Hello all! I've been a reader for a few years now and I'm always amazed with what fellow writers come up with and now I finally felt inspired to attempt my own fanfic. I'd love any feedback, comments, or suggestions, and hopefully there will be more to come!
Fitzgerald sat in the corner of his favorite diner with a plate of corned beef hash, a side of eggs, and a steaming cup of coffee with two sugars and two creams. After consuming a couple forkfuls of his meal Fitzgerald sat back, made himself comfortable, and took out his Moleskine journal. He started every Mondays this way, a new sketch. One of many sketches that would be added to the archive of sketches of passersby who happened to be outside his favorite diner the first morning of the week.
Fitz turned his journal this way and that way to determine whether his current sketch- an old man in a basketball jersey with the numbers peeling off was sufficient enough to deem complete- when his usual waitress Melody appeared at his table side. "Can I get you anything else darlin'?" she drawled out in her southern accent.
"Just one more cup of coffee." Fitz responded. "A couple more sketches and I'll be out of your hair."
Mellie leaned against Fitz's table, making it creak under the weight of her hip. Fitz chuckled to himself as he deduced that Mellie was definitely not the girl who grew up oblivious to her beauty; she knew she had it, and damned if she didn't use it. Without a word Fitz relinquished his sketchbook to Mellie's grasp.
"Very nice, Professor Grant..." Mellie said, no doubt in a voice she thought to be seductive. She then flicked the hair resting on her left shoulder away and slid the Moleskin back across the table. Fitz moved to slide the journal back to its original position, but Mellie's hand held in place on the table.
"So tell me Professor Grant, what's a girl gotta to do to get into this journal of yours?" Mellie asked, her hair falling back onto her shoulder.
"Hmmm, be outside this window on Mondays at nine o'clock?" Fitz quipped back.
"Naked." The word fell from Mellie's lips like a bowling ball. It was meant to shatter the playfulness of the conversation in the sort of resounding clang that caught everyone's attention. Mellie delivered two swift taps on the page that Fitz's sketchbook was opened to, one of a fully nude woman reclining on an emerald green chaise.
"Ah." Fitz said, unaffected by Mellie's implication. "Well if you are interested in figure modeling the art department is always looking for new faces... and bodies." And with that, for fun, Fitz gave Mellie a wink so subtle that if she weren't staring him in the face she would have sworn she was hallucinating. Her hip slipped a bit on the table edge and Fitz had to stifle a chuckle as Mellie tried to gracefully recover. "Uhh... let me get you that coffee" Mellie fumbled.
"Actually, Mellie," Fitz interjected, figuring Mellie needed to go recompose, "don't worry about the coffee. I'll just-"
Fitz was retrieving a bill from his wallet when he glanced out of the window and looked directly into the face of a woman standing across the street waiting at the crosswalk. Fitz was struck by the woman's visage. Her features were classically beautiful- symmetrical, proportional, with the exception of her eyes and lips. The woman had beautiful lips that were full and perfectly curved at the corners. But her eyes were the most striking. The were large and round, almost child-like, but piercing in their gaze. With irises golden brown in color that radiated in the morning sunlight canopied by thick black lashes Fitz thought his heart skipped a beat when the woman suddenly looked directly at him. Fitz's gut reaction was to look away, but he felt that she may disappear if he did. Her eyes remained fixed on him for a moment before she looked away. Fitz squinted to discern whether there was a smile playing at the corners of her mouth. He wanted her to look at him again.
This sequence of events to Fitz spanned an eternity, but in reality happened in a matter of seconds. Mellie still stood uncomfortably near the edge of the booth and it was only her taking the twenty dollar bill out of Fitz's hand that drew him back into his current surroundings. Without thinking Fitz began to pack his belongings as the woman began to cross the street and he realized that she would indeed disappear into the morning if he continued to sit.
"I'll be right back with your change, Fitz." Mellie said, waving a hand near him to catch his attention.
"Don't worry about it Mellie. Keep the change. Thanks." Fitz, managed to mumble and with that he strode across the vinyl diner floor in a substantially small number of steps and was out of the door.
Stepping into the morning air Fitz was momentarily disoriented by the flood of sunlight that met his eyes as he searched for the mysterious woman. He trekked up Roslyn Street in the direction he saw the woman go. Fitz didn't know what he would say or do when and if he caught up with the woman, but he was grateful that campus was fairly close by. Being late for the first day of classes does not a good first impression make. Not that it would really matter. The majority of the students in his morning class would probably be freshman frazzled by their first day of college and likely to be late themselves. Fitz could stand to be fifteen minutes late.
He rounded the corner onto 5th Avenue and saw the woman crossing the street yet again, this time diagonally onto Anke St. Fitz knew that this was suspect. One who follows a random female stranger one has an unexplained attraction to? Stalker. One who has a 2-dimensional design course to teach in 10 minutes? Fitz. One who, despite that fact, still follows aforementioned woman for 3 blocks? Stalker Fitz. Great. Damn. Fitz could almost laugh at himself for such inquiries that frequently ran through his mind. He moved out of sheer intuition. He was drawn to her for some reason. Of course she was beautiful, but there was more. Something in her air. Something that hung around her like a lavender fog at the break of dawn. Comforting somehow, yet mysterious.
One foot in front of the other. Gaze locked. Intent on his purpose. I look like a stalker. I'm stalking this woman. Lord God. Fitz scoffed silently to himself. He could stop and turn around and walk back towards camp-
She stopped. He froze. Oh shit. She knows I'm following her. Shit. Shit! Don't desert, that'll look even more suspect. You two just happened to be walking in the same direction. Yeah. Fitz proceeded a bit slower. He strolled at a leisurely pace, pretending to not look at anything in particular. The young woman veered towards a table spread generously with various crates of fruits and jarred goods. And so swiftly, as if she'd done it as a habit her entire life, the woman plucked what looked like a cherry from basket, tossed it into the air, and caught it in her mouth all while turning sharply into the open door of the storefront. When Fitz reached the store he recognized the facade. "Baumchen's" was the name painted in gold and red letters onto the glass of what Fitz could only assume was a German specialty store. Fitz always meant to go into the little store, but was always on his way to some other destination when he chanced upon it. But today Baumchen's was exactly where he wanted to be.
So what do you guys think of this as an opening chapter? I know things were a bit uneventful, but my idea for the intended storyline is meant to unravel a bit slower at the beginning. Plus, I was really just stretching my legs on this first chapter. Please comment and stay tuned y'all! :)
