Chapter 1
She smiled widely as she stepped out of her small black BMW. She made sure her dark chocolate hair was still slightly curled under and there were no fly-aways. She smoothed her red t-shirt that was slightly wrinkled from the car ride and checked her khaki pants and sandals just to make sure that all was in place. She wanted to look her best for her first appearance since she had returned. She had needed to come back for a long time now. But certain things had kept her away. She frowned as she thought about all the secrets she would and had to keep from her best friend Maria. But she kept her attitude positive and changed her mindset at once. She placed a smile back on her face. She knew she would see her dear friend in just moments and didn't want her to be worried or suspicious. The bell over the door rang as she walked into the café.
She smiled her best smile at everyone there as she scanned the room for Maria. The place was very busy because it was near lunch time, so when she didn't see her, she quickly made her way to the bar and sat on one of the stools. She looked around once more and really noticed the alien theme of the restaurant. Her smile faded as a thought came to mind but she quickly made it vanish and turned her glance towards the kitchen. She saw an attractive young man who she assumed to be the cook. He had light brown hair that occasionally fell in his brown eyes. He was well built and didn't really look like an ordinary cook. When he turned and looked up, his eyes met hers. She felt a little embarrassed but still greeted him with a small smile. He returned the greeting with a nod and then turned quickly back into the kitchen. Just moments later, a petite longhaired blonde girl came bursting through the two swinging doors that led to the backroom. She had a huge smile on her face and she headed straight for the bar.
"Liz! Oh my gosh!" she practically squealed and hugged Liz as hard as she could.
"Maria! I am so glad to see you!" Liz exclaimed, giving as hard as a squeeze as she could. "I have missed you so much!"
"Oh my gosh. Well, let me look at you," Maria said, breaking away from their fierce embrace. "You look great! But I don't think you've changed that much. You are still my same ole Liz," she said, giving Liz a large grin.
"Wow Maria, it's so good to see you again. Letters and phone calls just aren't the same, you know?"
"Yeah, I know. We really need to talk. How was your- "
"Maria!" a loud, rough, male voice called out from the kitchen.
Maria shot her glance over to where the cook was and gave him a glare. He just pointed his finger at a table across the room and frowned. Maria turned to see some customers frowning and then looked back at Liz.
"Ugh! That is my wonderful, dashing boyfriend, Michael," Maria said, rolling her eyes. "We've been friends, as you know from my letters, but we have only been officially dating for about a month. Well, I guess I've got to get back to work. But you can stay if you want and when I get a break we can talk some more or you could just come by the house tonight."
"Well, actually, I need to go and check out the apartment that I am supposed to start renting. I wanted to come by here first though. We will definitely get together tonight though. I'll call you, okay?"
"That sounds great! Oh! I am so glad you are back," Maria said, giving Liz one more hug before she left. "I'll talk to you tonight."
"Okay. Bye!"
Liz rose off the barstool and turned to leave. As she got to the door, she went ahead and got her keys out of her small black purse that she had taken in with her. As she moved through the door glancing down, a large, strong shoulder slammed into her and almost knocked her over. She hurriedly looked up and glared at the man who had run into her. Her glare didn't last long, though, when she saw how handsome he was with his dark coffee hair and suntanned face. She quickly gathered herself and began to walk out once again.
"Watch where you're going!" said the blonde girl walking in with the handsome man. Liz looked at her and then the man who held her hand. He looked at her with his gorgeous brown eyes and said nothing.
"Sorry," Liz said quickly and hurried out the door.
"Come on, Max. Let's sit down," said the blonde.
Max turned to his girlfriend and slightly smiled. As she started to lead them to a table, Max turned and glanced at the beautiful girl he had just run into and grinned.