-A Note: Hey everybody! I told you I'd be back! Here's the start of a brand new story. I don't have this one completely planned out like the other one so I don't know if chapters will come as quickly but I did want to get something out to you guys. Please comment as always. I love reading them, good or bad. I hope you all enjoy!

Life is made up of defining moments. No matter how big or small the moment may be there are always events in life that can be pinpointed as times that have changed someone's life. For some it's a graduation or maybe a promotion that allows them to realize that all their hard work paid off in more ways than they could imagine. For others, it's the simple unexpected act of a stranger that triggers a deeper realization of what human interaction means to them. For some however, it's when their eyes first connect with another's and in that fraction of a second they know their life will never be the same.

It's a gloomy and ordinary Friday evening for Emily Fields. She's thankful for the light September mist falling outside of her coffee shop forcing the normally steady stream of patrons filing in and out to be nonexistent. Normally, she'd be too busy to register her own thoughts but today it seems as though everyone is taking advantage of the excellent excuse to be cooped inside and huddled together with their girlfriends and boyfriends. She's about half way through her shift when the bell rings signaling a new customer. A smile creeps on her face when she directs her gaze towards the door to see the dark-haired and skinned girl walking in her shop. The girl returns her smile as she continues to walk towards Emily.

"You know, I don't think I'll ever be able to get over the sight of you in that little apron," the girl declares with a grin. When she reaches Emily, she pulls her in for a short but loving kiss. She knows her displays of affection towards the taller dark-haired girl need to be kept brief at the woman's place of employ. The last thing she wants to do is get Emily fired. Especially, since she's already almost done it once since they've started dating. It was the first time she had come to see her girlfriend at work and the sight of Emily in that cute little apron and her hair pulled back into a messy pony tail was just too much for the shorter girl to handle. She marched right up to Emily and pulled her in for a long lingering kiss right in the middle of the shop, making it very difficult for the tall dark-haired barista to balance her full tray of empty dishes. Had Emily not been able to hold onto that tray, it's very likely she could've been in more trouble than receiving just a warning.

"Maya… what are you doing here? I thought you had an evening class," Emily questions, once their lips part from their chaste kiss, a smile still drawn across her face. She hadn't been expecting this pleasant surprise. In fact, Emily was sure she was going to be in for a long, boring evening alone.

"I do have a class. I was just on my way," Maya answers as she scans her stunning girlfriend's appearance. She swears that Emily could pull off a burlap sack as a fashion statement if she wanted to but there is just something about the way her legs stretch out from beneath that little red apron tied low on her hips that drives her crazy in all the right ways. "I just wanted to stop in and say 'Hi'. How long do you work tonight?"

"I close tonight so I'll be here late," the raven-haired girl sighs out. Closing shifts where always difficult no matter if it was slow going or busier than a bee hive in spring. In one case, she would be out of her mind bored, having nothing to do but pretend to clean up the shop over again for the fifth time that evening until someone came in and interacted with her for all of two minutes to order their coffee. If she was busy though, as she normally is on Fridays, she wouldn't have time to do her other duties required to close shop and of course she would be there much later than she honestly would like. It's not that she doesn't like her job because in fact she really loves it. It's an excellent job to have while she's attending classes at nearby Hollis College. It honestly wasn't a hard decision for her to want to stay in Rosewood after High School. All of her friends had either decided to stay in town and study at Hollis as well or attend universities close by and it was nice to have them close. Even after two years, she still doesn't regret her decision at all. Plus it's nice that her girlfriend is here and starting her junior year as well. In fact, Emily feels as though her life couldn't get any better.

"Do you want me to stop back and keep you company after class? I mean I can just do homework or you know stare at the attractive staff," Maya playfully jokes with a wink.

"You know I would love that but it's Friday. Don't you usually have that art club you go to?"

"Damn, you're right. I forgot," the shorter girl replies suddenly remembering her extra commitments to her chosen area of study. "Well tomorrow I'm all yours, deal? Isn't it your day off?" Emily smiles and nods happy to know she would be spending some much needed time with her girlfriend. They've both been so busy that they've barely seen each other over the last week. With classes starting up again and their work schedules conflicting, it was going to be difficult until they were able to get back into a routine again.

"It's a deal," she agrees giving her shorter girlfriend another short peck. "Have fun in class."

"You know I always do," Maya replies before turning around and disappearing through the door with a little playful wave, leaving Emily alone again in the shop.

Emily's evening seems to be taking forever. It's unusually slow, even for a rainy day so she's thankful for the couple just left, giving her something to do. She takes her time busing the table, much longer than usual, all the while staring out the window at the lightly falling rain. It's falling so lightly in fact that it would be difficult to tell it's raining at all without paying close attention to the tiny ripples in the puddles on the street. As she stares out the window, nonchalantly wiping down the table, a dark figure in the edge of the window catches her eye: a passerby strolling through. Their eyes meet for a brief moment as the walker, a girl with long brown hair and her collar pulled up tight on her neck walks past Emily's spot in the window. As soon as she arrived, she was gone, continuing her way down the dim and deserted street becoming just a dark and retreating figure, leaving Emily peering after her through the misty window.

It was odd that Emily had never seen the girl before. Because she has lived in Rosewood her entire life, she knew pretty much everyone who lived in town but the beautiful brunette stranger is a mystery to her. She was in fact stunning from what Emily could see but she was also gone now so Emily dismisses the stranger with a small shake of her head and returns to her work with the table. With the table clear and the rest of the shop still clean from lack of use, Emily turns her attention to the coffee bar and does her best to pretend to be working. Her attention is on wiping down the counter again when she hears the bell signaling the end of her boredom for at least the next five minutes. What she's not expecting is the feeling she experiences in her stomach, the moment she looks up and views the most beautiful and alluring brown eyes, she's ever seen. The eyes are attached to an equally beautiful woman with long brown flowing locks, the mist apparent on her hair like dew drops on the grass at dawn. Her black jacket is also covered in water stains, with the shoulders being a shade darker than the rest of the jacket, her collar still pulled up around her neck. The mystery stranger just walked into her store.

"Umm hello, how can I help you?" Emily asks clearing her throat. She can't figure out why she suddenly feels so flustered. Sure the woman is beautiful but she's also a complete stranger and who knows if she's even gay. Plus, Emily has a girlfriend that she loves.

"Actually, I don't know what I want. Do you have any suggestions?" the mysterious girl says with an infectiously piercing grin. Her voice is deep and raspy making the girl even more attractive to Emily. She would never do anything to jeopardize her relationship with Maya, but there was no denying she was instantly and utterly attracted to the brunette with the immediately striking personality and swoon-worthy smile.

"Well that depends," she replies, returning the girl's smile, "Do you like something darker or sweeter?"

"How about somewhere in the middle?" The girl says leaning forward with her elbows on the counter a very large grin on her face. Was this girl flirting with Emily? Maybe the stranger was in fact gay and into her. Emily internally reminds herself that it doesn't matter. She has Maya and she definitely doesn't want to ruin that because of some stranger that makes her knees go slightly weak when she looks into her eyes. Emily takes a second to visibly think about what she could make for the brunette beauty. Her lips scrunch up and to the side with her eyes briefly scanning the ceiling.

"Can I surprise you?" She asks with a mischievous looking grin. She pauses, scanning the woman's face as the girl obviously contemplates the idea of this barista making a mystery drink for her. Emily's about to start suggesting various drinks she could make instead when the girl speaks up.

"Sure, I'm adventurous. Why not?" She finally affirms with another flash of a smile looking directly into Emily's eyes. The dark-haired barista suddenly finds it hard to breathe. 'What IS it about this girl? I don't even know her name,' she thinks to herself.

"Wonderful. I promise you won't be sorry," Emily reassures with a smile before turning around and beginning to make the drink. Normally, Emily would focus all her attention on the task at hand; interacting with the customer only here and there but in this case there was something about this girl that was drawing her to be inquisitive. "I'm Emily by the way," she offers with a shy grin.

"Paige," the woman reveals, "Paige McCullers."

"It's nice to meet you Paige," Emily replies with a smile. 'Paige McCullers, what are you doing to me?' She wonders as she stirs the almost complete drink. When she turns around she sees Paige still leaning on the counter, her eyes fixed purposefully on the barista. The smile on the brunette's face seems, to Emily, to have decided to make itself a permanent fixture on the already stunning face. Emily can only imagine what the girl could be thinking. Only minutes ago, when Paige passed by the shop, she seemed almost sullen. Was talking to Emily what was making this beautiful girl smile? No matter what the cause Emily decided right then and there that Paige McCullers should always be smiling. "Here try this…" The barista says sliding the drink across the counter for the girl to try.

"No poison right?" The brunette inquires teasingly. Emily shakes her head and giggles at the comment. Emily can't believe the connection she's feeling between the two of them. It is as if the room suddenly electrified the moment Paige walked in. The more they talk, the higher the voltage gets, to the point Emily wonders if she might in fact be electrocuted in the process. With the shake of Emily's head as a sufficient answer, Paige raises the straw to her lips with a single raised eyebrow, cautiously taking a sip as to add to the charade of her suspicion towards Emily's secret drink. "Wow this is absolutely amazing! What is it?" She immediately takes another sip, pleasantly surprised at the positive results of letting a complete stranger make her a completely random drink.

"It's my own concoction," Emily states with a grin. "I call it 'A Cup of Heaven'."

"Well you're right it's definitely delicious," Paige offers, taking another sip. Her eyes seem to refuse to break from Emily's. "Do you work here a lot during the week or is it only a part time gig?"

"I work almost every day, all day," Emily remarks as she starts to clean up her mess from the drink making. "Do you come here often? I don't believe I've seen you in here before."

"This is my first time here. I just moved here actually, transferred to Hollis for my junior year. I was out and decided I didn't feel like going home yet so I went for a walk. Your shop seemed really cozy as I passed so I decided I'd stop in. I'm really glad I did," Paige explains with a smile, simultaneously dipping her head and fiddling with the rim of her cup. It's probably the cutest thing Emily's ever seen and she really needs to stop thinking about it.

"Hollis huh? My girlfriend and I both attend there. What are you studying?" Emily states trying to put her mind once again on her girlfriend. She immediately wishes she didn't mention her out loud though, when the smile disappears from Paige's face the moment she utters the hint at her relationship status.

"Yeah I like it so far there. I'm an English Studies Major right now," the brunette replies, looking at her watch. "Crap, I didn't realize the time. I really should go. How much do I owe you?" The statement catches Emily off guard because of the sudden urgency behind it. She wasn't expecting the mood to shift so quickly. Suddenly the atmosphere felt rushed and tense.

"It's on the house," Emily says with a cautious smile, trying her best to salvage the mood. Unfortunately, it doesn't work. With a quick "Thanks", Paige smiles again but this time with what can only be described as a tinge of disappointment before turning around and heading out the door into the now heavily falling rain. Emily is unable to move as she watches the door click closed behind the brunette beauty, who wanted out so quickly that the pouring rain didn't even faze her.

"What the hell just happened?" Emily sighs out to the empty room, her mind now racing with the confusion of a million questions stemming from the interaction she just had. The biggest question though? Why was it that this mysterious girl is now the only thing she can manage to think about?