p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .14in; line-height: 115%;"I was curled up in an arm chair, reading my lame sci-fi fantasy paper back and sipping my morning mocha drink when I heard the tinkling of the bell on the door, and glanced up from my book, just for a second. I almost didn't notice him. He was tall and thin, wearing a well-worn, dark blue sweater, a brown satchel over his shoulder, and khaki pants. I tried to read my book but every time I finished a page, I'd look up at him. Once he got his coffee, he sat down, opened his satchel, and spread papers and folders out on the table top. He had chin length light brown hair, which he tucked behind his ear as he studied the papers. Normally, I'd spend all day stealing peeks between pages, never mustering up the courage to get up and start a conversation with any one, let alone this strange yet striking man at the coffee show. But today, I don't know, something happened when I looked at him, a twinge of something I hadn't felt in a long time. I finished my coffee, and was giving myself an internal pep talk to go over there and say hi when he checked his phone, and suddenly packed up all his papers and scurried off, leaving a little hollow ache where that twinge had been./p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .14in; line-height: 115%;"I went to that same coffee shop every morning, mostly because it was routine but partly because I hoped I could see him again, this time maybe actually talk to him. It was over a week before I saw him again. This time he work a pale green button down shirt, brown tie, and corduroy pants with the same brown satchel. He was already at a table when I came in, ordered my usual and had to choose where to go. I could just leave right now, turn around, never come back, but for some reason my feet took me further into the room, closer to the table where he sat, staring at an open folder. I was a few paces from him when I regained control of my feet and tried to turn around, but my shoelace protested and I fell forward, spilling my coffee at his converse covered feet./p