Angela's View
1 Week Later
“Shit, shit, shit,” I whispered to myself, struggling with the coffee in my left hand, searching frantically through my purse for my cell phone. It was ringing, but the massive crater of a purse that I owned hid it evilly. I knew who would be on the other end, and I knew the condescending voice would be angry. I found the phone and quickly flipped it open, awkwardly maneuvering it to my ear.
“Hello?” I answered, exasperated.
“Manello! Where the hell are you?”
“I’m on my way Johnny, just give me a few.”
“You were supposed to be here 5 minutes ago. I need your submission by 11 or you’re going to be hearing from me again.” I quickly looked at my watch. I had 45 minutes to write my article and submit it to him.
“Yeah, okay Johnny.”
“Is that all I get? I give you an extension out of the goodness of my heart and I get a ‘Yeah, okay Johnny’?”
“Thank you Johnny, very much,” I quickly blurted out.
“That’s better.” He hung up then. I closed the phone and cursed it under my breath. As I was putting the phone back into my purse and trying to regain my composure, I heard someone say my name.
“Angela?”
I turned around to see the man that I had met at the club a week or so earlier. He had walked out of the same coffee shop I had just exited, cup of coffee in hand. His attire was much different than it was the first time that I saw him. Instead of a young guy out on the town, he was a complete businessman. His tailored suit oozed of success but yet his hair, the hair that hung loosely, wasn’t changed.
When he saw me acknowledge him, his face transformed into a huge grin. He rushed up to me, “Good morning to you pretty lady, I thought I recognized you in there.”
“Brian right?”
He nodded.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, looking around.
“Just getting some coffee, ya know, to help me wake up,” he said raising the coffee slightly. “I never thought I’d see you here.”
“Oh, yeah, well I was up late last night and I figured I should stop and get a little pick me up before work.”
He nodded, “It’s funny isn’t it?”
“What is?”
“That I asked you out to coffee and here we are, coincidentally at a coffee shop.”
I laughed lightly, “Yeah, what are the chances? Well, I guess you could be, I don’t know, following me.”
He seemed taken aback at that, “No, no.”
“I’m kidding,” I grinned. “See, I can do it too.”
His face relaxed.
“Well, I have to get going. The boss is getting antsy,” I said.
“Oh, hey, well where are you going?”
“24th and Birch, you?”
“I’m headed in the same direction, why don’t we walk together?”
I tilted my head a bit, looking at him intently. His intentions had to be different than what I had first suspected. He was kind and everything he said was real and heartfelt. He was the most sincere man I had ever met.
“Okay,” I agreed. His grin widened, “Great. Shall we?” He motioned towards the front of us, putting his arm behind my back. We walked in silence for a few moments and then I spoke up, “So what do you do Brian?”
“I’m a partner at a firm,” he replied. I raised my eyebrows in surprise, “Wow, that’s pretty impressive. But aren’t you a bit young?”
“I get that a lot and maybe I am. I lucked out really. My dad founded the company before I was born, so when I came, his only son, I was sort of expected to get into the family business, ya know?”
I nodded, “Do you enjoy it?”
“I do actually. But what about you?”
“Journalist,” I replied.
“No kidding, that’s great,” he said, rather enthusiastically. I smiled and continued walking.
“And do you enjoy it?”
I shrugged, “Yeah, I mean I love writing, but I hate being told what to write about and having actual deadlines for it.”
“Then why be a journalist and not just a writer?”
His intense interest surprised me. When most men talked or asked questions, they asked them because they knew they had to, but Brian, he seemed to be genuinely interested in what I was saying.
“Being a writer is what I really want to be. Journalism is just sort of a side job from that, to get my name out there and all.”
He nodded, “Do you have any stories?”
“Oh, yeah, I have tons. I’ve been writing since I was in high school so I’ve got quite a collection. Nothing serious though, and nothing that would be worth publishing.”
“I’m sure that’s not true. There’s got to be something in there that you hold close to your heart.”
I glanced at him. He saw me looking at him and he glanced over as well. He smiled, “What?”
“You’re very attentive, you know that?”
He shrugged, “I’m like that.”
I nodded, “Okay, well, enough about me. Tell me about you.”
“There’s not much to know.”
“Nope, there’s got to be something. Tell me something you like to do in your spare time.”
“Spare time? What’s spare time?” he asked, making a face that said, jokingly, that he didn’t know what I was talking about. I laughed and reached my hand over to lightly slap him on the arm, “Come on, no funny business.”
“Okay, okay. Seriously though, I don’t have much free time, what with work and all. It’s not like that all the time, but we’re on a huge case right now, and it doesn’t seem to be letting up anytime soon. But, if I am to remember correctly, I used to enjoy sleeping.”
“Sleeping?”
He nodded, “Yep.”
I scoffed, “That’s boring!”
He laughed, “What’s wrong with sleeping?”
“Nothing happens while you’re sleeping. How is anyone supposed to partake in that with you?”
“Okay, fine! If I must tell you, you have to promise not to laugh.”
He stared at me seriously and I raised my hands as if in surrender, “I promise not to laugh. Cross my heart.”
He smiled at that, “Alright. Well…”
“Come on, spit it out,” I urged.
“Photography,” he stated.
“You like taking pictures?”
He laughed, “You make it sound so frivolous.”
“I didn’t mean for it to be.”
He quickly nodded, chuckling, “I know, but I do enjoy taking pictures.”
“Of what?”
“Anything really, anything that catches my eye. I like documenting things, I always have, and I’m a visual person, so what better way to document then through photography?”
I nodded, smiling to myself. This man was a man that I never in my wildest dreams thought I would meet. The more he talked, the more my feelings and interest for him grew, and I loved it. I hadn’t felt like this in years.
“Ever thought of doing it professionally?”
He shook his head, “Nah, I’m happy where I’m at. It’s more of a hobby.”
I nodded as we continued walking. For the next ten minutes, we talked, just small chit chat about nothing in particular, but with a few personal questions here and there about music or movies. Until, unfortunately, it ended.
“Well, this is me,” I said, coming to a stop in front of the doors. He looked up at the building, disappointment evident on his face.
“It was nice running into you Brian,” I said. He smiled at me then, “You too, Angela.”
I turned then to walk into the building, but he quickly stopped me.
“Hey, wait.”
I stopped, and turned towards him. He stood there a little uneasy.
“Would you like to go to dinner later perhaps?” he asked. “Maybe?”
He was nervous. More nervous than he was the first time I met him at the club. I guess I couldn’t blame him. It takes guts to ask someone out again when already once rejected.
“Okay,” I replied.
He looked startled, “Yeah?”
I grinned, nodding, “Yeah.”
“That’s great,” he stumbled over his words, the excitement clearly affecting him. “Uh, how about I give you a call later?”
“That’s sounds fine. Do you need my number?”
“Oh, yeah,” he said. I quickly wrote down my number on his coffee cup and handed it back to him. “I have to go now though, the boss will have my head if I don’t.”
He nodded, showing he understood, “I’ll give you a call later tonight.”
“I’ll look forward to it,” I said. He gave me one last smile before he turned and walked down the street.
