"Excuse me; you seem to be a little lost. Do you need any directions, any help?" He asked her simply.
She turned quickly, slightly startled but smiled, following with a small laugh, "Um, a little, I'm new in the city," she stated moving a piece of her blonde hair from her face as she gazed upon him for a moment, unconsciously smiling larger. "Um, is there a place to eat around here?" She asks composing herself as she readjusted the backpack on her back.
"Yeah," he said with a smile before turning his body and pointing down the street with his index finger. "There's a nice little café down the block. Has some exquisite sandwiches and wraps and coffee that makes you think you're in heaven." He said enticingly as he glanced back at her. "I can take you there if you want. My treat." He offered with a bright smile.
She hesitated a moment but then smiled with a nod. "Sure, but afterwards, would you mind bringing me back here? It takes me a moment to gather my surroundings." She admitted biting her lip slightly recalling her horrible memory. "Oh, and I'm Grace," She added holding gout her hand to her new friend, a very cute friend, she thought.
He nodded, confirming he would fulfill her wish. "Nick. Nick Morrison." He stated before taking her hand and shaking it gently. "You have a lovely name Grace." He claimed with a small smirk on his lips.
"Thank you," she says with a genuine smile as she shakes your hand. She states many complements in her head, only to not say a word as she releases his hand, herself trying but failing to not be shy. "So, I assume you live here?" She states starting to walk past and beside him in the direction he pointed.
"If by live here, you mean New York, then yes. I don't live in this area, I just know it well. I work at that building back there." He explained with a smile as he walked next to her, and indicated to the building behind them with this thumb.
Glancing back slightly up at the high building, her lips parted slightly, whoa. "That's pretty cool," she stated returning her gaze back to in front of her so she did not run into anyone. "So, let me guess, cute rich boy?" She slightly joked smiling at him with a small laugh.
"Really? I only get cute?" He asked jokingly and chuckled lightly with her seeing her blush a little. He admired her for a brief moment before speaking. "Okay, so you figured me out but I can't really figure you out except that this is your first time in New York. What brings you to the city that never sleeps, paved with streets of gold?" He asked curiously with a hint of humor in his voice along with a small grin plastered to his face.
"Well I mean, I could have said more, complements," She says smiling wider and laughs a little more, then pauses with a small shrug and looks at the sidewalk as they walk. "You mean streets painted with fake gold or…?" she laughed some more then looked back at him, "Just needed a change I guess, always wanted to come here." She stated with a soft smile, slowing her white teeth.
He nodded, understanding what she meant. "There is actually gold in these streets though, you just have to know where to look." He said with a million dollar but genuine smile directed towards her before stopping as they reached their destination. There was a red sign pinned to the front of the café with the words 'Cherry Vine' written on it. There was also a large glass window that allowed a view into the café. The inside was filled with small tales and stools and a counter where the cashier was located and behind the cashier was a small section where the kitchen was located. Nick then grabbed the handle of the glass door and opened it for Grace.
"Thank you," she said kindly walking inside as her eyes wondered around the nice face, one that took to her liking. Turning slightly back to Nick, she waited for him to come with her, letting him pick where they sat. "You come here often?" She asks, her soft smile seeming permanent on her face.
"Yeah. Lunch breaks from time to time." He said as he led her to a table in the middle of the café. Being the gentleman he was, he pulled out the chair for her.
Grinning a bit she thanked him again as she sat down glancing at the few things on the table, her eyes still slightly wondering around the place until they landed back on you as you sat down. "Thank you, for bringing me here, I hope I didn't take you away from anything." She says kindly not wanting to be a bother.
"No. If anything I'm glad I'm away from it." HE stated with a smile as he sat down. "I'm just doing my civic duty fi you will." As he spoke, he made eye contact with her. He didn't stare; he simply just admired the blue color of her eyes.
"Civic duty?" She asked smiling as she looked into his eyes. "You mean picking up a girl to get away from work?" She couldn't help the slight humor in her voice, not taking offence, or a compliment.
"Call it what you will," He retorted effortlessly with the same amount of humor. "So where are you from?" He inquired curiously as his interest in the woman opposite of him was high. "I don't like judging books by their covers but I have a good idea where." He added.
She couldn't help but to grin and roll her eyes some. "Then why don't you guess?" She states keeping her smile and placing a hand under her chin. "There's no doubt you are from here right? New York?" She asks as well.
"You would be right," he said before leaning forward slightly, "But you know what they say about assuming." He said sporting a smirk. "By the way that you dress and the way that you speak, you come from somewhere like Tennessee? Alabama maybe?" He deduced as he sat back a bit in his chair but kept eye contact with her.
She grinned more as she bit her bottom lip slightly as he assumed dead on. "Tennessee," She said with a small laugh leaning back in her seat as well, trying not to have too much of an accent. She glances up as a petite waitress comes asking or their drinks. She looked down as if there was a menu then quickly back up towards the waitress. "Tea please," she stated knowing that had to be a universal drink.
He smiled at her choice, surprised by how well she handled the pressure of not knowing what was on the menu. "You can give me a Café Americano. Thank you." He smiled and nodded at the waitress who appeared to gaze at him extra and smile as she left. "I told you that I didn't want to assume. I'm usually right." He continued the conversation as if it was never held off.
"Mr. Always right~," She said with a little laugh and slightly blushed at his choice feeling like she was slightly out of her element. "That's not a bad thing though," She comments with a smile.
"Not when you're a person who likes surprises, like meeting a stranger on a sidewalk." He caught a glimpse of her blush but returned the smile.
"You like surprises?" She asks smiling as the waitress comes back with their drinks. She goes to take a drink of her tea, a micro expression appearing as she notices immediately it's unsweetened because apparently the north did not know recognize sweet tea but thank god she drunk both, she thought.
"I like good surprises." He said once the waitress left. He glanced down at his order, a trail of steam coming from the brown liquid inside the porcelain cup. "Bad surprises not so much." He added before grabbing the handle of the cup and brining the cup close to his mouth. He blew on it lightly before taking a brief sip.
"Surprises either way are alright, I'd rather know what' going on most of the time good or bad," She states taking a drink of her warm dark liquid. "But I agree with you."
"So you're saying you can handle almost any surprise thrown at you?" He raised his eyebrow slightly and smirked confidently.
She hesitates slightly thinking. "I think I could, I mean, I'd want to, I think." She states being caught off guard slightly. "I think I can handle anything surprise or not," she finally states a smiling returning to her lips.
He chuckled lightly at her scrambling for words. "So you're a thinker." He joked at how many times she said 'think'.
Not noticing her speech she nodded with a smile. "Yeah, definitely," She states before taking another drink.
"What are you plans for your visit, Grace?" He asked curiously as he realized that the sudden encounter with her wouldn't last forever. "Gonna do the normal tourist stuff?"
"Actually I planned on staying, going to try and find a job somewhere and start over I guess." She stated with a small shrug relaxing in her chair as she thought about it.
He held back an exuberant smile as he heard her statement. "Sounds a bit...risky." He said before a moment of silence. "But there's no better place to start over I guess. Do you have any family here?"
"No," she said her tone a bit lower than usual as she got another drink then looked back towards him. "Yeah; kind of like the Irish and others came to New York for opportunity, right," She asked changing the subject off of family.
"Yeah..." He took longer sip of his drink before putting back down on the table. "Well, Grace. If you ever need help, here's my card. He reached into his jacket pocket and extracted a small white card with black writing on it and handed it to her.
She took the card looking it over, and gazed back up at him with a smile. "Okay, thanks." She said smiling at the charming man she had met on the street. "Do you know any good restaurants around here, maybe hiring?" She asked with a little laugh, waitressing coming to her mind as the waitress came, gazing at Nick once again, the check falling to the floor as she became distracted by the seemingly perfect man.
"What about here?" He suggested confidently. "I know the manager and owner here. He might let you work here if you're qualified. I'm sure-" He squinted his eyes a bit to see the name tag on the waitress' uniform. "Alyssa here wouldn't mind a helping hand. He stated with a smile to the waitress which she returned as she accepted the bill from Grace.
"Really?" She said with a smile glancing back from Nick towards the waitress as she laid the piece of paper on the table, "Oh, I've got it." Grace states going towards her pocket. The waitress gave a slight annoyed look as Nick mentioned she needed help her lusting expression for him now gone as she watched the blonde girl.
"You don't have to. I am the one who brought you here." He objected as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a twenty dollar bill. A smile was plastered to his face as he thought of seeing Grace here regularly. It would be a nice change in his world.
"Are you sure?" She asks smiling, the waitress finally taking the bill and his money. "You said you come here for lunch sometimes? Maybe we can see each other again sometime." She suggested her smile large at the thought of seeing him again as well.
"Sure." He said simply with a gleeful smile.
She just smiles and glances outside, the afternoon seeming to turn later faster than usual. "Well I'll see if I can get a job here then," she stated with a smile glancing back at him.
"And I'll help as much as I can." He said as he smiled and made eye contact with her again and simply remained silent for a moment.
"Thank you," she says kindly, smiling at you and enjoying the small silence they shared.
"Well Grace, it was nice meeting you, and I plan to hear from you soon." He said glancing at his watching, remembering a few other chores he had to accomplish this evening. He stood watching her watch him, it was kind of cute, he thought.
"Oh, likewise," She said sweetly staying in her seat, "I'll call you." She adds with a small nod smiling more as he moves towards her and smiles down at her.
"Good," He states sporting his million dollar smile. "It was really nice meeting you." He adds in a more soft tone as if he was deciding what to do next; but he just smiles and heads towards the door leaving the blonde smiling, her thoughts running crazy.