Nodding, Beth hefted the bag, slipping it over her shoulders. "I'll do some shopping after work then."
Opening the door, she paused, then looked at Steph. "Good luck."
"Thanks," Steph called after her as she stepped out and closed the door.
Once outside, Beth slipped her earbuds in. Today she needed something rousing, fast and energetic. Her head began weaving small movements as she went down the stairs.
Her current work project was refactoring some ugly legacy code, the complete opposite of exciting. In fact that was most of her work. As the junior dev on the team she got all the work the other devs didn't want.
The work was boring, but also challenging. She found particular enjoyment in taking that ugly, unmaintainable code and turning it into something elegant. More important, it was now testable and reliable. If only it wasn't written in PHP 4. It paid the bills though, and gave her a rather flexible schedule.
Getting on the bus, she found a seat near a window and sat down. She'd be on this bus for a while. Closing her eyes, she leaned her head back and let the music take her away.
Blue eyes surrounded by freckles and topped with brown hair captured her mind. Damn this! That sense, no that need, for action was building in her. What was this? Why did she have dreams about that girl? Who really was she?
Her mind drifted over the events of Tuesday night. Unlike what she told Steph, she had noticed Max looking at her, and not like strangers or even friends might. It had confused her.
Max was a pretty girl, no doubt about that. Why would a complete stranger look at her like that? Well, why would she have dreams about a complete stranger?
So engrossed in these thoughts was she that she almost missed her transfer. Hurrying from the bus, she stood in line for the next one. A name popped into her head then, A Rise Above. That was the name of the cafe where Max worked. Would she be there today?
The thought made her breath catch and amplified that need for action. Before she knew it, her phone was out and she was Googling the address. Wow, it was really close to her office! Her heart suddenly began pounding rapidly, causing her to lock her phone and put it away.
The other bus came and she hurried with the others to get on. It took several moments for her heart to calm down. She held onto the handrail, head resting against her arm. That girl.
Her office didn't provide her any real distraction either. One of those stupid open office concepts, she was stuck in the middle of a bunch of yapping sales and marketing people. Her sound dampening headphones helped a lot, but there was so much activity her attention kept wandering to a memory of blue eyes.
The thousand line function that violated every best practice was no match for those eyes. Finally, she slumped forward, planting her head on her keyboard. She needed a distraction from her distraction. Taking off her head phones and placing them on her desk, she rose and went for a coffee.
Coffee is one thing her employer did well. They had a full service coffee bar for employees. Taking her order to a small table overlooking a little garden, she sipped and thought.
That cafe was about a ten minute walk from the office. It was almost noon right now. If Max was working today, she'd either take lunch before or after the lunch rush. Her employer had a liberal work hour policy. She could go there, see Max (if she was even working today!) and still have time to get lunch somewhere.
Decision made, she took her coffee back to her desk, put on her head phones and found she could now focus. An hour later she had enough behavior tests written she was confident she could start modifying the function itself. That was a project for after lunch.
Pushing away from her desk, she suddenly had a thought. Opening a drawer, she grabbed a magazine and flipped to the first white page and tore a piece from it. She wrote her name and number on it, then stuffed it in her pocket.
Poking her head into her boss's office, she said, "Hey, I'm headed to lunch now. Probably be about two hours." He nodded to her, focused on his screen. Lucky bastard got his own office where he could work on code in peace and quiet. One day, that's what she would have.
Putting her earbuds in, she let Google maps guide her to the cafe. The lunch rush was just ending. She saw a few customers at tables inside. She also saw Max, working with her back to the window.
The sight of Max infused her with energy and thoughts started going rapidly through her mind. Now that she was here, looking at this girl, this stranger that presented such mystery, what did she plan to do?
She began bouncing on her toes while she built and rejected introduction after introduction. Telling herself she just needed to jump in and get it over with, she opened the door and went inside.
The smell of fresh bread, ground coffee, and spices washed over her. A sense of nostalgia hit her, memories of going to the Two Whales diner as a kid for her mom to make her a meal. Winding her way to the counter, she stayed back where she could study the menu.
A lady, perhaps in her thirties or forties, was at the register. She smiled at Beth when she caught her eye. "One moment," Beth said, "never been here before."
"Take your time," the lady said. Max kept working. She apparently hadn't heard the exchange.
Beth gave the lady a smile and turned her attention back to the menu. Well, she tried. Her eyes fixed on Max. She was preparing a sandwich for the person waiting at the counter. She was so sure, so precise in her movements.
There were bracelets on her wrist, reminding Beth of the ones she wore in her teens. She couldn't see through the plastic gloves on Max's hands to make out any details on the bracelets.
"She makes a really good turkey on rye," the lady said, interrupting Beth's thoughts.
Startled by the lady's words, Beth realized people were behind her in line. Hurrying to the counter, she said, "What was that?"
"I said a turkey on rye."
"And, um, Max makes a good turkey on rye?" Beth silently cursed herself. Why was she fucking this up?
The lady's smile broadened. "Ah, you do know her," she said.
Beth just nodded, then said, "I'll uh, take one of those."
The lady rang her up, passed a slip back to the sandwich counter and gave Beth her total. Paying the bill, she moved over to the waiting area while the next person stepped to the counter.
From here she had a much better view of Max and for a moment Beth let her eyes stray. Cursing herself again, she brought them back up to Max's head and shoulder area. She didn't know if Max was into girls and didn't know if she would appreciate Beth checking her out.
It didn't take long for Max to make her sandwich. Placing it on a plate with a little flourish, she turned to hand it over and froze. The jitteriness and uncertainty disappeared from Beth as she saw those blue eyes and freckles.
Beth smiled a little as Max's eyes went wide and a little flush crept up her face. The plate dropped, crashing to the floor.
Beth leaned in and said, "No worries, I wanted that to go anyway." Her smile grew as she said those words. Max just looked at her blankly, her mouth hanging open.
The lady at the register touched Max's shoulder, causing the girl to jump with a yelp. "You know, you're hella cute when you're flustered," Beth said as Max's blush deepened.
The lady bent down to clean up the mess and Max dropped to her knees as well. The lady said something that Beth couldn't catch and then Max popped back into view. She looked a little wild with her wide eyes darting around. Slowly she began shuffling toward an opening at the end of the counter.
The looks the other employees gave the two weren't lost on Beth. There was a knowing smile on the older lady's face as she handed something to Chloe, and the other two employees were making little signs of encouragement.
Max came from behind the counter, her head down. Her hands were clutching her apron tight, worrying it. For a moment Beth remembered that vision of the uncertain girl with the self-made pirate dolls. The two were the same person.
Seeing Max give her a quick glance, Beth moved nearer and said, "Were you checking me out the other night?"
Oh god! Why did she say that! That's not how you start a conversation with a girl!
Max's head snapped up, her eyes still wide. "What? I- what?" The blush that had gone away returned in full force. Yes, a flustered Max was very cute.
Nodding slowly, Beth said, "Steph told me. Sitting next to you, she saw you sneaking peeks at me when you thought no one was looking."
Moving as close as she dared to the smaller girl, she continued, "Too bad you had to go so suddenly. I'd really like to know more about you."
Max was flicking her eyes everywhere, not able to meet Beth's calm look. Beth was so tempted to reach out and take the girl's hands before she destroyed her apron. But she kept them in her pockets.
"Your coworkers say you make an awesome sandwich," Beth said after a while. "Do you think you could make me a sandwich sometime?"
Max briefly looked at Beth, then away. "Y-yes. The turkey on rye with sprouts is a favorite."
Funny. That is the same one the lady at the register suggested.
Slipping a hand from her pocket, she held it out to Max. It held that paper with her cell number. "Tell you what. Come over to our place tomorrow and you can make me a sandwich there. Text me what you need and I'll be sure everything's there for you."
The awkward girl just looked at the paper, as if not seeing it. Beth saw her bottom lip disappear as she chewed on it, then her hand slowly came up to take the paper.
"Can you make it by 6 PM?"
Max looked up again and just stared at her, into her eyes. Beth studied Max's face. Her clear blue eyes decorated with freckles. The way her bottom lip was tucked into her mouth. Something was happening inside her, something she didn't understand.
Her voice was suddenly throaty and dry as she managed to ask, "Is that a yes?"
Her question caused Max to blink and step away from her. She shook her head like coming from a deep sleep. "Y-yes," she said and her voice was high pitched and squeaky.
Giving Max one last smile, Beth sauntered from the cafe and around the corner. Once out of view of the cafe, her knees gave way and she collapsed against a wall. All the confidence and energy she had in the cafe fled.
She slumped there an unknown amount of time, held up only by the wall. That entire experience in the cafe was unreal. None of her questions had been answered, but now Max was coming over tomorrow to make her a sandwich? That was…bizarre.
No, that wasn't true. There were some questions answered, or partially answered. Max did like girls, or at least liked her. The way she answered Beth's question sealed that. Further, she realized she had some interest in Max as well.
That was a confusing part. It was like some unknown internal force was pushing her to be with Max. The girl certainly drew her eyes, but it felt like something wanted to accelerate anything between them. She did wonder why Steph hadn't moved on the shy girl already. The fact she was their photographer might have something to do with that. Or, more likely, that she still wasn't over Rachel.
It had been a while since Beth had a special someone, male or female. For the last few years, companionship was what she wanted most. Steph gave her that. In the last couple of weeks, something had awakened in her. Something she didn't understand, and Max seemed its epicenter.
Pushing away from the wall finally, Beth made her way to another place to grab a sandwich before returning to work. She'd have to let Steph know to expect Max for dinner tomorrow.