The meeting of souls, finally.
A/N not mine wish they were. Total au…
Each weren't looking to fall in love that day.
Ever since his divorce from Rachel, Carlos Manoso had sworn off women; his ideal woman never measured up to reality, so why bother?
He knew he had the looks and the money, as well as some kind of superpower as his cousin and employees told him. When they all went out, women threw themselves at him, but he always went back to his empty apartment. He knew he was a smart man, and something in the back of his mind told him to wait; he would be meeting her soon.
His instincts never led him astray before.
Setting up his new office in Trenton was a lucrative deal for his company, the criminals were many, the money good; all was well.
He opted out of resigning for the government, his job was done and over and he wasn't going back as the killing machine he was; he was moving forward with his life instead as a businessman. He put his second in command Tank Sherman in charge of the bonds; he went after getting calls from vinnie about picking up the files, it served him better to be in charge of the security side of things for their business and residential account.
He was restless today; something inside told him to get out and walk around; so he did, he loved strolling the neighborhood that his office was in; he felt a pull to the diner he always wanted to try; he never got the chance as it was always packed with customers, but today when he entered he saw a booth in the back empty; perfect he thought. And sat down and waited for the waitress to appear.
She had given up on men completely, the perfect one was out there, she just knew when she met him, her life would change forever. Not knowing it was today, and she just had office work to do; she could forgo her usual attire of skirt and heels with her dressier blouses. In stead she dressed in her workout clothes; not giving a care it was all black. She loved to work out; it relieved the stress in her life of her job and her 'lack of a love life' as her mother reminded her of each day on her answering machine. She never returned her calls either. Ever since declaring independence day from her, Stephanie felt free and relaxed, even when running uncle Joe Juniacks re election campaign for mayor, she was ok with the balance in her life. She just needed to find some down time somewhere along the way and have that balance her yoga taught her in her life.
After her five mile run, she decided she would finally reward herself with breakfast at the new diner; seemed like it was always busy when she tried to get a table.
She strolled in like she owned the place; in a way she did, she was the silent partner here, investing her money along the way into local businesses she thought stood a chance in this neighborhood. No tables to be had, but she noticed a man in the back booth motioning her to come join him, ' breakfast with a handsome stranger, something interesting to say the least' she thought.
Carlos stood up as Stephanie approached the table, something told him to ask her to join him; 'what a beautiful woman' he thought as he watched her glide over to where he was standing.
'Carlos manoso' he said as he held out his hand to her; 'Stephanie plum' she replied as she took it. He lifted her hand to his lips, kissing the back of it.
The other at the skin contact felt tingles, neither ignored the tingles at all; it was a new feeling for both of them.
They chatted all throughout breakfast, both ordering the same thing, grapefruit with their coffee and egg white omelet, both choosing tomatoes, onions and green peppers to go along with it.
When he found out her job was working for the re election campaign, he told her his business was supposed to be meeting her today for security; just a precaution her uncle Joe set up for her to take care of. They talked business over what became an extra long breakfast, finding out about each other. She wasn't surprised he worked in security or had a military background, it seemed to fit him.
He wasn't surprised at her job either; she seemed so personable he could hardly wait to see her again. He offered to walk her to her car, but she was jogging back to her house, that surprisingly rangeman did security for, it never crossed his mind that s.m.p. Was her name; not until now.
They exchanged phone numbers, and made a date for that very night. Dinner and a night on the town, both looked forward to seeing each other in a few hours, now they had to get to work so that could happen.
Stephanie jogged home; lost in thought at meeting Carlos, he was a man that was used to getting his way she could tell. When he asked her out, she surprised herself by agreeing so quickly. A burst of energy over took her as she continued on changing her jog to a sprint the rest of the way.
Entering her security code, she smiled knowing that Carlos was in charge of her home, interesting and something to ponder later; much later work was calling and she best not be late today.
Carlos watched her jog away; thinking to himself he actually had a date; for the first time in his life he had an honest to goodness date. He held himself away from women after Rachel. She had done enough damage to his soul when she asked him for a divorce and not to see their daughter at all. Just keep sending those child support checks and she would mail a picture from school each year for him to keep.
So he stayed away from women even for physical relief; there was nothing wrong with his hand he found out; after all he got his satisfaction and didn't need to worry about leaving afterwards.
But now, he needed to get back to work and get the folder ready for presenting his companies information for Stephanie and the mayor. He felt like a school kid anticipating seeing her again, even thinking; where could they go tonight? What would be special enough for them both for their first of many dates he knew were coming.
When walking onto the control room floor, he looked over the security system she had in place under her name of s.m.p. and was pleased to notice it was one of their most secure packages offered to the public.
He went into his office and ran a search on her; father worked at the post office; mother a housewife, and even a grandma with an arrest record for public intoxication lived there! What a family she came from, he also noticed a sister that lived in California as well.
She had a business degree from Rutgers, with another degree in political science and it seemed she was a perfect fit for mayor juniacks office, she loved working with the public, many articles in the local newspaper referred to her as juniacks ' right hand person' in all matters. She sat in on the city commission meetings as well as going to the board of education meetings when they were held.
He had found the woman of his dreams. And her name was Stephanie plum.