Overall Awkward Ordeal

Eliza frequented Cafe Brie often enough to be considered a regular—she practically lived in this coffee shop when not at home. She liked the ambiance and its ability to feed her busybody nature. Honestly, to her, people-watching counted as novel research. Her writing was bettered by realistic characters. Today, Eliza sat sipping her nonfat soy latte, brow furrowed. The man standing at the counter cut a familiar silhouette. His hair was deep red and messy, he had square shoulders, and his skin was slightly olive-toned. Indeed, she had met him or seen him somewhere before; everyone knew everyone in this little podunk town. Nothing more exciting happened than when Cafe Brie opened on the town square. It was difficult to tell without seeing his face; picking up her mug, she sipped her coffee and eavesdropped as he ordered a cafe moca– a reasonably standard order.

Peeking over her laptop screen at the man, Eliza had been so engrossed in her thoughts that she had missed his name when the barista asked for it—oh well, she would get it when she called his name. Reminding herself not to be discouraged, she looked around the room for some other detail she might have missed. She locked eyes with the man in the corner booth. He smirked—had he been watching as she gawked? Eliza felt her face warm as she returned her attention to her screen. She knew the man in the corner booth all too well; he was John, the local meddler. Eliza kept her eyes on her screen and worked as "Dane" was called. Eliza felt herself deflate. She didn't recognize his name either. She did not know him. 

Eliza stole a glance from behind her computer screen as he picked up his coffee, walked to the corner booth, and sat beside John. 

"Kill me now," Eliza groaned under her breath; Dane still had his back to her, but she could somehow feel John's eyes. 

Eliza dared not look up again for a while. However, she kept her ears keyed into their conversation in case John dared mention her as the men conversed. Tapping her fingers as loud as she could on her keyboard, she made a show of diligently working. As they did not talk much about anything important, Eliza let her mind focus on her work as they caught up. John and Dane were old friends, and Dane was visiting his mother for the long weekend. No, she amended; Dane had said their mother—where were they brothers? 

While they were in school, Eliza hazily remembered John mentioning that he had a half-brother living in the big city. In light of this new information, she noticed that Dane did wear more fashionable clothes than their simple country garb. His jacket looked expensive, and his shoes were free from holes, red clay stains, or ever-present gravel road dust. She immersed herself in thought and gawked again, flicking her eyes to John. He was still watching her and, this time, pointing. What was he saying to Dane? Why are you so easily distracted, Eliza? Pull yourself together!

Panicking, Eliza looked back down at her computer but could not focus as she heard the scraping of chairs – don't come over here, don't come over here, don't– her mind's wishful thinking clipped short as two figures loomed over her. She pretended to ignore them as John cleared his throat. She tried to breathe evenly and with the red from her cheeks, but she had no idea if her efforts were in vain. If one of them asked if she was ok, she would simply say she was hot. 

"Liz," He stated, "How are you today?" 

Eliza's embarrassment briefly shifted to irritation when John dared call her such a childish nickname. She hadn't gone by that nickname since she was in pigtails and considered not responding, but Dane was with him, and she wanted to make an excellent first impression and not come across as rude or uninviting. – But why did she care? 

"It's Eliza," she corrected, looking up from her work. How can I help you two?"

"There's no need to be so formal. Do you remember my brother Dane? He's staying here a few days to visit Mom."  

"Pleasure to meet you," She said, meaning to spare him a simple glance, but as she saw his face, a memory slid into place like a lost puzzle piece, "Wait, we've met, aren't you the one who crashed Tommy's party a few years back?" 

"Wow, do you remember that?" Dane asked, chuckling halfheartedly as she ran her hand through his hair. "I thought I got away with it, and no one would remember." 

"No, I remember." She beamed, "You're the one who broke his dad's big screen and then jumped out of the window. You're a legend." 

"He had no choice; someone called the cops." John needlessly jumped to his brother's defense. 

"Don't worry, I won't let the authorities know you're back." She smiled, "Your secret's safe with me." 

"I appreciate it," He smiled, "Do you come here often?" 

"Are you kidding? Liz practically lives here?" John guffawed. 

"Yeah, yuck it up." She sighed, "And, for the last time, my name is Eliza." She glowered, "As nice as it is catching up, I have a deadline to meet." 

"Do you want to get a drink sometime when I'm free of this joker?" Dane asked. 

"Sure, I can meet you tonight at Danny's," Eliza offered, sure that he remembered where the local bar was.  

"Why do you two gotta be like that?" John frowned, "I wanna catch up too." 

"You see her always; it's not my fault you haven't made your move yet." Dane chuckled, watching his brother's face turn red around his ears, "Only joking; it's up to the lady if you're allowed to tag along." 

John, appearing discouraged for the most part, softened Eliza to him momentarily, "He can come along if he wants, not like this is a date or anything."  

"Cool," John stated, "We'll be there at seven?" 

Eliza nodded, bid the two men farewell, and returned to her work for the rest of the afternoon, satisfied with the end of the whole awkward ordeal.