If I Never See You Again, It Will Be Too Soon

Alexis woke up for the day optimistic. She showered, brushed her teeth, made a coffee, and got dressed all while singing a made-up song about happiness. She always got excited on the first day of a new job. She did not know what it was, but something about going to a new place and meeting new people, and new tasks, excited her.

         She checked her reflection in the bathroom mirror at her apartment and smiled. Perfect. She looked professional, but still cheerful. She wore a simple white blouse and a navy-blue knee-length skirt, but she brightened the look with a yellow scrunchie in her ponytail and her yellow flats.

         She grabbed her coffee and her purse and walked to her car. As she neared the area where her new job was, she checked the time. It was 8:10 and she had to be at work at 8:40, which meant she had time to stop at a coffee shop. She already had her own coffee of course, but she wanted to buy some sort of pastry.

         This was the start her problems. For when she entered the coffee shop, she found that the pastry she had wanted, a chocolate croissant, was all out. So, she ended up getting a donut instead. She paid for her treat and turned around. But as turned someone bumped her from behind.

Which was bad enough, but the momentum pushed her into a man. A man with an open coffee cup in his hand. One moment, she was holding her donut in her hand and the next she was covered with scalding hot coffee.

She gasped, both from the burning and from the sight of her once pristine white blouse, now marred by a widening coffee stain. She turned to glare at the person who had pushed her, but he was gone. She turned back to the man with the now empty coffee cup and found him glaring at her.

“You should be more mindful of where you are going.” He gestured to her shirt and then at his unmarred suit. “You could have stained my suit.”

Alexis looked at him with a shocked expression that turned angry. “Your suit! You suit is what you care about. Not the person who is currently sporting your coffee and a few burns at that.”

He turned and grabbed a napkin, which she thought was meant for her, but proceeded to wipe his hand. “It is not my fault you are clumsy and can’t walk without bumping into people.”

She clenched her fists. “You think I bumped into you on purpose, you imbecile. I was pushed! And look at me now, covered in your coffee. I should make you compensate me for my ruined belongings.” She knew that it was not his fault, but she was so angry at him now that she did not care.

He only raised an arrogant brow in her direction and threw away his coffee cup. “And you ruined my coffee so we are even. Besides, I cannot not be blamed for your ineptness. Now if you would excuse me, I have somewhere to be.” Then he turned and strolled out the door, casual as can be.

She glowered at his retreating back and then glanced at the time. 8:25. She had to get to work, but she could hardly do that if she was covered in coffee. She turned, ignoring the faces of the people, the mess, her donut, and walked out the coffee shop.

She took a detour and made a stop at a clothes store where she bought the best things she could find, which was not that good considering she left sporting a pair of ripped jeans and a black band tee. Her outfit was not fit for a professional workplace, but it was better than her other option a see-through coffee stained white blouse and a stained skirt. At least, her flats had been easy to clean.

Finally, she arrived at her new place of work and smiled. She would put it all behind her, her missing pastry, her collision with the rude man, her still burning skin, everything. This was something she had looked forward to and she would not let some rude man in a suit with an open coffee cup ruin it for her. And, she would never have to see him again, which was a great thing.

She walked into the building and strode to the front desk. The man at the desk listened to her explain where she had been told to go and pointed her in the right direction. She smiled and thanked him and then turned. And met the gaze of a man standing there.

No, it could not be. She blinked, but it was. She groaned. The man would had been so rude to her, who had spilled coffee on her, was standing before her. Maybe if she did not acknowledge him, he would go away. And that is what she did, she walked past him without a word.

She went all the way up the elevator to the five floor and pretended that she had not seen him. She had successfully gotten him out of her mind, when she heard someone sit at the desk beside her own. She groaned and knew without looking that it was the man again.

So, he wasn’t just passing through as she had hoped. She turned to him and found him staring at her.

She blinked at him. “Can I help you?”

He reached out a hand towards her. “Hi, I’m Justin Fowler. And you?”

She raised a brow at him. So, he was going to just pretend that they had not already met. Like he had not been rude to her over an accident that had not been her fault. And know, he was just going to hold out his hand and act polite. She opened her mouth to offer an angry retort, but paused.

She had started the day so happily, wanted the day to continue that way. Plus, it appeared that she was going to have to deal with Justin Fowler often if he was seated right beside her. And didn’t she really want to have an enemy at her new job, especially if he decided to make her life difficult.

She looked in his eyes and read a silent apology in them. She looked back at his hand and sighed. She shook his hand and said, “I’m Alexis Newvine. It’s nice to meet you, this time.”

He nodded and smiled. “Yes, this time it is.”

And from that point on the incident of their first meeting was a private joke between them that no one else was aware of. They never properly acknowledged that day, but in the back of their minds they both acknowledged their wrongdoings of that particular incident.