Chapter 2: Somebody
"At a diner down on Broadway they make small talk
When she brings his eggs and fills his coffee cup
He jokes about his love life
And tells her he's 'bout ready to give up
That's when she says,"I've been there before
But keep on lookin' 'cause maybe who you're lookin' for is...
Somebody in the next car
Somebody on the morning train
Somebody in the coffee shop
That you walk right by everyday
Somebody that you look at
But never really see
Somewhere out there is somebody"
Stella sat alone in her favorite little Greek restaurant talking to the waiter. "I really don't know. Vic loves me but I guess I just don't feel the same way about him. I'm about to give up on trying to find someone."
"Aw, Stel, don't give up. You'll find someone someday who loves you and who you love that isn't going to harm you. You need someone who can get past the strong you and into the real you. Maybe you've already met this person and just don't know it yet," the waiter says.
"Thanks for your help," Stella says and hands him the money to pay for her meal.
"Across town in a crowded elevator
He can't forget the things that waitress said
He usually reads the paper
But today he reads a stranger's face instead
It's that blue-eyed girl from two floors up
Maybe she's the one maybe he could fall in love with
Somebody in the next car
Somebody on the morning train
Somebody in the coffee shop
That you walk right by everyday
Somebody that you look at
But never really see
Somewhere out there is somebody"
"Mac, I'm heading out. Don't stay to long," Stella says before she turns to leave.
"Where are you going?" Mac looks up from his paperwork.
"To breakup with my boyfriend," Stella turns back. "Why?"
"Oh, well good luck with that," Mac has an expression in his eyes that Stella has seen only once before. It stays for only a second, and Stella finds herself seeing him differently.
"You want to go grab something to drink tomorrow after work?"
"Sure, see you tomorrow then I guess."
"Now they laugh about the moment that it happened
A moment they'd both missed until that day
When he saw his future in her eyes
Instead of just another friendly face
And he wonders why he searched so long
When she was always there at that diner waiting on
Somebody in the next car
Somebody on the morning train
Somebody in the coffee shop
That you walk right on by everyday
Somebody that you look at
But never really see
Somewhere out there is somebody"
Stella sat on her couch watching reruns of Law and Order, picking out all the flaws while eating ice cream out of the container when her cell phone rang. Seeing Mac's number instead of her ex-boyfriend's she answers, "Hey, Mac, you need me to come in?"
"No, are you at home?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Just wondering if I could come over for a while. What are you doing?"
"Eating a pint of ice cream and watching tv. Come on over and join me."
"Did your boyfriend take the news that badly?"
"No, now get over here so we can talk in person."
---CSI: NY---
"So," Mac says when he arrives, making her jump because she didn't hear the door open. "Why are you eating all that ice cream?"
"Because I am thirty-six and have no husband or kids, and right now not even a boyfriend. I think there's another pint in the freezer if you want it."
Mac moves in front of the tv so she can't see and takes the container from her. "If you're sitting alone in your apartment, you're not going to meet any one, are you?"
All of a sudden she remembers what the waiter told her: Maybe she already knew her someone and just didn't know it yet. She realizes that Mac was her someone, but he is still grieving is wife. 'Well, I've been there for him before and I'll be there for him now,' she thinks. Thinking back to earlier and the unreadable look in his eyes, she identifies it now as the beginning of love. On an impulse she stands up and kisses his cheek softly and waits for his reaction. He responds by kissing her lips gently, not pressuring her if her kiss was not what he thought it was. And as she stood there kissing Mac, Stella knew she had found her "Somebody."
"Somebody that you look at
But never really see
Somewhere out there is somebody"
A/N: "Somebody" by Reba McEntire. I know the song is about a guy who meets a waitress and feels the same way Stella does. And he falls in love with someone he knew and had become friends with. The story wouldn't have worked from Mac's POV so I decided to use Stella 'cause I think she kinda does feel this way. Please read and review. I'm typing as fast as I can.