"So?" Weiss sat back in the chair, his coffee cup warming up his cold hands.
"So what?" Vaughn picked his drink up from the table infront of them and took a sip.
"Am I gonna get to hear about dinner last night?" They both had no patients for the afternoon, so Weiss had suggested that they go to Starbucks for a coffee. They had been there for twenty minutes and Vaughn still hadn't mentioned anything about the night before.
Vaughn nodded. "It was nice!"
"Nice? I'm gonna need a little more than nice…"
"You're as bad as women when it comes to gossip, you do know that right?" Michael joked, while Weiss glared at him.
"Humour me!"
Vaughn sighed, realising that he was going to have to tell him something about the night before. "It was great. Francie made me feel really welcome…"
"And the brunette?" Weiss cut in, wanting to hear about Sydney. Michael thought carefully about his friend's question. He just didn't know where to start with his answer. After spending just a few hours with her, he knew that she was a kind, caring person, who was very intelligent and fun to be around.
"Sydney…is amazing." He could continue the list on, but decided that that would be the only information that Weiss would get.
"Did you kiss her?"
Michael's eyes feel to the table as he sighed. He had relived the last few minutes that he had spent with her over and over again in his head, and each time he had kissed her instead of walking away. "No."
Weiss laughed, thinking that Vaughn was joking, but Vaughn's face was serious. "Why not?"
Vaughn shrugged and sat back in the chair. "I guess it just didn't feel right!" He lied; he had absolutely no idea why he hadn't kissed her.
Weiss sat forward and stared at his friend. "What's not to feel right? You like her don't you?" Vaughn nodded. "And she likes you?"
"I don't…"
"Vaughn!" Weiss cut in again. He knew that this would be the part of the conversation where Vaughn would get all modest and say that she didn't like him, when in reality they both knew that she did.
"Ok, I suppose she does…" Judging by the way that she was acting around him the night before, Vaughn would say that there was a chance that she liked him.
"So then where is your problem?"
He ran his hand through his already tousled hair and shook his head. "I don't know. I guess I'm just an idiot!"
"Yeah, you got that right!"
"Ok class, I want you all to finish writing your analysis of Act 2 Scene 3. Make sure you all include the language that Shakespeare uses, and what effect he's trying to create!" Sydney stacked up the piles of paper that were on her desk as he class filed out at the end of the day. Unlike most people, she could wake up every morning and look forward to going to work. She gathered the papers that she needed to mark that night, and walked out of the classroom. She took her cell phone out of her bag and started to make a call.
"Hey Fran, it's me." She made her way through the crowds of students that lined the hallways. "Are you still at the restaurant?"
"Yeah, and it looks like I'm gonna be here for a lot longer!" Francie sighed down the phone.
Sydney exited the building and walked over to her car. "Well how about I stop by on the way home and we can have a little chat. I've got some time before I start grading these papers…" Sydney suggested, as she got into her car and placed her work on the back seat.
"Yeah that'll be great. I haven't had a proper break all day!"
"Ok, I'll grab some coffee for us on the way over."
"Great. See you soon!" Sydney hung up the phone and tossed it on the seat next to her.
She drove to the nearest Starbucks and locked up the car. She walked into the small coffee shop and joined the back of the queue.
"So I was thinking about asking Tina out, you know that receptionist who just started last week…" Weiss started a new conversation, sensing that Vaughn no longer wanted to talk about Sydney.
"Oh right…" Weiss carried on talking, but Vaughn's attention was no longer on what his friend was saying. The tall brunette that had walked in only seconds before had stole his attention. She brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear, allowing him to see her face. He smiled to himself as he recognised her.
Weiss realised that he wasn't being listened to and stopped talking. "Dude, what are you looking at?"
Vaughn took his eyes away from Sydney long enough to look at his friend. "Nothing!" He shrugged, a shy smile on his face. Not believing him, Weiss turned around to see the woman who he had been staring at. She was wearing a grey skirt and black top, which hugged her slender figure. "So I see you're already over this Sydney chick, hey?" Weiss joked as he turned back around.
Vaughn rolled his eyes and sighed. "No dumbass, that is Sydney!"
Weiss cleared his throat and smiled. "Yeah, I knew that!" He tried to cover up his stupidity, but Vaughn just laughed at him. "So, remind me again why you're sitting here with me, while she's over there?" He quickly started talking again, wanting to move the conversation away from his earlier mistake.
"I can't just walk up to her and start talking!" Weiss raised his eyebrows at him. "Can I?"
"Do you ever want to kiss her? Go on a date with her?" Vaughn nodded. "Well go and talk to her!" Weiss rolled his eyes and took a sip of his coffee.
"You're right. I can do this." He stood up and took a deep breath as he walked towards her.
Sydney stepped towards the counter and smiled. "Hi, can I have two tall cappuccinos to take out please?"
"That'll be 5.50 all together." Sydney opened her purse and handed her the money.
"Sydney?"
Sydney turned around and smiled. "Hi Michael." He gave her a smile that made her cheeks redden slightly, and she had to look away to avoid staring at his smile.
"How are you?" He didn't know what he was supposed to say to her, so he stuck to a polite conversation starter.
"I'm really good thanks…"
"Miss, here's your coffee." The girl handed her two cups of hot coffee.
"Thanks." Sydney turned back towards Michael. "I had a really great time last night!" Sydney smiled at him.
"Yeah, me too."
Sydney looked at her watch and sighed. "I gotta run, I'm meeting Francie at the restaurant." He nodded, but she noticed that his smile had faded a little. "It was nice seeing you again Michael…"
"Yeah you too. Bye Syd." He watched as she walked away from him and out of the coffee shop. What the hell was that? Why did I not ask her out? Mentally kicking himself, Vaughn sat back down opposite Weiss.
"So…how did it go?"
"It's official. I am an idiot!" Vaughn sighed, resting his head in his hands.
"You didn't ask her out?" Weiss couldn't believe what he was hearing. Usually Vaughn had no problems asking women out, what was so different now? Vaughn shook his head. "Go find her now! She's only gonna be outside!" Weiss encouraged him.
Vaughn looked up for a second and decided that Weiss was right. He stood up and ran out of the coffee shop, looking down the street for any sign of Sydney. He started to panic, as he couldn't find her, all he could see where strangers walking past, going about their day. He was about to give up, when he spotted her across the street opening her car door. Without thinking, he ran into the road, receiving a few beeps from angry drivers.
"Sydney, wait up." He safely made it to the other side of the road, and stopped beside her car.
"Michael, is everything ok?" She asked, concern in her voice. She had no idea why he had followed her out of Starbucks, but the smile on her face told her that it was nothing too serious.
"Yeah, it's great. I just wanted to ask you if you would like to go out sometime. Like on a date…" He trailed off and looked at her. He hadn't even thought what he would do if she said no, and he hoped that he wouldn't have to find out.
