The One
The girl behind the mahogany desk at the coffee shop.
Glasses with semi-circular lenses. A Gap sweatshirt with a smiley face under the logo. Long, luscious, fluffy brown hair.
Is it really brown, though? When the light reflects off of it, there’s glimpses of little bits of blonde, but not enough to be dyed, though. As someone who’s not too familiar with how hairstyling works with girls, I’m just going to assume it’s one of those examples of hair that gets a little lighter when it’s summertime. Wait. Maybe not. It’s the middle of winter.
Regardless, I’m staring at this girl from behind my computer and I can’t look away. It’s not that I’m attracted to her- I’m not, I think. She’s just someone I’m finding increasingly difficult to take my eyes off of, like I’m interested in knowing her story. Where are you from? What are your hobbies? How do you like your eggs in the morning? Maybe I am attracted to her.
Do I have the balls to go up and talk to her? I have confidence, and I’m wearing a solid fit today, but I don’t know if I’m THAT confident. As a coffee shop on-campus, there’s a near-100% chance she goes to my school, and the sorority sticker on the back of her laptop lets me know I’ve probably got some mutual friends with her. How have I never seen this girl before?
She’s sitting alone, drinking an iced coffee. From afar, trying to read the short label on the side of the cup leads me to believe she’s drinking it with nothing in it. Really? No milk, no nothing? Just ice and black coffee? This gives me even more of a desire to get to know her better, in a weird way. A girl walks by and says a passing hello to my mystery girl. She smiles at her. That smile was all I needed to see to start picturing a life with her. Maybe we could get married at 24, travel the world before settling down a decade later to have children. We would live in a cozy home, most likely with a cat and a Blackstone grill out back.
What am I saying? I sat down at this table less than five minutes ago, and I’m already dreaming of a future with a person that quite literally has no idea I exist. I really need to work on not jumping to conclusions. Maybe I’m just lonely. After all, it’s been over a year since my last relationship, and my experiences with girls haven’t led to anything more than just regrettable situationships and poor one-night decisions.
Still, there’s something about her that’s different. She’s got a look in her eyes, something that makes me feel safe, feel warm- my delusions are flowing. For all I know, she could be an absolute bitch, an awful human being, a serial killer- but off of first glance, I’m head over heels. I need to muster up the courage to talk to her.
I came to this coffee shop to complete a project away from the noise of my dorm room. I haven’t even opened the assignment yet. I’ve been sitting here, creepily watching this girl and her beautiful demeanor do whatever the hell she’s doing on her laptop. What do I say to her?
Okay, here’s the plan. I go up to order a drink, I receive it, then I make my way to the mahogany desk and just be straight-up with her. I ask for her name, a little bit of small-talk, then eventually her number. Two more minutes and the scheme is in action.
CODE RED. CODE RED. She’s getting up to leave. Her laptop is in her bag. She’s throwing out her quarter-full iced coffee. Now might be my only chance. Do I have it in me?
No. I don’t. I let her walk out the door without a word being spoken. I’ll see her again at some point, but until then, I’ll continue to reminisce on the time I could’ve, not did.
Time to start this project.
About them beans
Who: A guy that has trouble focusing on work.
Where: A coffee shop on the campus of High Point University.
When: A random Wednesday morning during midterm week.
What I’m drinking: An iced coffee with peppermint syrup.
