We Meet Again

He grabbed his bag and rushed out of his apartment. He was late. Again. This was the third time in two weeks. Such irresponsible act wasn't a part of his repertoire. He hailed a taxi and hopped in giving the driver the location of the hotel. If Madison doesn't already fire him, he'd know for sure that she really did have a crush on him. She was his boss, and she was hot. But she wasn't his type. That didn't mean he'd deride the credibility of their growing friendship. They reached his destination and he paid the driver and rushed out of the vehicle and...well, would you look at that, he ran into a woman. Oh, it was a girl, and she was pissed. Welcome to Jake's life because, God help him, this was a situation he couldn't handle. Running into her had caused her to drop her books and, dear Lord, there was coffee everywhere and there was a laptop on the floor.

"What are you doing?" She cried. "You broke my laptop!" She fell to her knees and tried to wipe the spilled coffee on the device.

Jake tried not to freak out at the broken screen. "I'm really sorry about your laptop but I'm running late, so..."

"So am I!" She snapped. "Do you plan to leave me here? Look! There's coffee all over my stuff and my laptop is of no use. Aren't you going to do something about it?"

"I will," he said calmly and tossed his card at her. "Send me the amount to pay for all these. Right now I really can't do anything."

"What are you, dumb?"

He gaped. "Excuse me?"

"You just damaged my properties and you plan to run off."

"I'm not..."

"Get down here and help me."

Jake stepped back. Who was this girl? She looked sixteen. No wonder she couldn't see reason at all. "Sorry, I have to go. Call me or something."

It was after he'd left her presence that the sting of guilt hit him hard. She had better make use of the card he gave her so he could pay for the damages or he'd remain guilty for the rest of his life.

***

When Avery got home later in the day and delivered the terrible news to her sister, Tracy, she was furious.

"Well, call the guy," Tracy said.

Avery shook her head. "I wouldn't do that. He's just too arrogant for me to waste my time calling. I'll get you a new laptop so don't worry."

Tracy sighed. "Was he at least cute?"

"No," Avery said firmly and went to her room. After a little thought about it she decided that he was in fact good looking. She could recall blue eyes, chestnut brown curls and that height. He really was tall. But still, it didn't reduce her dislike of his behavior. She wasn't going to fall for his little facade.

She went to hang out with her best friend, Marie, later in the evening. Marie was a black Barbie obsessed with fashion and anything involving fun. They both graduated from the same highschool.

Marie pulled up in front of her house in her boyfriend's Chevrolet. "Girl, get in. I got news for you."

"What's the news?" Avery asked, getting in the car.

Marie went ahead to fill her in on the latest discovery. She told her about a site specifically for single people to hook up online and get to know each other before deciding to meet up if things go well between them.

"That's risky," Avery pointed out. "What if I end up meeting an assassin?"

Marie rolled her eyes. "Uh...too extreme. Listen, babe, you'll never know the happiness that awaits you if you keep procrastinating. You know you want this, so why not give it a shot? If you're chatting with someone and you're not really comfortable or you ain't feeling the vibe, you can call it off and try another person. You don't necessarily have to meet immediately, that's why they said get to know each other first." Marie gave her a once over. "Poor baby. You're turning twenty soon and you haven't been in one relationship. That's kind of a bummer."

Avery gave it a thought that night and finally landed on a decision; she needed a man in her life and she was going to get one. As risky as the experience was going to be, she needed to give it a try, so with resolved determination, she decided to check out the site Marie was talking about.

***

She didn't call. And for the first time since he started working as a clerk at the hotel, Madison had finally summoned up courage to ask him out whenever she planned to fire him. That was a scary way to ask someone out. He'd laughed it off as a joke and apologize for coming late.

But then again, she didn't call. The girl from this morning. He'd been expecting her call all day, not just because he needed to pay for the damages he'd caused but because he was sort of intrigued about her. It was weird because he'd only just met her that morning and she'd been disrespectful and most importantly she looked underaged. Being single for too long was pushing him to have interest in strangers. The dating site he'd recently joined wasn't doing much for him. Most of the girls he'd interacted with seemed to be whores while others were just plain boring.

His phone chimed and he glanced at the contact on the screen. Madison.

"Hi," he said into the phone.

"Hey, handsome," she said in that high pitched voice that wasn't very attractive. "How's it going?"

"Um...cool I guess."

"What are you doing?"

"Um...just doing some clean up," he lied.

"Well, that's boring. Want me to come over?"

"I doubt you know where I stay."

She laughed. Quite unattractive as well. "Then you should come over."

"Um..."

"Stop saying um."

"How about we meet for coffee tomorrow?"

"That's true, you're off on Wednesdays. Deal. The one along the street of the hotel."

"See you then."

She hung up and he decided that that was the best he could do to save him from getting fired. He needed the job. He also couldn't comprehend why Madison wasn't bothered about the fact that he was four years younger than her. It was a boring night so he went ahead to check the dating site and was met with a message from a new friend saying she liked his profile picture. He smiled because she was the first person to notice and say something about his profile picture of a white tiger with a cool background. She had no profile picture which probably meant she was a newbie. Jake was intrigued so he just had to text back.

***

Ping!

Avery rushed to the computer in a flash and Tracy was right behind her in a second.

"Why are you so pumped up about this than I am?" Avery questioned her.

"I'm just happy for you. You're finally fishing some men."

Avery ignored her and opened the new message.

"I love your profile picture?" Tracy read from behind her. "That's how you start your conversations?"

"Are you from Mercury? The best way to start a friendship is through compliments."

"Whatever. What's his reply?"

Avery read the guy's reply; 'thanks! I love yours.'

"You don't have a profile picture."

"He knows that. He's just being sarcastic. Can you leave? You're distracting."

"Fine, whatever. Have fun."

Avery texted back; 'what's ur name?'

'I'm Jake, what's urs?'

'I'm Avery.'

'good to meet you Avery. What do you do?'

'nothing huge, I'm an actress.'

'for real???'

'kidding. I'm a babysitter. You?'

'I work as a clerk at a hotel...how old are you Avery?'

'20. How about u?'

'23...'

Somehow they just clicked. They texted a lot about pretty much everything. About their jobs, hobbies, previous relationships. He had more to say on that last part seeing as she'd never been in one to begin with. He didn't believe her at first but later gave in. They talked about their families at last. She had only Tracy, which she told him and he said he had two brothers who were currently married. His parents were in a different city. All this experience was in one night. And it was amazing how the replies from the other guys she texted before Jake was left unread. Jake had caught her attention and she didn't feel like sharing it with anyone else. Obviously she'd caught his attention too because thankfully there was no single late reply from him. By the time they ended the chat it was 2am and Avery went to bed with a big smile on her face.

She was at her favorite coffee shop at 9am sharp. Her mind was full of Jake when she woke up that morning. Some people might find it weird but even as she didn't know what he looked like she couldn't help but have this feeling for him. It was really weird. You just met him, Avery! She told herself and shook off the thought. She paid for her coffee and turned to leave only to bump into someone. No! This someone bumped into her and she almost spilled her coffee. She looked up and stared into blue eyes. Great, it just happened to be the idiot from yesterday. The one who damaged Tracy's laptop. She scowled after recognizing him and what was annoying is that he smiled after recognizing her.

"Get out of my way," she told him.

"Don't be rude," he said.

"Well I have every reason to be," she snapped. "You left me yesterday."

"Left you? Did we go out or something?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"I asked you to call me."

"I wouldn't waste my time on you since you couldn't waste yours on me so don't worry, I'll fix my problem myself. Now move."

He didn't budge. " You looked slightly younger yesterday," his eyes raked her from head to toe.

She felt shivers run down her spine under his intense gaze. Yesterday, she'd looked tattered leaving the house because she'd been in a hurry. Today she had on a pair on jeans and a buttoned up shirt. Her blond hair was in bouncy curls and she'd applied a good amount of make up to cover up her freckles.

"Where are the rest of your highschool friends?" He suddenly asked. "Shouldn't you be in school by now?"

Avery frowned. "Are you serious?"

"My bad. You're done with highschool then."

"Please leave my path." She didn't know why she kept asking him to move when she could effortlessly stroll around him and walk away.

"Hey, handsome!" A woman who'd just walked in called and he turned to look at her.

"Well, my date's here," he said to Avery.

"Good," Avery told him. "Because I couldn't stand another second of your presence." She brushed past him and headed for the exit.

***

It's been three weeks since Jake's first chat with Avery and they haven't stopped chatting since then. Every night they texted each other by 9pm and just allowed time to fly by. There was so many things to talk about with her. She was so easy going and fun to talk to. They'd agreed to not share their photos because of fear of them loosing interest in each other. He feared his looks not being able to reach her standards. Although she didn't seem like the type to care much about looks. He didn't really mind what she looked like, he was just glad he was happy whenever she texted him. He couldn't stop thinking about her and it was crazy because they only just met online.

Somehow, during this beautiful thought of Avery, his mind was magically drawn to the thought of the blonde girl he still sort of owed. The last time they met was three weeks ago at the coffee shop. He wasn't a fan of rude people but he found her being rude to him kind of cute. As absurd as it may sound he still expected a call from her sometimes. He shook his head at himself. He was supposed to be fantasizing about Avery and not this girl. Maybe it was time him and Avery met. He didn't want to rush things with her but he really needed to experience her fun personality in person. That night, he brought up the topic of meeting her and she was actually excited about it. They agreed on the place and time to meet. He was free on Wednesdays and Sundays. She picked Sunday. It was a date.

***

"You look too good to be true," Marie declared as she stared at Avery in awe.

"You're beautiful," Tracy came in for a hug. "What time are you guys meeting?"

"In an hour. I need to get going in case of traffic," Avery told the girls. She'd been beaming since that morning. Today was a special day.

Marie put a hand over her mouth. "You're gorgeous girl. Your hair in a bun is the cutest. Your makeup is on point. Those jewelries are glowing but not as much as you are. That dress, I need to get one for myself. And...you're wearing heels."

"Yes. He once mentioned being pretty tall so I don't need to feel awkward when standing next to him."

"You're perfect."

"Thanks babe. I gotta run," she rushed to the door. "I love you both. Bye!"

On her way in the taxi, she kept wondering what he looked like. What color was his hair? What color of eyes did he have? She closed her eyes and tried to imagine his full picture but instead her mind directed her to the image of the man who'd damaged Tracy's laptop. She snapped her eyes open and silently chastised herself for allowing him to get to her head. He had absolutely nothing to do with this night. She arrived at the restaurant and felt her first bit of nervousness. This was it.

Avery approached the entrance just as a man was existing. Not just any man; the one she swore had nothing to do with this night. Her heart gave a flutter at the sight of him. He looked stunning in that denim jacket.

"Isn't it weird how I keep seeing you everywhere?" He asked, a smile playing along his lips. "Are you stalking me?"

Avery frowned. "You're joking."

He laughed. "Indeed, I am."

"Okay, cool. Now if you'd excuse me, I have a date to catch." Why was she feeding him this information? She didn't wait for his reply though, she just went in.

***

Jake stood outside for almost an hour. He couldn't sit inside with an empty chair across from him. That was embarrassing. Why was Avery making him wait though? They'd agreed to be here by 7.30pm and it was almost 9pm.

The door to the restaurant was pushed open and rude girl walked out. It was funny how he kept enjoying their brief encounters even though it occurred merely once in a while.

"Done already?" He asked. "Well that was fast."

She spared him a glance and then moved to the other side to stand. "He didn't show up yet."

The first time he saw her, she looked like a child. The second time, she looked pretty decent. Today...she looked gorgeous. He couldn't help but stare. Those curls he saw the last time were up in a messy styled bun today. The dress she wore revealed her perfect curves. She was a sight to behold.

"Did you just get ditched?"

She shot him a glare. "Stop talking for one minute."

He grinned but the grin vanished almost immediately as a thought occurred to him. "Wait...what time were you supposed to meet your date?"

"Mind your business, please. I'm out of here."

"Wait," he called. He was a bit nervous about the next question he was about to ask. "Are you Avery?"

She paused. "I never told you my name. How do you..." She gasped. "Jake?"

Jake grinned from ear to ear. "Well, I'll be damned. It's good to finally meet you, Avery," he said, tongue in cheek. He approached her and extended his hand. She didn't take it.

"No," she said, her eyes wide with shock as she studied every inch of his face.

"I'm the one you've been chatting with for weeks."

"No."

"We agreed to meet today for the first time."

"No."

"Can you stop saying no?" He was so excited about the new turn of events. The fact that she'd been the one all this time made everything so unreal.

"This is unbelievable," she finally said. "What do I do about this?"

The question wasn't entirely directed at him, but still. "I think we should set our differences aside and make the most of tonight. What do you think?"

"I think you're crazy if you think I'll go out with you."

"You already agreed to that. That's why we're both here."

"I thought you have a girlfriend," she said quietly, a hint of jealous in her tone. "The lady at the coffee shop."

"That's my boss," he said slightly irritated. "She's not an important issue right now. Look, I'm already half in love with you at the moment so can you please forgive my offences and let's make the most of tonight?" He gave her his hand.

Avery's face softened as she took it. "Okay."

They locked eyes. "You look stunning," he told her, refusing to break eye contact.

She blushed. "Thanks."

This was going to be the best date ever in his life. And considering this was her very first, it was for sure going to be her very best.

THE END.