Disclaimer: No, I still own nothing and no one. And I pray to God that all the people in this little fanfic are nice so that they will not sue me. They look like such nice people. No suing, K?
Angela settled into her chair and stirred her coffee slowly. She was watching her friend, Erina, who sat across form her. A look that could be interpreted as pain sat hard on Erina's face. Angela tried not to smile as she watched her friend shift uncomfortably in her chair.
Yes, they had spotted the guy that Erina had spilled coffee on. It was pretty hard to miss him, seeing how he had a huge brown stain on the front of his shirt. And it just so happened that the guy was only sitting a few tables away.
Of course, Angela had planned the seating arrangement this way. She could tell that Erina liked the guy, even if her friend would never admit it. Angela could still see the horrified look on Erina's face when she realized that her chair gave her the perfect view of the coffee victim. And it gives him a good view of Erina, Angela thought happily. As for herself, Angela had sunk innocently into her own chair and watched as Erina tried to act as if everything was okay.
This is not good, Erina thought. She sat on the edge of her chair, waiting impatiently for Angela to drink her darn coffee. Since when did she drink so slowly, Erina wondered, her heart pounding in her chest. As if she could read Erina's thoughts, Angela raised her cup to her lips and took one small, dainty sip. Erina almost died on the spot from nerves.
To Erina, is bad enough that the guy was in the café sitting only a few tables away from them. but, what made it worse, was the fact that Erina had a perfect view of him. If he looked up, she thought miserably, he would see me.
The guy was sitting with two of his friends. Together, the three of them looked vaguely familiar to Erina. She wracked her brain, trying to decide where he had seen them before. But, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't place them. that's odd, she thought. Usually I do not forget people so easily. Had she met them at a party? School?
Her eyes darted over to the guy again and she saw that he was talking to his friends. She did have to admit he truly was handsome. His high cheekbones and soulful brown eyes probably attracted girls for miles around, Erina thought. And his mouth. Ah, Erina sighed, the romantic in her alive and thriving. His mouth is the kind of mouth made to smile, she thought.
Just then, he did smile and Erina almost fell out of her chair. Oh wow, she thought, her eyes widening and her mouth falling open. I was right, she thought semi-satisfied. It was made to smile.
Chris had seen the girl as soon s she had walked into the café. He had watched as she and her friend had scanned the café as if looking for someone in particular. And when her eyes had landed on his own, she had turned away quickly, but not before Chris had seen her face turn a very interesting shade of cherry red.
Now, she sat just a few tables away from him and his friends. His eyes had flicked her way a couple of times since she had sat down. She looked like a scared rabbit, the way she was sitting on the edge of her chair. Any minute now, he expected to see her jump up and run out of the café.
"Hey, earth to Chris," Jackie, his friend said, punching him in the arm lightly. "I was talking to you."
Chris took his eyes away from the girl and refocused them and his mind on his friend, who sat next to him. "Sorry," He said.
"It's okay," Jackie replied. "I was just wondering what you were going to say to Shawn about his shirt."
"I'll just tell him the truth. Some girl ran into me and dumped coffee all over me."
Danso, Chris' other friend, chuckled. "Yeah, the girls are always falling all over themselves to get to you," he joked.
Jackie and Danso laughed, as they knew how their friend had quite a female following. It didn't help that he played a rebel on the show. Some girls were always attracted to the rebel.
Chris just smiled.
"Close your mouth. You look weird," Angela remarked, taking another small sip of her coffee. It was starting to cool off and Angela wasn't sure how much longer she could just sip it before it became stone cold. How long is this guy going to take before he comes over here to talk to Erina, she wondered.
Erina didn't appear to hear her as she continued to stare past Angela's shoulder, presumably t the guy she had spilled coffee on. And that, Angela thought, is why I gave you the good view of him.
Suddenly Erina's eyes dropped to the table in front of her. Angela raised an eyebrow in surprise, but said nothing. She waited, wondering if Erina would explain her action.
"He's looking over here," Erina hissed at Angela, not looking up for fear of meeting his eyes.
"So look up at him and smile," Angela suggested, shrugging her shoulders. This, she knew, was where Erina and herself differed. Angela was much more outgoing than her friend and she would never have been so embarrassed as Erina had by spilling coffee all over someone.
But, Erina was shy and on top of that, she still felt bad because of what had happened. A dangerous combination, Angela thought. She can't even look at the guy without blushing.
Chris, indeed, had looked at her because he had felt her eyes on him. He had just known that she was watching him. And he had seen how quickly her eyes had dropped to the table when he looked at her.
Chris sighed. He shouldn't have been so hard on her. It just wasn't like him to snap at someone so easily like that. After all, it had been just a silly accident. Since Chris had had time to cool down, he realized that there was no harm done. Who knows, he thought. Maybe the coffee will wash out. Then the shirt will be as good as new again. But, would he feel any better about the situation? No, he could not just leave it the way it was. He knew he had to fix things so that there would be no hard feelings.
"I'll be right back," he said to Jackie and Danso, who were deep in discussion about the season finale of their show. They both nodded in his direction as he stood and then they resumed their conversation as he moved away from their table.
"Oh my God," Erina whispered as she stole another glance in the guy's direction. All of the color drained from her face as she realized that her own personal nightmare was not over yet. Humiliation was again inevitable.
"What?" Angela asked, forgetting all about her planning. She turned around in her seat and looked in the direction of where she knew the guy was sitting. But, he wasn't sitting anymore. He was walking. Towards them.
"Oh boy," Angela mumbled and turned back around in her seat just as Chris reached their table. Erina looked at her friend, her eyes pleading for help. But, Angela just looked away and sipped at her stone cold coffee. You're on your own, she thought slyly.
Slowly, eyes wide with a mixture of light fear and surprise, Erina looked up into Chris' eyes.
"Um, hi," Chris said, feeling a bit awkward. How do you strike up a conversation with a perfect stranger, he wondered.
"Hi," Erina returned weakly. She felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment. I haven't done anything yet, she scolded herself and then tried desperately to make her cheeks return to their natural color.
Chris smiled as he realized the girl before him was feeling as weird as he was. Well, that does make things a bit easier, he thought. Also, he noticed, her cheeks had turned red again.
"I'm Chris," he said casually after a few seconds of silence.
"And this is Erina and I'm going to go find out what time it is." Angela said before her friend could reply. Angela slipped out of her seat and was off towards the café counter before Erina could protest. She hadn't meant ot be somewhat rude to Chris, but Angela had wanted to find someway to get out of there fast. They need to talk, she consoled herself. They need to talk alone.
Angela smiled as she reached the counter. All she wanted to see was Erina happy. And she could tell by watching her friend that she liked this guy named Chris, even if he did have a big coffee stain on his shirt. All Erina needed, was a push in the right direction. And I am just the person to give her that kind of push, she thought.
Angela asked the cashier behind the counter for a piece of paper and a pen.
I am so going to hurt Angela if I live through this, she vowed silently. She couldn't believe that her friend had just left her there, in the face of doom. What was she supposed to do now?
Erina didn't dare to take her eyes off Chris for fear of missing one of his dazzling smiles. But, he was just staring at her as f waiting for her to say something. What was she supposed to say to this guy?
She laughed nervously. "That's Angela. You'll have to excuse her, she's always taking off like that."
"Really?" Chris asked amused, as he slid into the chair that the disappearing Angela had vacated.
"Yeah," Erina smiled at him. And then under her breath she added, "And I'll get her back for it too."
"What?" Chris asked. He was no fool. He knew how Erina felt now that her friend had left. And he knew how Angela would probably get a lecture for her sudden departure later.
"Oh, nothing," Erina answered, trying very hard to remember how to breathe.
Chris smiled at her and Erina forgot all about breathing.
'The reason I came over here," he started, leaning forward a bit in his chair, "was because I wanted to apologize for how I acted earlier. It was really rude of me."
Erina smiled. Was that it? That was all? Well, she thought, I can handle this. Some of the tension fell away form her shoulders. "Oh don't worry about it. You had reason to be upset."
"Yeah, but I shouldn't have been. I mean, it was an accident." Both Chris and Erina exhaled. Somewhere along the way it had gotten easier to talk to the other one. Most of the original awkwardness was already disappearing.
"What about your shirt, though?" Erina asked, cautiously.
"It's not mine," Chris answered easily. "It belongs to my friend Shawn. We work together."
"Oh," Erina replied and was about to ask what he did as a job when Angela rushed over to their table again.
"Erina, we have to go, I didn't realize we had been out so long. My mom is going to kill me if we don't get home soon," Angela said, as she grabbed Erina's wrist and pulled her to her feet.
"Okay," Erina said and she turned back to Chris. "It was nice meeting you....Chris."
"You too, Erina," he said, somewhat disappointed that she had to leave so soon. He had just started to get to know her and now she had to leave.
Chris didn't even bother saying anything about seeing the two girls around sometime because he knew that in all inevitability, he would never see them again. They lived in New York and he lived in Canada. Too far away.
"And it was nice meeting you too," Angela mentioned to Chris and she stuck out her hand for him to shake. Automatically, he accepted the offered hand and shook it, even though his eyes were on Erina the whole time.
And as he pulled away from Angela's hand, he felt her hand something to him. A small piece of paper. He looked at her quickly, pretty sure of what it was. Angela winked at him and then started to pull Erina away towards the main door to the store.
"Bye," he called out and Erina turned and smiled.
"Bye," she called back and then they disappeared through the door.
Chris sat at the table trying very hard to listen to what his friends were saying, but it was hard to focus on their words. He was thinking about what had happened to him in that store today.
"Well, we should probably be going," Danso mentioned and he stood up from the table.
Jackie followed his lead and then stretched. "I'm going to go to the ladies room before we leave. I'll meet you guys out in the car, okay?"
The two guys nodded and then she walked away in search of the bathrooms. Danso started walking away from the table and then noticed that his friend was not following him.
"Hey, Chris, you comin'?" he asked, turning back towards where his friend still sat.
Chris sighed. "Yeah, I'm comin'."
Danso nodded and then turned around and continued his trek to the door. Man, Chris is acting way weird, he thought as he pushed the door open. Way weird.
Chris sighed again and then stood up slowly. A good night's sleep was all he needed, he decided. Then he would feel as right as rain again.
Chris started walking towards the door but stopped when he heard a voice behind him.
"Sir, sir!" The voice called in earnest.
Chris turned around and saw one of the bookstore's employees hurrying towards him with something in his hands. When he reached Chris, the employee handed the backpack over to Chris. "Your lady friend left this in one of the aisles," he explained.
"Thanks," Chris said.
"No problem," the employee said and then he turned away to clean up the mess of coffee that someone had dumped over in the writing aisle.
Chris stood there for a minute, confused. He hadn't remembered Jackie bringing a bag in with her to the store. Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention, he thought. He shrugged and walked out of the store, backpack in hand.
***Two hours later****
Chris sat back ion his seat and felt the plane take off from the ground. Jackie sat next to him, waiting impatiently for the seatbelts light to flash off so that she could go talk to her friend Reagan, who sat a few rows up.
"Oh, hey," Chris remarked as he turned to look at Jackie. "Guess what you almost left in the bookstore."
"Mmmm.....nothing?" Jackie guessed because frankly, she could not remember leaving anything in the bookstore.
"Wrong," Chris said, smiling. "You left your bag there." He said and he reached down by his feet where the bag sat. He pulled it up from the floor of the plane and plopped it down on Jackie's lap.
"You can thank me later," he remarked, seeing the surprise on her face and misreading it for gratitude.
"Um, Chris," Jackie started, not knowing how to tell her friend the truth. "This is not my bag."
Many, many miles away, Erina sat watching television in Angela's living room. The show they were watching was really funny and it gave Erina an idea to use in her book. She stood from the couch, intent on getting the notepad out of her bag and writing the new idea down on it.
"Hey Angela," she asked confused. "Where is my bag?"
Please, please review and tell me what you think. Thanks lots.
Angela settled into her chair and stirred her coffee slowly. She was watching her friend, Erina, who sat across form her. A look that could be interpreted as pain sat hard on Erina's face. Angela tried not to smile as she watched her friend shift uncomfortably in her chair.
Yes, they had spotted the guy that Erina had spilled coffee on. It was pretty hard to miss him, seeing how he had a huge brown stain on the front of his shirt. And it just so happened that the guy was only sitting a few tables away.
Of course, Angela had planned the seating arrangement this way. She could tell that Erina liked the guy, even if her friend would never admit it. Angela could still see the horrified look on Erina's face when she realized that her chair gave her the perfect view of the coffee victim. And it gives him a good view of Erina, Angela thought happily. As for herself, Angela had sunk innocently into her own chair and watched as Erina tried to act as if everything was okay.
This is not good, Erina thought. She sat on the edge of her chair, waiting impatiently for Angela to drink her darn coffee. Since when did she drink so slowly, Erina wondered, her heart pounding in her chest. As if she could read Erina's thoughts, Angela raised her cup to her lips and took one small, dainty sip. Erina almost died on the spot from nerves.
To Erina, is bad enough that the guy was in the café sitting only a few tables away from them. but, what made it worse, was the fact that Erina had a perfect view of him. If he looked up, she thought miserably, he would see me.
The guy was sitting with two of his friends. Together, the three of them looked vaguely familiar to Erina. She wracked her brain, trying to decide where he had seen them before. But, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't place them. that's odd, she thought. Usually I do not forget people so easily. Had she met them at a party? School?
Her eyes darted over to the guy again and she saw that he was talking to his friends. She did have to admit he truly was handsome. His high cheekbones and soulful brown eyes probably attracted girls for miles around, Erina thought. And his mouth. Ah, Erina sighed, the romantic in her alive and thriving. His mouth is the kind of mouth made to smile, she thought.
Just then, he did smile and Erina almost fell out of her chair. Oh wow, she thought, her eyes widening and her mouth falling open. I was right, she thought semi-satisfied. It was made to smile.
Chris had seen the girl as soon s she had walked into the café. He had watched as she and her friend had scanned the café as if looking for someone in particular. And when her eyes had landed on his own, she had turned away quickly, but not before Chris had seen her face turn a very interesting shade of cherry red.
Now, she sat just a few tables away from him and his friends. His eyes had flicked her way a couple of times since she had sat down. She looked like a scared rabbit, the way she was sitting on the edge of her chair. Any minute now, he expected to see her jump up and run out of the café.
"Hey, earth to Chris," Jackie, his friend said, punching him in the arm lightly. "I was talking to you."
Chris took his eyes away from the girl and refocused them and his mind on his friend, who sat next to him. "Sorry," He said.
"It's okay," Jackie replied. "I was just wondering what you were going to say to Shawn about his shirt."
"I'll just tell him the truth. Some girl ran into me and dumped coffee all over me."
Danso, Chris' other friend, chuckled. "Yeah, the girls are always falling all over themselves to get to you," he joked.
Jackie and Danso laughed, as they knew how their friend had quite a female following. It didn't help that he played a rebel on the show. Some girls were always attracted to the rebel.
Chris just smiled.
"Close your mouth. You look weird," Angela remarked, taking another small sip of her coffee. It was starting to cool off and Angela wasn't sure how much longer she could just sip it before it became stone cold. How long is this guy going to take before he comes over here to talk to Erina, she wondered.
Erina didn't appear to hear her as she continued to stare past Angela's shoulder, presumably t the guy she had spilled coffee on. And that, Angela thought, is why I gave you the good view of him.
Suddenly Erina's eyes dropped to the table in front of her. Angela raised an eyebrow in surprise, but said nothing. She waited, wondering if Erina would explain her action.
"He's looking over here," Erina hissed at Angela, not looking up for fear of meeting his eyes.
"So look up at him and smile," Angela suggested, shrugging her shoulders. This, she knew, was where Erina and herself differed. Angela was much more outgoing than her friend and she would never have been so embarrassed as Erina had by spilling coffee all over someone.
But, Erina was shy and on top of that, she still felt bad because of what had happened. A dangerous combination, Angela thought. She can't even look at the guy without blushing.
Chris, indeed, had looked at her because he had felt her eyes on him. He had just known that she was watching him. And he had seen how quickly her eyes had dropped to the table when he looked at her.
Chris sighed. He shouldn't have been so hard on her. It just wasn't like him to snap at someone so easily like that. After all, it had been just a silly accident. Since Chris had had time to cool down, he realized that there was no harm done. Who knows, he thought. Maybe the coffee will wash out. Then the shirt will be as good as new again. But, would he feel any better about the situation? No, he could not just leave it the way it was. He knew he had to fix things so that there would be no hard feelings.
"I'll be right back," he said to Jackie and Danso, who were deep in discussion about the season finale of their show. They both nodded in his direction as he stood and then they resumed their conversation as he moved away from their table.
"Oh my God," Erina whispered as she stole another glance in the guy's direction. All of the color drained from her face as she realized that her own personal nightmare was not over yet. Humiliation was again inevitable.
"What?" Angela asked, forgetting all about her planning. She turned around in her seat and looked in the direction of where she knew the guy was sitting. But, he wasn't sitting anymore. He was walking. Towards them.
"Oh boy," Angela mumbled and turned back around in her seat just as Chris reached their table. Erina looked at her friend, her eyes pleading for help. But, Angela just looked away and sipped at her stone cold coffee. You're on your own, she thought slyly.
Slowly, eyes wide with a mixture of light fear and surprise, Erina looked up into Chris' eyes.
"Um, hi," Chris said, feeling a bit awkward. How do you strike up a conversation with a perfect stranger, he wondered.
"Hi," Erina returned weakly. She felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment. I haven't done anything yet, she scolded herself and then tried desperately to make her cheeks return to their natural color.
Chris smiled as he realized the girl before him was feeling as weird as he was. Well, that does make things a bit easier, he thought. Also, he noticed, her cheeks had turned red again.
"I'm Chris," he said casually after a few seconds of silence.
"And this is Erina and I'm going to go find out what time it is." Angela said before her friend could reply. Angela slipped out of her seat and was off towards the café counter before Erina could protest. She hadn't meant ot be somewhat rude to Chris, but Angela had wanted to find someway to get out of there fast. They need to talk, she consoled herself. They need to talk alone.
Angela smiled as she reached the counter. All she wanted to see was Erina happy. And she could tell by watching her friend that she liked this guy named Chris, even if he did have a big coffee stain on his shirt. All Erina needed, was a push in the right direction. And I am just the person to give her that kind of push, she thought.
Angela asked the cashier behind the counter for a piece of paper and a pen.
I am so going to hurt Angela if I live through this, she vowed silently. She couldn't believe that her friend had just left her there, in the face of doom. What was she supposed to do now?
Erina didn't dare to take her eyes off Chris for fear of missing one of his dazzling smiles. But, he was just staring at her as f waiting for her to say something. What was she supposed to say to this guy?
She laughed nervously. "That's Angela. You'll have to excuse her, she's always taking off like that."
"Really?" Chris asked amused, as he slid into the chair that the disappearing Angela had vacated.
"Yeah," Erina smiled at him. And then under her breath she added, "And I'll get her back for it too."
"What?" Chris asked. He was no fool. He knew how Erina felt now that her friend had left. And he knew how Angela would probably get a lecture for her sudden departure later.
"Oh, nothing," Erina answered, trying very hard to remember how to breathe.
Chris smiled at her and Erina forgot all about breathing.
'The reason I came over here," he started, leaning forward a bit in his chair, "was because I wanted to apologize for how I acted earlier. It was really rude of me."
Erina smiled. Was that it? That was all? Well, she thought, I can handle this. Some of the tension fell away form her shoulders. "Oh don't worry about it. You had reason to be upset."
"Yeah, but I shouldn't have been. I mean, it was an accident." Both Chris and Erina exhaled. Somewhere along the way it had gotten easier to talk to the other one. Most of the original awkwardness was already disappearing.
"What about your shirt, though?" Erina asked, cautiously.
"It's not mine," Chris answered easily. "It belongs to my friend Shawn. We work together."
"Oh," Erina replied and was about to ask what he did as a job when Angela rushed over to their table again.
"Erina, we have to go, I didn't realize we had been out so long. My mom is going to kill me if we don't get home soon," Angela said, as she grabbed Erina's wrist and pulled her to her feet.
"Okay," Erina said and she turned back to Chris. "It was nice meeting you....Chris."
"You too, Erina," he said, somewhat disappointed that she had to leave so soon. He had just started to get to know her and now she had to leave.
Chris didn't even bother saying anything about seeing the two girls around sometime because he knew that in all inevitability, he would never see them again. They lived in New York and he lived in Canada. Too far away.
"And it was nice meeting you too," Angela mentioned to Chris and she stuck out her hand for him to shake. Automatically, he accepted the offered hand and shook it, even though his eyes were on Erina the whole time.
And as he pulled away from Angela's hand, he felt her hand something to him. A small piece of paper. He looked at her quickly, pretty sure of what it was. Angela winked at him and then started to pull Erina away towards the main door to the store.
"Bye," he called out and Erina turned and smiled.
"Bye," she called back and then they disappeared through the door.
Chris sat at the table trying very hard to listen to what his friends were saying, but it was hard to focus on their words. He was thinking about what had happened to him in that store today.
"Well, we should probably be going," Danso mentioned and he stood up from the table.
Jackie followed his lead and then stretched. "I'm going to go to the ladies room before we leave. I'll meet you guys out in the car, okay?"
The two guys nodded and then she walked away in search of the bathrooms. Danso started walking away from the table and then noticed that his friend was not following him.
"Hey, Chris, you comin'?" he asked, turning back towards where his friend still sat.
Chris sighed. "Yeah, I'm comin'."
Danso nodded and then turned around and continued his trek to the door. Man, Chris is acting way weird, he thought as he pushed the door open. Way weird.
Chris sighed again and then stood up slowly. A good night's sleep was all he needed, he decided. Then he would feel as right as rain again.
Chris started walking towards the door but stopped when he heard a voice behind him.
"Sir, sir!" The voice called in earnest.
Chris turned around and saw one of the bookstore's employees hurrying towards him with something in his hands. When he reached Chris, the employee handed the backpack over to Chris. "Your lady friend left this in one of the aisles," he explained.
"Thanks," Chris said.
"No problem," the employee said and then he turned away to clean up the mess of coffee that someone had dumped over in the writing aisle.
Chris stood there for a minute, confused. He hadn't remembered Jackie bringing a bag in with her to the store. Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention, he thought. He shrugged and walked out of the store, backpack in hand.
***Two hours later****
Chris sat back ion his seat and felt the plane take off from the ground. Jackie sat next to him, waiting impatiently for the seatbelts light to flash off so that she could go talk to her friend Reagan, who sat a few rows up.
"Oh, hey," Chris remarked as he turned to look at Jackie. "Guess what you almost left in the bookstore."
"Mmmm.....nothing?" Jackie guessed because frankly, she could not remember leaving anything in the bookstore.
"Wrong," Chris said, smiling. "You left your bag there." He said and he reached down by his feet where the bag sat. He pulled it up from the floor of the plane and plopped it down on Jackie's lap.
"You can thank me later," he remarked, seeing the surprise on her face and misreading it for gratitude.
"Um, Chris," Jackie started, not knowing how to tell her friend the truth. "This is not my bag."
Many, many miles away, Erina sat watching television in Angela's living room. The show they were watching was really funny and it gave Erina an idea to use in her book. She stood from the couch, intent on getting the notepad out of her bag and writing the new idea down on it.
"Hey Angela," she asked confused. "Where is my bag?"
Please, please review and tell me what you think. Thanks lots.