Hey Readers I hope you enjoy this story, love to hear your comments and suggestions. I have submitted three chapters so far with a fourth one in the making.
Special Thank you to Bubba and Jen for helping me with the story, being a good friends and amazing editors. Without him this would have gone to "print".
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Max glanced down at his watch '4:15pm,' he thought to himself, 'she should be walking in any moment.' He felt like a stalker, but he could not get over how beautiful this woman looked. He sat in a small quiet coffee shop, on the corner, he smiled realizing that he had no idea this place even existed till he saw her sitting at a table, in the window.
She sat in the same seat everyday, reading books and quietly sipping her soy latte at about the same time everyday. She was about 25 years old, with short brown hair, captivating blue eyes, and a smile that made his heart skip a beat every time he saw her.
Max was a pretty regular looking guy, he had short unkempt blond hair, brown eyes, a lean face and body. He was only 5'7 and barely tipped the scale at 135 pounds. He was never into his looks and normally would toss on whatever felt comfortable.
Max's laptop sat in front of him, open and untouched, a text document sat open on the screen with only a few scant words written. He had been struggling with this story for the last month. The small chime on the door rang out breaking his thoughts, leaving the story all but forgotten. Turning towards the door he saw her walk in, she was smiling brightly like always, he felt the world slow to a crawl watching her walk through the small shop, she glanced at him as she walked by, not even breaking her stride or offering him a hello. The girls behind the counter sang out a hello, greeting her like an old friend, she chatted with the employees before taking her drink and crossing the room to her favorite table by the window.
She was wearing a white t-shirt, with the name of some rock band across the chest in gold block lettering, and the pair of faded blue jeans clung to her body, accentuating her movements with each stride. She sat down at the table, and then looked up, meeting his love sick gaze. Realizing he had been staring at her, he quickly looked down at his computer, chiding himself silently for being caught. He tried to focus on the laptop in font of him, but was surprised when the lid slowly started to shut on it's own. Looking up he saw her sitting in the chair across from him, she flashed him a smile as she removed her hand.
"Can I tell you something? I think I have a friendly stalker." she stated with some amusement in her voice. "See I have been coming here for a couple of months now, and there is this guy, who keeps showing up when I am here." Max shifted slightly in the seat, waiting for her to tell him to fuck off. "You know what though, he is kinda cute, and I bet if he would just sack up and come talk to me that I might actually give him the time of day."
"I...um..." Max quickly tried to come up with an excuse for his continued presence, or at least try to tell her how beautiful and stunning she is, but she cut him off quickly with a small shake of her head.
"See this is not the best way to do this. Now, I am gonna go sit back down at my table, read my book and sip my coffee and see if today is the day he finds some balls, if not it is probably best that he leaves, and doesn't come back!" with that she slowly rose from the table, turned and walked back over to take her seat at her own table. Max was stunned into silence, she flashed him one final glance and a smile before opening the book on the table and began to read.
His first instinct was to run, pack his things and quietly make his escape before he was further embarrassed. Max has always been shy around women, hell, around most people he is very shy, but he really wanted to meet her. He just wasn't sure what to say or do around people, which gave people the impression that he was mentally handicapped or a hermit. Max was not a hermit, he did have several friends, he just never went out to clubs or bars, and would prefer to sit in his apartment with a good book or a movie.
Sitting in his chair watching her he knew something had to change, this was the moment of truth for him, she gave him the choice. The ball was in his court now; should he run and hide, probably lose her forever, or take a chance. Max shut his laptop grabbing the messenger bag from the floor and stuffing it inside. His mind was quickly rolling through every scenario, what to say, how to approach her. Should he start by apologizing for his rude behavior? Maybe he should just confess his love for her and see how she reacts? 'NO!' he thought, if he did that, he would look even more like some sick stalker.
Grabbing his bag he slung it over his head so the strap lay across his chest, and it rested comfortably against his hip. Reaching for his coffee cup he noticed his hands were shaking, closing his eyes, he took a couple of deep breaths to calm his nerves.
Walking across the small shop he stopped in front of her table, he could feel a cold chill run down his spine as he quietly cleared his throat. "Um-mm...excuse m..me, I just wanted to say I am sorry for, um kinda stalking you.." He spoke in a whisper, trying hard not to announce to the whole shop his seemingly crazy antics.
She glanced up from her book, watching him intently, slowly she closed the book and leaned back in her chair. "Hmm, no sorry, that won't do at all.... try again.." She replied reaching out to take a sip from her coffee. She tried to hide the smile behind her cup watching the confused look wash over his face, she waved a had at him shooing him away, he half turned away from her trying to figure out if she was blowing him off, or wanted him to say something else. "Go on, try the approach again," she said with a warm smile.
Max slowly turned and took several steps away from the table, glancing to the coffee shop counter he saw the two female employees watching the scene unfold, quietly whispering to each other and snickering. Turning around he saw her sitting at the table, watching him with interest.
Swallowing hard he again breathed deeply to steady himself, then walked back over to the table. "Hi, I am sorry I was stalking you but you see I think..." but he was cut short by her raised hand with the palm open, turning her hand she wiggled her index finger in a "come her" motion.
Leaning in he felt his mouth go dry his hands were shaking and he could feel a cold sweat streak down his back "Hey, look that approach isn't gonna work, your thinking too much, just kiss it." She whispered. Max stomach twisted so hard he thought he was going to vomit right there on the spot, at the thought of just walking up to her and planting a kiss on her sexy red lips. Seeing the look on his face, and realizing what she said, she rolled her eyes, and hissed "Keep. It. Simple Stupid."
Max didn't even realize he was holding his breath till he felt the familiar burning sensation in his chest, nodding his head he stepped back from the table and turned, taking a deep breath before turning back to the table, before he could even think about what he was going to say, with as much confidence as he could muster he walked right up to the table, and held out his hand, "Hi, I...I'm Max."
She sat back for a second again drawing her gaze over him, judging this new approach, she could see the little bit of confidence he had mustered for this attempt, and indeed attempted to keep things simple.
Reaching out she grasped his hand firmly giving it a shake as she spoke "Hey Max, I am Tina! How are you today?" she replied with a small laugh.
"Good...I..I am sorry if I...I mean, I wasn't trying..." his mind was running a mile a minute, trying to come up with a nice explanation for his actions the last couple of months. He glanced down at his shaking hands, and then quickly shoved them into his pockets of his jeans trying to hide his nervousness. "Shit! I'm sorry.." he exclaimed nervously, half turning towards the door and his chance for freedom from his botched approach. He knew if he moved now he could be out the door and around the corner before she would have a chance to pack her things and get out of her chair.
"Max! Sit!" She commanded pushing the chair, opposite of her out with her foot. Max slowly sank into the chair, feeling defeated, he chided himself again for acting like a teenager trying to ask his high school crush to the fall dance. "Dude, you ok?" she asked with a note of real concern in her voice.
Looking up from his lap he saw the worried look on her face, as she leaned across the small round wooden table to see his face, her head was tilted slightly to the right, in an effort to see his shame hidden face. "Yeah...I am just not good with people; I don't really know how to talk to them." he whispered back.
"Hey, it's cool Max, I understand, you just need to relax a bit, you're so tense you look like your going to implode." She said with a giggle, leaning back in her chair. "So, Max, I gotta know something..."
"Um-mm ok..." he replied shifting in his seat watching her lean forward slightly narrowing her eyes.
"What are you doing on your laptop? Your always typing on it, are you secretly hacking the pentagon or something?" She said crossing her arms in front of her chest leaning them on the table in front of her.
