Thank you for taking the time to read this story. All comments and feedback are very much appreciated and allow me to improve as an author.
**********
I've always considered myself a bit of a geek, I'd love to think it was in a cool, hipster way, but lets face it, despite my sporty build and 6 foot plus height, I was never going to cut it as a true jock. Case in point, as I pushed at the door of my friends coffee and cake shop, the familiar clink of the shop bell preventing any stealth or surprise to my movement, I was calculating my average speed per mile over the 18 mile run I had completed around 5 minutes earlier.
Still working out 3hrs and 15 minutes divided by 18 I was shaken out of my reverie by Suzy as she greeted me, as only an older friend might, with an "I assume you want a coffee, a shower and carrot cake... and I'd prefer it if you took the shower first."
Her bluntness made me laugh, and I faked a big sweaty hug before a quick familiar greeting and walking past the counter and out to the back office. There, I grabbed the towel from the side where I had left it the day before. "I'll be quick Suzy, but you are welcome to join me" I called through to the shop, teasingly.
At twenty years my senior and happily married, Suzy often playfully messed around but both knew neither was serious. It was a relaxed status quo I was much more comfortable with than around girls in their twenties who I may have been interested in. I had recently split from a very controlling girl whose ambition and determination sadly did not extend to controlling her temper tantrums and propensity for throwing things. I moved out after a hairbrush hit my head and, freshly single, decided that concentrating on my London Marathon training was more important than trying to meet anyone right now. Having lost a stone in weight and improved my stamina no end I was in a good place and enjoyed the banter with Suzy, who constantly tried to set me up with her daughter's friends or persuade me to join edater.com.
"You wouldn't know what to do with me" you shouted back. "You have all the right parts in the right places still dont you?" I teased, before diving into the shower so i couldn't hear her reply.
The warm water felt perfect on my salty face and aching legs. Over the last few months i had grown accustomed to the aches in my legs after the longer runs but after my longest run to date, my legs felt tight and i had this odd feeling of slightly enjoyable pain, where you felt you had earned it and slightly proud of the stiffness as it was a reminder of how hard you had run for in excess of three hours. Aware that much longer and the office area would start steaming up and beginning to feel thoroughly refreshed I switched off the shower, dried off and threw on my jeans and my spare (much cleaner) pair of running shoes and grabbed my grey t-shirt from the side. As I headed back towards the shop, I paused to put my shirt on and realised I could hear a conversation from the other side of the beaded curtain separating me from the customer counter.
"How do you know him?" said a voice I didnt recognise.
"Ryan?" replied Suzy, "Oh, we worked together for several years when i was a teaching assistant in his classroom. He's a really good teacher you know."
"He's a teacher as well?", questioned the first voice, "How come none of my colleagues are as hot as him? To be fair, there are only two guys in my whole primary school and they are both pretty spoken for, but still, I wish i had the confidence to chat up a guy like that. I just get so shy and tongue-tied."
I heard Suzy laugh, "You surprise me Alice, most guys would fancy the pants off a minx like you."
"But I don't want a jerk Suzy, dont get me wrong, I want a guy I can rip the pants off... but is it too much to ask for a nice guy who can allow my nerdy side as well or who can make me laugh."
"Alice... you are forgetting, Guys are either funny, clever or hot. You can have one of three but never all of them." chuckled Suzy.
"I guess so" the mystery voice said. "Anyway, enough of me whining about men, I guess its just been a while", she paused and laughed quietly. "I'll get back to my book and my Latte and let you sort Ryan's carrot cake out. He'll be out in a minute.
Leaving it a few seconds to ensure I wasn't suspected of listening in I quickly threw on my shirt, which i realised I'd been holding, and headed out, feeling an unusual confidence and self-security that I hadn't seen in myself in several years.
"Ryan!", Suzy greeted my return with a smile, "We were about to send out a search party. What happened did you drown in the shower?"
"Nearly", I grinned, "Fortunately I found my rubber ring and arm bands, so just about survived.
In my peripheral vision I noticed a very attractive brunette sitting on the sofa, the only other person in the shop at the moment, pretending to read her book and sipping on her coffee while actually checking me out and then quickly glancing back to her book in case she got caught.
I couldn't see perfectly, but could tell the girl was petite, with a beautiful face, hidden behind a pair of thin glasses that gave her a slight air of a librarian, a slim physique and a cute white top which didn't show too much but the V-neck showed a delicate silver necklace.