[2]

It had been a week.

This was the second time that he found himself sitting in Ron's coffee shop. This one was the one with the stupidly quick Wi-Fi. Fiber connection with gigabit speed? It was suspiciously odd for a simple coffee shop.

He kept an eye out for her. It was Sunday in the afternoon. She was bound to come strolling in one moment or the other. He had to hack her, he had to at least know her name. He had tried getting it out of the Sunday barista Mallory. She looked like a bulldog with a stink eye and only glared apathetically at Elliot when he asked for her name.

"Can you give her this? From me?" He slid a note across the counter.

Mallory simply rolled her eyes and walked away from the cash register. Elliot cringed. There it was again, the invisible hand at action...
Clenching his fist he was force to throw in a couple of dollars into her tip bucket. With a change of heart Mallory took the small note in her hand and shoved it into her pocket.

Elliot returned to his seat he proceeded to do more coding, more investigating into why this particular Ron's coffee had a rare fiber connection. This time he didn't even realize when she walked in.

"For me?" She said in her usual blissful tone as she took the note from annoyed barista. "Wow! Thank you so much Mallory." She said taking her chai latte in one hand and the note in the other.

'Roses are Red
Violets are Blue
Maybe I can share
my next latte with you.'

He saw her eyes become slightly wider. Her perfectly manicured hand touched her chest dramatically. "Aww!" She coed touched.
"Mallory who gave you this?" She turned curiously.

Without much concern or care the barista simply nodded her head towards him.

It had been a simple poem. He hadn't put much thought into it. Just something to charm her enough to approach him. He saw her green eyes meet his. Her cheeks flushed pink with excitement as she pursue her lips in a flirtatious matter. He felt something twist inside of him. A woman like her had never looked at him like that. Not that many women looked at him to begin with. He saw her elegant designer salmon summer colored dress, bright eyes, expensive jewelry and pristine smile. She approached him he looked at her with his shocked eyes. He was begging to feel his anxiety build up. He rehearsed the words he would say to her-

He opened his mouth, but instead she walked past his table to the one next to his. He sat shocked and fought the urge to slap his forehead in frustration. He cocked his head to the side conspicuously and saw that instead she had approached a suit sitting behind him. He had a beaked nose, wore intellectual glasses and was reading the Wall Street Journal. A banker or investor obviously. Capitalist pig.

"Hi," she began shyly. "I really like your note, I think it's sweet." He looked a her confused and removed his eye glasses perplexed.

"I already have my chai, but maybe we can share one next time?"

"Uh..." He uttered before glancing down at his eye glasses and cleaning them with the edge of his wool sweater.

"Why don't you have a seat?" He offered stretching his hand to the seat opposite of him. She beamed and sat across him. Elliot would have to reside to simpler methods. He removed his trademark black hoodie from his head, stood up and approached them. He stood before them for a good minute. His eyes boring into her face. It was the first time they met eye to eye face to face. He hadn't realized he hadn't spoken until the man spoke.

"Can we help you?" he asked in a concerned tone.

"Hi..." He began. "Could I borrow a cellphone to call my mom? Mine's dead." He lied awkwardly not removing his eyes from her face. Despite feeling uncomfortable under his intense gaze she remained poised offering him a polite smile. She was about to fish her cellphone from her brand designer purse when the man beat her to it and handed her his. He could feel his cellphone weighing in the back of his jean pocket.

Whatever.

He had to do whatever he could with this. He dialed his number and pretended to briefly speak with someone before deleting it.

"Thanks," he handed the suit his phone back and once again darted his eyes towards the woman before him.

Without another word he left.

Her eyes lingered on the hooded man as he walked out of the coffee shop. There was something about him that made her sit uneasily.