Dr. Spencer Reid sat quietly at his tiny table in the back of his favorite coffee house. A tattered copy of Don Quixote sat open before him and a half empty cup of now cold coffee sat at his elbow. Although the book was open to his favorite part, where the would-be hero charges into fight the "giants", Reid couldn't seem to keep his eyes or his mind on the page.
Instead, he was hopelessly drawn to the girl sitting at the espresso bar with her lap top and books and papers spread out around her.
She was a tiny thing, barely five feet; he would guess and could probably only reach 100lbs soaking wet and wearing heavy duty army boots. Her dirt blond hair was piled on top of her head and held in place by bright pink chop sticks; however, many wisps had worked free and were floating around her head in wild disarray.
She was dressing in flowing navy blue cotton skirt that just skated above her lightly tanned knees and smooth calves. She also wore a white blouse and a light brown sweater and her impossibly tiny feet were encased in white slippers that she kept flipping on and off, obviously in tune to whatever music was playing in her white ear buds. Her face was turned just slightly away from him, but Reid could still make out the outline of her profile; a "button nose", as Garcia would say, held up a pair of reading glasses with thick zebra stripped rims that at times she pushed up to rub at her eyes. It was impossible to tell what color eyes she had, but it didn't keep him from wondering anyway. Her face was small enough that his whole hand would possibly cup it from slightly rounded chin to forehead, and still have room for his fingers to graze her soft hair like he'd seen in the movies.
Reid kept trying to make out what it was that she was working on, but from this distance he couldn't see the computer screen or any of the materials around her. He was half tempted to walk over to here and start a conversation, but Reid knew that he could never manage such a thing. He'd end up spouting random facts and probably just freak the girl out.
While trying to decide if it would be worth it to think up a conversation starter just for a chance to talk to her, an employee at the coffee bar walked over and leaned in close to her. She removed her ear buds and smiled slightly. The smile faded a little and the employee pointed in Reid's direction and whispered something low to her. She turned and Reid got his first full on look. His vision was filled with her bright green eyes. Reid forced himself to look down at his book when he realized the look was wary and uncertain. Heat flooded his pale face and his hands took on a slight tremor as they gripped his book tighter.
Sneaking a quick look back at her, Reid discovered to his great dismay that she was stacking her books and papers and closing her lap top; it looked as if she was getting ready to leave. Discouraged, Reid quickly stood, yanking his bag from the floor and quickly stuffing his book inside. Nervousness fueled his urgency, causing him to knock his forgotten cup over, spilling the dark brown liquid across the table and onto the pristine white tile floor.
Feeling his face burn even hotter, Reid dropped to his knees and began slapping napkins from the table onto the spill. His hands shook horribly at the knowledge that everyone in the coffee shop was staring at him and had front row seats to his embarrassment.
Someone dropped down beside him and helped him clean up the mess, using a towel from behind the counter. Reid chanced a glanced and discovered that it wasn't an employee helping him mop up his mess, but the very girl he'd been eyeing most of the morning.
Too embarrassed to speak, Reid just kept laying on napkins to soak up the mess. The girl, who was kneeling in front of him, continued to work in silence with him, using her barrowed towel and managing to clean more than Reid could with his cheap napkins.
Quickly the coffee was cleaned up and all too soon Reid was forced to look up at his helper. She was smiling slightly, as an employee walked over and took the coffee soaked towel and Reid's dripping napkins.
"Thanks Dave," she told the bus boy as he stood and walked away. Her voice was like the twinkling of silver bells; light, soft, and flowing gently on the air.
She turned and looked back at Reid, eyeing him as they both remained on the floor.
Feeling silly and slightly valuable, Reid quick stood. He started to lean him hand down to help her, but quickly pulled his arm back when she pulled herself up, using the chair he'd just vacated.
She looked up at him again, almost having to lean her blond head all the way back just to meet his eyes. She seemed to be waiting for something, but Reid didn't quite understand what that was.
Disappointment floated across her bright green eyes before she turned away from him, tossing a sharp "Your welcome" over her delicate right shoulder.
Reid watched her walk away, debating with his self before finally walking over to her and her place at the bar. She was unstacking her papers and books and flipping her lap top open. As Reid took his seat, she continued to ignore him, instead focusing all her attention to whatever was on her screen.
"Hello," Reid could have kicked himself the second the word passed his lips. Hello? Really, Reid! If that's all that he was going to say, he should have said that when she first walked over to help him.
A small smile twitched at her lips before she could control it.
"I mean, well, of course, thank you first," he forced himself to speak normally, so that he wouldn't stumble over the words. "That was very nice of you, especially since most people wouldn't even look to see what the commotion was, let alone walk over to help."
At that, she turned her head, placing her delicate chin in her left palm and just stared at him over her zebra glasses. Another slight smile tugged at her lips and this time she let it stay. Her jade green eyes were alight with amusement, most likely from his red cheeks.
"You don't interact socially very much, do you?" The question was asked softly, as if she didn't want to embarrass him anymore than he already was.
"I do, it's just that you seemed wary of me at first, then suddenly you're helping me clean up a mess I made while trying to run from you, and now suddenly your welcoming and open to speaking with me." Reid, as always, was very honest in his answer. "Just kind of threw me for a loop."
"A loop? Well, I'll have to try harder next time; I was going for a whammy."
Reid smiled with her, laughter drawing them closer together.
He held his hand out to her, finally remembering his manners. "How about we start over; hello, my name is Spencer, Spencer Reid."
She placed her tiny hand in his much larger one. Reid watched the smile on her lips widen and her eye sparkle with an inner light. "Hi Spencer, I'm Charlene, Charlene McKenzie."