The Coffee Shop

She entered inside, leaving the cool air that engulfed her, behind. The door of the coffee shop opened and closed with a slam. Several other people looked up, taken aback by the sudden noise. This coffee shop had been there for a long time in the city. Since 1967. And they hadn't repaired the front doors in five years. So obviously, the interior architecture was bound to be faulty- the door included.

The woman who entered inside, Brianne Melrose, was supposedly late for an appointment. Brianne was a pretty young woman with bright red hair, the color of autumn leaves, wearing an oversized coat and a cream colored French beret hat. She was a grad student at the local university, studying English. Today, she was meeting someone here at the coffee shop- her colleague, Chad Ross. When she looked around to see if Chad had arrived already, she saw that he hadn't. So she made her way to the front of the coffee shop, approaching the barista standing there. "Hi, can I get the pumpkin spice latte?" Brianne asked politely.

The barista nodded his head. "And what size?"

"12 oz."

"Alright..." the barista, a young fresh faced college boy of maybe 20 years old, turned around to make her drink, as Brianne stepped off to the side. That's when the front door opened. Someone walked inside. It was a young man. He was tall, handsome, had piercing brown eyes, and dressed dapper-like in a suede suit and dress pants. He looked around, as if he was searching for someone.

Then he spotted Brianne at the front. He walked up to her. He approached the barista and asked for a regular latte. The barista was surprised he was not ordering a fall drink, like a pumpkin spice latte or cinnamon delight tea. "You know, we have a line of new autumnal drinks, if you would like to try one?" he offered.

"No thanks," the man said curtly, getting out his credit card.

"Sure? We have the classic pumpkin spice, our new cinnamon delight tea, along with a hot chocolate with your choice of drawing on top, made with whipped cream... and then we have our green tea--"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm really not big on the whole 'fall drinks' thing. I'm not that type of person," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh. Okay. Well latte it is for you then," the college boy seemed offended. The man, on the other hand, assumed he was just fakely advertising just for business.

That's when Brianne looked up from her phone. She hadn't heard their conversation or even paid attention to the man, until he moved to the side and stood next to her. She instinctively looked up to see who was standing there. To her surprise, it was none other than Chad. "Chad?!" she asked, relieved he finally arrived.

"Brianne! Hi! I didn't even see you there!" he greeted with enthusiasm.

"Well I just arrived early, I guess. I was just about to text you when you'd be here."

Chad smiled. Brianne's drink came by then. She grabbed it, and moved over to the sugar packet area to get two packs of sugar for her latte. She had a sweet tooth after all.

Chad followed her over. "What'd you get?" he asked.

"Pumpkin spice latte," she said, grinning.

"Ah. So you are a autumnal drinks person, I assume?" Chad asked with wit in his voice.

"I am. I love fall or autumn, whatever you want to call it. It's so magical. And being in a coffee shop during this time is even more so."

"Really?" Chad was amused by her enthusiasm even though he didn't understand the hype on fall.

"What about you?" Brianne asked.

"I got a latte. Regular. Contrary to you, I'm not big on autumnal drinks."

"Wow, that's a first. Just kidding. Anyways, let's wait for your drink and we can talk more, then."

"About that, what did you want to talk to me about?" he asked.

By then his drink had been called already. He grabbed his drink and followed Brianne to an empty table. By then, most of the people who were there, had all left. There were only one or two people inside.

The two sipped on their drinks merrily. "I wanted your feedback on a paper I'm doing for my class. You are good at writing essays- maybe you could coach me," she said.

Chad was also another grad student in the philosophy department. He had ranked first in the university last year. So he knew his stuff, she knew for certain.

"Sure, I would be happy to help you out. Do you have the paper with you or--"

"I do actually. It's here." Brianne pulled it out of her pockets. She had printed a hard copy just to give to him, which Chad admired.

"Thank you," he said, taking the paper and looking it over. "I will have to read this in more depth in my own leisure. But I'm sure you didn't call me here all the way just to hand me your paper. There must be more..." His eyes twinkled like a reflection of the sunlight on a puddle, after it just rained. Weird analogy, but it was the only thing Brianne could think of when she looked into his eyes. Chad on the other hand felt the same way too. Her mesmerizing smile and beautiful hair made her more attractive.

But neither of them were willing to admit this directly to each other, even though they were in their mid 20's.

Brianne smiled. "You are right. There is more. I wanted to ask if you were free tomorrow evening."

"Why? What's happening then?"

"There's a play being put on by the theater department. It's on a Shakespeare play and I think it would be useful for my personal knowledge and for class, and--- I don't want to see it alone." For the last part of the sentence, Brianne lowered her voice.

"Are you asking me out on a date?" he asked, slyly.

"Uh... well..." Brianne hesitated. "I guess you could call it that? I just want someone to go with, to the play."

"What about your roommates?"

"They both are out of town for the weekend."

"Alright then..." Chad thought for a minute. Play it cool, and act like you are thinking of something that may interfere with you saying yes, act like you have a list of plans, when really you don't... "Let me think... I'm thinking what I have planned for the evening tomorrow," he did a mental note in his head.

"If you are busy, then I totally understand. I will go by myself, no worries, I just thought I would ask---"

"Yes. I will go with you," he said, suddenly. Brianne's hands which gripped her latte cup, held onto it even harder. Her heart was racing fast, but in a good way.

"Alright! Thank you so much. I know you must be busy, so thank you for taking time out of your schedule---"

"For you, I can make time," he said, with a grin on his face. He then placed his hands on top of hers and held on to them. Brianne felt instantly comfortable and warm, like the drink she was having now. She blushed, as she had no intention of letting go.

With that, the two of them continued to enjoy their drinks. Then, they sat there, not knowing what to do next.

"Why don't we go to the bookstore next door? It has some wonderful new books... and I know you like books," Brianne said to Chad, as they left the coffee shop.

"Sure, why not?" he replied, linking his arms into hers as they made their way over to the bookstore next door.

THE END