looking into Chase's eyes. Obviously, she didn't care for her birth name. "That's beautiful."

Chase then remembered the last time she blushed. It was that Tuesday, the day that Micah Ballard entered her life. Little did she know it would be the day she also exited it.

"Micah," Chase whispered the name as she continued studying the dark-haired woman in the photograph. "Mic is Micah?" She nodded, answering her own question. "Mic is Micah." Thoughtful pause. "What the hell?" She began to pace the carpet. "None of this makes sense. I haven't seen Micah since that afternoon--that night." An image of herself, a couple of friends and Elise, who she managed to steal away from her husband and little ones for a few hours, came into focus. They went to the grand opening of a very gay friendly nightclub. Chase still had the photograph of her sister getting down on the dance floor with that voluptuous redhead. They were shocked when she immediately accepted the woman's invitation to dance. Luckily, one of Chase's friends had a camera in her purse.

Although she slowly sipped her mug of beer, Chase choked when she spotted her earlier eating companion Micah at the bar. Seated to her right, Elise slapped her on the back.

"You okay?"

"Yes, thanks," Chase answered though her eyes were on Micah who had changed into what had to be the world's sexiest short red skirt. She gasped when those hypnotizing eyes found her. Even from the distance she was able to view Micah's lips curving into a smile.

"See something you like?" her friend Amy teased. "Don't stare 'cause it's rude. Just go over and talk to her."

"I know her," Chase said, finally turning away. "I mean I don't know her well. We only talked like thirty minutes, but I met her this afternoon. What a coincidence that I'd see her again seven hours later."

"It has to be destiny." Grinning, Elise slid out of the booth so that her sister could get out. "Listen to Amy and your big sister. Go talk to her before she leaves. You might not get another chance."