I reapply my gloss looking in the sun visor mirror. Patting my baby hair into place, I pick my purse and get out the car. I stare at the big, cursive 'Rendezvous' sign and gulp nervously, hoping I do not get disappointed when I step inside. I try not to instantly look at the tables along the front curtain wall but fail miserably. Though my overly heightened excitement dies when I find a very particular table empty.
My eyes move towards the counter, bustling with eager people waiting for their turn but no signs of the one person I looked forward to seeing the whole day. I gulp and look at the time, realizing I am fifteen minutes late. That's not a long time, he wouldn't be gone already, right? Or maybe he did not come today. Why will he? It's not as if he wanted to see me as much as I wanted to see him. I sigh dejectedly and decide to order a coffee to go. Looking over the very busy line, I decide to use the restroom in the meantime.
I take my time in the empty restroom and stare at myself in the mirror. Touching my medium length hair, and glancing at my shiny lips, I curse at myself for getting ahead of myself. Sure, I am conventionally attractive but that is not all, is it? I am nothing out of ordinary, I am simple, uninteresting, nothing surprising. Why would a man that I met only two times even bother with me?
I shake myself out of my self sabotaging thoughts and walk out to place my order to finally be back at the office. Turning around the wall I stop dead in my tracks when I catch sight of Jace at the counter, his gaze trained on his usual table. I involuntarily take a few steps forward, and stop a meter away. My heart betrays me and instils a bubble of hope shamelessly.
He begins to turn and my mouth moves on its own, "Jace."
His head jerks towards me and a big smile appears on his face, mirroring mine. "Gianna, hey. I thought you weren't coming today."
I gesture behind me with my thumb, "I was in the restroom."
"That's nice!" I scrunch my eyebrows as he utters hurriedly, "I mean it's nice to see you again."
Jenny slides behind the counter in rush, "Sorry for the interruption. Jace, you wanted your order to go- "
"To the table. Yes." He finishes her sentence and smiles awkwardly. She frowns weirdly at him for a moment and continues to bill his order.
After paying, he turns to me expectedly, "You'll be joining me?"
Is that an invitation or simply a question? Oh god I have to answer quickly.
"Yes, I'll order and be right there." I say and smile at Jenny who is avoiding looking at us.
Right, I'm giving second hand embarrassment to people now.
He nods, "Cool, I'll be waiting." I notice the tiniest shake of his head, "I mean I'll be waiting for my order and you as well."
He rushes to his usual table and I turn towards Jenny, who finally meets my eye, "Are you ready to order?"
Done ordering, I slowly walk towards Jace taking my sweet time, giving myself a pep talk to be confident and not an awkward mess. He notices me sliding in front of him and leans back.
I settle in comfortably, "Were you late today?"
"Yeah, had an urgent meeting. Wrapped it up and headed straight here." He puts his hands on the table and plays with one of his rings on the right hand.
My eyes gaze at his veiny hands leading towards very long and sturdy fingers. "So, how was your day?"
I jerk slightly and smile, "It was nice, got introduced to some new things at work, I would say pretty productive?"
"Hmm, has working been treating you good? You can always change teams you know?" He smirks playfully.
I giggle, "Oh, I wouldn't even in my wildest dreams."
"I don't know about work experience but you can count on good colleagues."
I gasp, "You are technically calling me a bad colleague."
He shakes his head, smiling wide, "I don't consider you theirs yet, cause I am sure you will change teams."
I laugh along with him, "You are ridiculous! Careful, one day you might be seen in the Davis office changing teams instead."
He leans forward looking me in the eye, "Is that a threat, Ms. Gianna?"
"Not a threat, a very mild warning. I wouldn't want to bear the weight of the bad news when it happens." I say mirroring his position.
His smile softens as he continues staring, "Will it really be a bad news then? After all I'll be too far gone."
I feel like I stop breathing as his eyes do not move away and stare at me intensely. I freeze and fear this silence will break if I move even a tiny bit. The air around changes into a slight warmth as a hand in our line of sight breaks our stare. The waiter puts are steaming coffees on the table and a chocolate chip cookie on my side. The waiter always saves the day.
We sip our coffees, slipping back into our comfort and putting that intense aura behind us. He glances at my cookie, "You really like your sweets huh?"
I glance down at my cookie and smile, "I cannot resist them, I have tried. You don't?"
He shrugs, "I don't hate them. I lean more towards spicy food. I really want my food to make me sweat and cry you know."
"I have never had food that made me sweat. I wish to try it." I smile at his amused face.
"Well, I would want to see that. Maybe we could try it together, someday?" He questions.
I bite my lip, as my hand stills, "Someday…"
"Or this weekend, on Saturday." He completes, looking at me expectedly.
"Like a…" I say holding my breath.
"Date. Like a date." He visibly swallows as he says that.
Date. Did he just ask me out? Holy shit. HE ASKED ME OUT! Wait am I daydreaming? I don't remember when was the last time someone asked me out, like in such precise words. This very handsome, sexy, fine as hell specimen, who I thought despised me not long ago, asked me out. In conclusion, I would say he does not despise me, not at all.
He sighs and speaks, "Look, if I read our conversations wrong, I am so sorry. I know we barely know each other and its weird to go out with strangers. I just want to say that I want to spend more time with you and get to know you. But if you don't wanna do that-"
"Yes!" I utter hurriedly.
He nods dejected, "It's okay. I did not mean to make you uncomfortable. I am really sorry."
I frown and realise that he misread my words, "No- I mean yes I will go out with you."
His shine the tiniest bit with hope, "Really?"
I nod and smile shyly, "Yeah, I want to spend more time with you as well."
He blows out a breath and leans back, "I thought you were going to throw your coffee on me."
I laugh and shake my head, "No, I was just surprised in a good way. I mean I did not think you would feel the same way."
His eyebrows raise, "If so, I would be an idiot. Only if you knew how annoyed I was at the thought of missing out on seeing you today when I came in. The relief I felt when I saw you, better than this coffee."
I feel my cheeks heating up as I speak my truth, "Honestly, I was going to take my order to go. It just didn't feel the same when I found this table empty."
"No way, same. I did ask for my coffee to go but then I saw you and changed my mind."
Now, I understand why jenny acted the way she did back then. "So, what are we doing exactly on the weekend?"
"We got to check your spice tolerance, no? So, how about dinner?" He asks.
I nod with smile, "Sounds good. Though, the idea of crying on a date is unsettling."
"They would be tears of Joy. I promise." He assures.
Before I can say something, a call on my phone grabs my attention. I see my Tristan's name flashing on the screen, "Uh. Excuse me for a moment." I put the phone on my ear. "Hey, urgent board meeting in 25 minutes. I checked your cabin you weren't there; can you make it?" I wouldn't miss my first board meeting, "Of course, I'll be right there."
I look back at Jace and he nods, "I get it, work call."
"Well, see you." I pick my belongings and get up.
"Not before you give me your number. I mean we'll have to discuss what kind of food you'll like before our date." He says cheekily.
I half roll my eyes and do as he suggested. With a wave and a smile, I walk away and out of the door, the gigantic smile still plastered on my face.