Story Time Ch. 03

"Really?" Kate smiles.

"Yeah, he has literally watched you the whole time as you walked all around the place." Sharon says, 'Sooo, who is he? When the hell did this happen?"

"He's James," Kate says wistfully, looking over at him, a giant grin on her face. Sharon places her hands on her hips.

"No coffees for you until you start talking," Sharon admonishes. Kate laughs. The customers are not going to be terribly happy if they delay too long.

"Well you know Mike and Tina who I live with?" Sharon nods. Kate continues, "he's Mike's best friend. He hangs out at the apartment all the time."

"Uh huh," Sharon nods once, and tilts her chin forward with her eyebrows raised, waiting for more.

"Well, I've been secretly lusting after him for months. Turns out, he felt the same way about me." Kate glances lovingly over at James, then turns back to Sharon and continues, "When I didn't show up at that party last night, he came by the apartment looking for me." Sharon is grinning broadly, clearly happy for Kate.

"Well the party sucked. I'm sure you had a much better time than I did," Sharon rolls her eyes, but smiles at Kate.

"No doubt," Kate says, and blushes again. Sharon gives her a knowing smile and turns to start making the coffees.

"I want to hear more about him later, after the lunch rush," Sharon says.

Kate just smiles and fills some glasses with water and takes them to the table that asked for them. She feels like she's floating on air as she flits about the café, visiting the tables and checking in with the patrons, bringing them their coffees. She thinks she can feel James' eyes on her, and she keeps glancing over at him. Every time they make eye contact, she feels a flutter in her chest and stomach, and a tingle of excitement races through her body.

She heads back to the kitchen and picks up a number of food orders, one of which is James' sandwich. She's takes his first, and heads over to where he is sitting. As she walks over toward him, their eyes meet. A tingle rushes through her body just from the eye contact. The look in his eyes seems to reveal a combination of affection and longing. Her hips sway a little more as she walks. God he is so sexy, she thinks.

Smiling at each other, they have a conversation with their eyes. I want you, he says with his eyes. I want you too, she says with hers. His gaze travels deliberately over her body while she walks toward him. I want to peel your clothes off and kiss and lick every inch of your skin, he says with his eyes. I want to jump on you and fuck you right here on this chair, she says with hers. She realizes that this last idea of hers is probably not the best for her job security, though. She giggles to herself as she arrives and leans in close.

"What's so funny?" he whispers as she approaches.

"Just thinking...." she whispers to him while placing his sandwich on the table beside him. She turns her eyes to his and the fire burning behind his eyes makes her blush. She averts her eyes and starts to pull away.

"Thinking about what?" he whispers with a low growl, and places his hand over hers, motioning for her to stay close. The touch makes her shiver. He notices and smiles. She glances around quickly, and seeing no one watching them, she looks back into the depths of his eyes. He's staring into her eyes with such intensity, she cannot look away. Her face blushes crimson again. Her heartbeat speeds up. For some reason, she feels compelled to answer.

Fighting through her embarrassment, she drops her voice to a hoarse whisper, "I was just thinking that what I'd like to do to you right now would get me fired."

James raises his eyebrows and his eyes flash wickedly. Kate gives him a sultry smile, and straightens up, and turns to go back to the kitchen. She looks back over her shoulder at him and sees him staring after her, dumbfounded, mouth gaping open. She smiles to herself.

Kate is busy working the tables. As it gets closer to lunchtime more of the tables fill up.

After he finishes his sandwich, James stays and hangs out at the café for a long while. He reads the entire Saturday Star newspaper. Then fishes around in the pile on the coffee table in front of him and reads the entire Friday Globe and Mail as well. Kate is so touched that he doesn't seem to want to leave.

She can feel his gaze on her as she moves around the café. Frequently, she looks over at him and catches him watching her. He usually just smiles and returns his attention to his newspaper. A few times, he was looking at her with something like affection and fascination in his eyes. A couple of times he holds her gaze and lets the look in his eyes turn hungry, letting her know exactly what he is thinking. It makes her shiver every time.

After about three hours, Kate realizes James has finished the Friday Globe and has moved on to MacLean's magazine. She swings by James' seat again and asks him if he wants another refill of his coffee. She notices he's chosen a current events magazine, rather than the Sports Illustrated or one of the other magazines available in this little sitting area of the café.

"No thanks, I think four cups is enough," he chuckles holding her gaze. The eye contact makes her shiver and her nipples get instantly hard. He notices and smiles knowingly. Then he adds, "Actually, I probably should go home, shower and change."

"But you look so good in this," Kate smiles. James smiles broadly back at her. Kate raises her eyebrow, "besides, you've already had two showers in the past 24 hours." James smiles wickedly, apparently remembering them both fondly. He sighs.

Oh my god, did he actually just sigh?

"I really should go," he says after a long moment of gazing at her.

Kate looks a bit sad, but realizes it's best. She does have to work another five hours, so she can't really spend time with him here.

Seeing the sad thoughtful look on her face, James adds. "I'll be back before your shift is over. I mean, if you want me to...."

"Of course I want you to," she implores seriously. "....if you want to."

"Just try and keep me away," he smiles and seeing her return the smile, the look in his eyes turns wicked again for just a moment. "In fact, it will take every ounce of my willpower not to drag you out of here before the end of your shift."

"It's taken every ounce of my willpower not to leave. Having you sitting here for the past three hours has been quite a distraction."

They share another smile while wicked thoughts pass behind both their eyes.

As he stands, he holds his hand out offering her two twenty dollar bills. She looks at it with confusion.

"For my tab," he says.

"It's nowhere near this much, and I've already covered it," she says pushing the money back at him.

"I can't let you do that," he says, offering the money back to her.

"Already done," she says pushing the money back at him, looking stern and serious. Her look says there will be no more discussion on this point.

James gives up seeing that look on her face. "Alright. Then I owe you dinner," he says.

"Deal," she says smiling brightly.

As they fall silent, there's an awkward moment, as he clearly wants to kiss her but knows it's not prudent here at her place of work. Kate shivers as he reaches out and gently caresses her upper arm just below the shoulder. He's looking into her eyes with such endearing affection as he slides his hand down her arm and off the end of her fingertips. She literally shivers.

"See you soon," he whispers, as he turns to go.

She smiles broadly at him, and watches him leave. She feels an odd emptiness after the café door closes.

Since the height of the lunch rush is approaching, she turns her attention back to the dinging bell of the kitchen and notices that some of her orders are up. She's never been so impatient for her shift to end in her life.

****

James walks home from the café thinking about all that has happened in the past 24 hours. Images and memories from last night and this morning flit through his head one after another. He just can't seem to wipe the smile off his face or quell the bounce in his step.

Then he starts to think of the many things that have transpired over the past few months and how, in hindsight, they all have new meaning for him now. It strikes him how little he's actually made eye contact with Kate in the past three months. So many evenings hanging out at the apartment with Mike, Tina and Kate. So many conversations. So few times they actually made eye contact. It seems unusual. He realizes now it was because they would often be staring at each other and would look away when the other one would "catch" them, just like she had described in her story. And thinking back on it now, the times they had made eye contact, she had always seemed to be blushing.

He remembers another time he had arrived at the apartment after work. It had been American Thanksgiving, so there were NFL football games playing on a Thursday. Mike had called him, said he was leaving work early and asked if James could get away from work to catch the 4:15 game. Mike said he had the fridge stocked with beer and suggested they meet at the apartment, order pizza and watch the game. So James had shown up at the apartment straight from work, wearing his business suit. Mike had called out from the livingroom. "Dude you're just in time. Opening kick-off! I've got a cold one here for you."

As James was walking toward the livingroom, Kate had come out of the kitchen, carrying a sandwich and cup of tea. She'd been wearing an old t-shirt and yoga pants, her hair tied up in a messy bun, no makeup on. She had clearly been startled to see him. He had noticed how, at first, her eyes had gone wide with surprise. A smile jumped quickly into her eyes, then they traveled over him. She had said, "wow, you clean up nice." He had smiled at that, and his eyes had traveled over her while she had been checking him out.

He thought she looked amazing. She always looked delicious to him. She then seemed to remember how she was dressed, looked down at herself and furrowed her brows. As he was about to say something, she'd said sheepishly, "better get back to my essay," and she had hurried back to her room. James watched her backside as she walked away and closed her bedroom door. Later when she had joined them in the living room for pizza, she was wearing nicer clothes and had makeup on. It didn't register at the time.

Other moments with Kate occurring over the past three months, take on new shape and significance in his memory, resolving now as signs of their attraction to each other, signs of their growing connection. So many phrases, so many little gestures, take on new meaning now in hindsight. Damn, if only I'd known sooner, he thinks, we've wasted three months. But then he realizes, maybe they haven't wasted three months. Maybe they needed all of that time to get to where they are now. So many times in the past, he'd acted quickly on his initial lustful attractions and had sex with women right after meeting them, often that night. It had never lasted. Sure a few had lasted for a couple of weeks, maybe months. A couple had turned into fuck buddies. But he'd never had a long-term loving relationship that worked.

Now, he was at a completely different place. He had feelings of genuine affection for her before he had sex with her. The most amazing part was that the sex was so much better, so much more, because of his feelings. There was this reciprocal emotional connection between them. It wasn't just carnal enjoyment. Well it was definitely that! But it was so much more! And then... it was like the incredible emotional connection during sex, plus the fact that she felt the same way about him, had solidified things and made his feelings for her even stronger. He was definitely in uncharted territory here. Is this what love is like?

He suddenly realizes that he's walked the whole way home with very little awareness of his surroundings.

As he walks into the house he shares with his roommates, he is immediately greeted by the smell of stale pizza, stale beer and sweat. He chuckles to himself. Looks like it was a usual Friday night here. They probably came back here after the party.

As he steps into the livingroom he sees his roommates Chad and Spencer sitting on the couch playing Madden on the Xbox. An open pizza box containing only crusts is on the armchair. Papers and clothes are scattered throughout the room and there are several empty beer bottles and pop cans strewn on various surfaces.

"Hey guys!" James calls warmly as he enters the livingroom.

Chad and Spence look up from their game, smiling broadly to see James arrive home. Chad pauses the game. They make quite a pair. Chad is small and thin, of South-Asian descent, with sharp features, dark eyes, and jet black hair. He wears black jeans, a white dress shirt and blue vest. Spence is tall, slightly overweight, and white, with messy sandy brown hair. He wears a bright yellow t-shirt and Bermuda shorts. Spence's mass on the couch seems to be almost twice that of Chad's.

"James, you dog!" Chad says, "Out all night again!"

"You left the party pretty early, man. Who'd you hook up with?" Spence asks.

"Um...Kate," James responds.

"Fuck off," Chad says, "I didn't even see her there." Simultaneously Spence says, "Tina's friend Kate? The hot blond with that tight ass and the big tits?" He says chuckling and gesturing with his hands in front of his chest.

"Hey, don't talk about her that way," James says sternly, looking at Spence.

Chad and Spence look at each other and burst out laughing.

"I'm serious, guys, I don't want you to talk about her that way," James says raising his voice. They both stop laughing and look at him.

A serious look crosses Chad's eyes and he begins watching James' face more intently.

Spence simply looks incredulous. Chuckling, he speaks up: "Who the fuck are you and what have you done with James?"

James laughs, slightly amused and slightly perturbed. He is about to respond, but, before he gets a chance to answer, his cellphone beeps. He fishes it out of his pocket and looks to see who has texted him.

"Fuck, it's Angela," he says with no attempt to disguise his annoyance. He knows what the text will say before he even reads it. Nevertheless he clicks open the window and reads: "Hey baby! I'm free tonight. I've got an itch only you can scratch. Can you stop by after 11? ;-)"

"Angela!" Spence says, raising his eyebrows with a mischievous smile. "Angela tonight. Kate last night. Shit man, how do you do it?"

"I have no interest in seeing Angela." James says lowly, almost to himself as he grabs the pizza box off the armchair and drops it to the floor. He sinks into the seat. As if thinking out loud, he adds, "Fuck. I don't want to deal with this right now." He looks up at his friends again and asks, "How do you break up with a fuck buddy, anyway?"

Spence still looks incredulous. "What do you mean break it off? Are you crazy? Break off regular no-strings sex.....with Angela? What the hell is wrong with you?"

Chad has been observing James intently since he came in. Realization dawns on his face. He puts his Xbox controller down on the coffee table and looks at James with serious concern in his face. "Oh man, you've got it bad, don't you?"

James looks at Chad and smiles sheepishly. "I do? ...uh....yeah... I guess," James mumbles incoherently.

Chad nods thoughtfully, seemingly to himself. "S'up, James?" Chad asks.

"She's just.... I mean... She's so.... " James pauses and collects his thoughts. Spence and Chad both watch him intently – Spence with a slightly incredulous and disdainful look; Chad with sincere curiosity and concern.

"She's amazing." James finally gets a sentence out. He takes a breath, and continues, "Last night at the party, when she didn't show up, I was disappointed she wasn't there. I realized how much I was looking forward to seeing her. Too much, you know? I realized...." He trails off.

Chad raises his eyebrows waiting for more.

James doesn't want to say this out loud to these guys. It's too soon to talk about this. We just hooked up last night, he thinks. It was different telling Mike....and I shouldn't have said that to Mike this morning, anyway. Fuck, why did I do that? I was disoriented. Oh well it's already out there now. Anyway, these guys know me almost as well as Mike. They're some of the best friends I have. But I'd rather it was just Chad. Oh well, Spence will know about this eventually anyway. Might as well deal with it now.

James takes another deep breath and continues, "I realized I actually had feelings for her. It wasn't just about wanting to fuck her, you know? Well, of course, that was part of it – a big part. But it was more than that. I actually just had to see her, you know? I missed her. It was disappointing that she wasn't there. I realized I had to go over to the apartment to see her. Turns out she's really into me too, so...we hooked up."

James smiles awkwardly and pauses there. He sees Chad smiling thoughtfully so he continues, "but now.... now I don't want to see Angela. I don't want see anyone else." He looks at both of them. "I'm totally fucked aren't I?"

The guys had all been through this when they each met different girls. Each of them had had girlfriends, except James. Well, he'd actually had lots of girls, but rarely had a long term commitment to any one of them. Things had changed for the guys when Mike had met Tina. Mike changed. Mike fell in love. At first, James had looked down on Mike for being "weak", but also, in a way, James had envied Mike. He didn't like feeling that way about his best friend. He didn't like having a woman come between them. It took a while, but James eventually found that he just had to get used to hanging out with Mike and Tina a lot of the time. And he honestly was genuinely happy for Mike.

James looked to Chad more than Spence. He'd always had a deeper connection and more serious conversations with Chad. Spencer seemed to want to continue to act like they were still 21-year-old undergrads, even though they were all closer to 30 than 20.

"You just hooked up for the first time, last night, right?" Chad asks.

"Yeah," James says, and couldn't help the smile that lit his face and the mischievous look that entered his eyes. "And this morning." James adds smiling.

Chad rolls his eyes, but smiles anyway. He leans forward, leaning his elbows on his knees, giving James his full attention.

"But you've known each other for..... how long?" Chad asks.

"Three months," James supplied, leaning forward, responding to Chad's body language.

"And how do you feel about her now?"

"I can't wait to be with her again. She's so amazing. The things she did to me....." he trails off with a wicked grin as images from last night flit through his mind again.

Chad rolls his eyes. Then he smiles and nods, but remains silent, waiting for more.

James looks back at Chad again and continues, "But it's not just a hook up. I can't stop thinking about her. I want to be with her every moment. Right now! I feel like....weird... just from not being with her right now. I'm going back to see her at the end of her shift. She's working till 5:00 today. And here's the most fucked up thing, Chad. I can't even believe this. I actually don't want to fuck Angela anymore. Now you know how she is, right?! I mean God! But it doesn't matter. I mean it! I really have no interest in seeing Angela again. The same goes for anyone else. I don't want anyone else but Kate. And I don't want her to be with anyone else."