Finally, she worked up the courage to press the button, then immediately hung up. Her hands were shaking so furiously that she nearly dropped the phone when she pulled it open again. Taking a few breaths to try to calm herself down, she finally punched the send button again. Listening to the number ring through twice nearly unnerved her. Finally, the line clicked over.
"Lex," Jack said with surprise evident in his voice. "I didn't expect to hear from you again."
"You implied," she began her voice cracking slightly with the effort of keeping calm, "that I could call you."
"Sure. I said you could call me. I just never thought you actually would."
"Yeah, I'm full of surprises," she said trying to play off her apprehension.
"Always were," he said quietly.
Lexi sighed before venturing forward. "My internship ends in two weeks. I will probably be coming to Atlanta to see my parents sometime after that. So I guess…what I'm saying is…that I'll do it. I'll come see you," she paused before allowing the last part of her sentence to roll off her tongue, "and meet your girlfriend."
* * *
K.A. Linde
Coffee For Two
And I'm a bad boy cause I dont even miss her
I'm a bad boy for breakin her heart
And I'm free, free fallin
Yeah I'm free, free fallin
- Tom Petty "Free Falling"
* * *
Chapter 2: Early September Six Years Earlier
After first arriving at the university only a month earlier, Lexi's resident's assistant distributed a directory listing local restaurants, clubs, bars, and an array of study nooks for the incoming freshman. Nearly every other girl on her hall tossed the packet into the garbage on their way out the door, but Lexi held onto it hoping that it would reveal something worthwhile in this mysterious new city. She investigated a handful of study locations on the list while writing papers at the beginning of the semester. She found them all radically disappointing. When she came across a particular coffee shop on the list, she instantly fell in love. The coffee shop itself was nothing spectacular. To be honest, it was on the small side, especially for a college town. The rich aroma of freshly ground coffee beans engulfed her nostrils as soon as she set foot in the dimly lit shop. Twenty unmatched tables were tightly pushed together with just enough room to squeeze through. Green filtered lamps sat atop each table casting a pleasant emerald glow upon the customers. Counter space was nearly impossible to acquire. As the winter months slowly approached, a roaring fire crackled in a corner fireplace. Cushioned green lounge chairs were scattered haphazardly against the walls and aimlessly surrounding the fireplace. If one's desired study space was quiet with an overabundant amount of room to sprawl out, then this coffee shop was not the ideal place. On any given day, every table was constantly occupied with students and professors discussing anything from nuclear physics to Aristotelian philosophy to Freudian psychology. After spending a few late nights within this warm cozy place, Lexi laid claim to one of the tables adjacent to the fire facing the counter. She had chosen that particular table specifically for the instances when he was working.
At first, she hadn't even noticed him. But the longer she visited, the more often she crossed paths with him, until she could almost predict when he would be working. Her friends, who preferred to study at the university learning center, continually attempted to cajole her out of the coffee shop. None of them could understand why she would want to work in this loud, crowded, inadvertently lit space and a feeble wireless internet connection. When they asked her why she never wanted to leave, she gave them the lame excuse of enjoying the atmosphere. After finally using up all of her false justifications, they finally weaseled it out of her. Him. Why go to the university learning center when you could have something nice to look at when you needed a break?
Having finally explained just how attractive this guy was to her friend, Lexi found herself sitting in her usual seat with Olivia for company. She had been pretty sure that he would be working. Though, that was something she had refrained from confessing. "Well...what do you think?" Lexi asked flipping through her Philosophy 1001 class notes, and skimming through the lecture on Empiricists.
"You're right. He is pretty hot," Olivia confirmed, running her fingers through her bleached blonde pixie cut letting the tiny strands of hair fall effortlessly back into place.
"I meant about Locke."
"He's dead right?" Olivia asked.
Lexi rolled her eyes. "No, I mean...what's his idea about knowledge?" she asked trying hard not to glance up at him while Olivia blatantly ogled the eye candy.
"Honestly, I don't care. I hate this stuff. I might just drop the class altogether. I don't get it," Olivia said shrugging her shoulders at her own indecipherable notes. "Him, I can fully understand. You should give it a shot." Her smile was genuine and her brown eyes glittered with excitement.
Lexi brushed her off, feeling the weight of her gaze uncomfortably. "No, what I need to shoot for is an A on this midterm."
Olivia rolled her eyes dramatically. "Whatever, you know you're going to get an A on this midterm no matter what. Come on; don't let a hot guy just fly before your eyes without doing anything about it. Don't you want to at least meet him? Know his name?"
It was Lexi's turn to shrug. "I guess a name would be nice."
"Have you ever even had a boyfriend?" Olivia asked giggling a little at the possibility that anyone had never had a boyfriend by the time they reached college.
"Of course I've had a boyfriend," Lexi retorted defensively. "I'm just not looking for a relationship."
"I didn't say you wanted or even needed a relationship. Doesn't mean you can't at least hang out with him," she uttered persuasively. "Lexi, you are crazy hot, and so is this guy. I don't see any reason why wouldn't go out with you. No need mooning over him all the time when he's available for the taking." Lexi smiled at Olivia. She was always good for a self-esteem booster. However, Lexi restrained herself from continuing the subject.
After a pause, Olivia changed topics, "So anyway, are you coming to Nick and Neal's throw-down tonight at The Theatre?"
"Yeah, I should be there," Lexi confirmed.
"Good, I've been helping them plan this for a month. I need as many people there as possible." Lexi just nodded since she had heard this same rant nearly every day since Olivia had decided to become their publicist. "I'm going to get myself a double caramel macchiato with extra whipped cream," she added a wink just for good measure, "to go from sexy Coffee Guy, and then I'm going to head back to the dorm to do a little studying before I get ready for tonight."
"Alright. When I'm finished here, I'll meet you and we can walk downtown together," Lexi agreed scribbling a quick note into her study guide. She watched Olivia slink over to the counter to get her coffee. Lexi quickly averted her eyes to avoid watching her friend shamelessly flirt with the guy she had just confirmed she might be interested in. But, she didn't think it really mattered that much. This guy was a no one to her, just a pretty face in a sea of pretty faces, she tried to convince herself.
Peeping her head up to get a quick look at him, she caught him staring at her. Her cheeks burned hot with embarrassment, and she dove her head back into her books to avoid his gaze. This was surreal. Of all the times she had gazed his direction, she was pretty sure that he had never actually looked directly at her. After a moment, she allowed herself to glance up once more and found him doing the same. This time she let their eyes meet for a few short seconds before tossing her head back into her books. She told herself that she wouldn't look up the rest of the afternoon if it saved her from embarrassment. She pulled her loose bouncing curls into a ponytail and dug into her books; not looking up as she promised herself, until she saw that he was leaving. By that time, her studying was complete. Pulling open her red Coach satchel, she tossed the contents of the table into the bag, and made her way home to get ready.
A few hours later, Lexi, Olivia, and fifteen others they had managed to drag out of dorms were casually standing in the middle of the dance floor waiting for Nick and Neal to hit center stage. The Theatre was a large open space with couches positioned into booths around the perimeter and for smaller shows, on the dance floor. This was one of those shows. An array of cheap metal folding chairs was set up in a haphazard semicircle in front of the stage. Dim lights were set up around the mostly empty theatre. Beyond the students that Lexi had arrived with, perhaps thirty others were clustered in a corner. The regulars looked bored and distracted even before her friends got on stage, and she didn't care to imagine what drugs they were on that made their eyes looked so out of focus. Lexi peeled her gaze away, refocusing her attention.
As the time passed, the room began to fill. Considering this was their first performance, they had drawn a relatively large crowd. A little over a hundred people poured into The Theatre just as Nick began spinning their opening track. Neal's original lyrics echoed throughout the room. A unanimous bounce began as the throng of people fell into rhythm with the flow of the music. Lexi sang along with some of the words she remembered.
"You're not bad. Maybe you should show them how it's done," someone said to her.
Lexi laughed out loud letting her curls bounce lightly. She turned to address whoever had said that and was face to face with him. She froze mid-laugh.
"You think so?" she asked trying to recover from her shock.
"Honestly, no," he said getting his turn to laugh.
"Well thanks," she said playing hurt. "I'm very offended right now." Lexi placed her hand over her wounded heart. "So...do I know you or do you always just insult people when you first meet them?"
He had to bend down so that she was able to hear him. He smelled like a heavenly combination of Irish spring soap and sexy cologne. "I think you study at the coffee shop I work at."
She turned her head up to face him. His brown hair fell neatly across his eyes as he looked down upon her. She had never noticed just how clear blue his eyes really were until they were set intently and solely on her. "I think you might be right," she confirmed giving him a coy smile. She was having a hard time breathing with him looking at her like he was, so she forced herself to speak. "Are you much into college boy rap?"
His laugh was easy and sincere. "No, not really, but this guy's not bad. He a friend of yours?"
"Yeah. He lives in my dorm." She cringed realizing she had just given away her youth. She had no idea about his age or whether or not he would consider a measly freshman to be worth his time.
"Nice. These guys right over there," he gestured with his thumb to the three guys clustered behind him, "lived on my hall last year in the dorms. Which one are you in?"
She let out her breath not having even realized she had been holding it for so long. "Um...R-Hall."
"That's where we were," he said nodding his head to the music.
"How did you hear about them? I mean, if you don't really listen to the music," she couldn't help but ask.