CH 6: AND THEN THERE WAS A DATE

She remained that way until lunch time, bent over her work with furrowed brows. He watched with keen interest as she removed her glasses and wiped them against the edge of her gown. Somehow, even this managed to take his breath away.

She caught him staring and immediately became self-conscious, touching her face in childish horror?’

“Relax milady” Brown smiled at her, “You're so beautiful I get lost and stare”

He noticed the slight flush of her cheek. She was definitely getting his vibe.

“No need to be cute, Brown. I know I look like shit”

Brown took a deep breath and sank deeper into his chair, his eyes not leaving her face. He loved the glint in her eyes even when she 'looked like shit' as she put it.

“You promised me a date. Don't think you can back out now.”

She laughed. Her cheekbones spread perfectly, like she was made to smile. Brown decided to tell her.

“Your smile is flawless, milady. You were totally made to smile”

Two shots! Her cheek was even redder than they had been the first time.

“You’re wrong, milord. We were created to succeed”

“And what makes you think so, pray tell?”

He was employing every last drop of his boyish charm to sound as philosophically seductive as any English man could.

“What makes you think not, do tell?” she parried almost immediately.

“Ambition is nothing but the socially accepted measure of greed. The primal instinct to be better, neither equal nor subordinate to others”

She paused and teased him with a shy smile.

“And lack of ambition makes us better humans?”

“Sheer desire to be considered better by others, hence we throw a blind eye to our primary instinct to survive and dominate.”

“In other words, neither ambition nor the lack of it makes anyone a better person”

She sounded a little sarcastic, or was that humor in her tone?

“There's no such thing as a better human Anna” Brown was on his feet now.

“There's only competition when we generalize, no matter how perfect out mask fits”

He eased himself out from behind his table and headed to Anna's. She fixed her eyes on his, staring wide eyes through the glasses. Brown's eyes caressed the fullness of her lips. He wondered if she would kiss with as much desire she worked.

“We're all of the same species, yet each one unique. There can only be a better you.”

She scowled. “That's a whole new level of selfish!”

“You think?” His eyes lingered somewhat on her heaving breast. “Coffee?”

“I wouldn't mind."

She could feel her nipples hardening at his gaze.

•••

Carl's Coffee place was less crowded than it was in the mornings, Brown noticed and mentioned it. Anna, clutching lightly on his arm could only reply with what sounded like a grunt.

Her heart beat drum rolls she never knew existed, even faster than her eyes darted around uncomfortably. Brown's upper arm was so defined, her fingers longed to caress them without this cotton sleeves to deter her. Beyond that, she would give anything to dip her hands in castor oil and douse it all over this alpha male's body in a slow massage.

Alpha male. She chuckled.

He led her towards the table to the right, by the window, the one spot she hated. How could he not tell? Maybe, because neither of them had said any word since they stepped in here.

She surveyed the all too familiar café for want to what to stare at. The seven or so brown tables, set with two seats on either side of each had different flowers on them.

Their table had an artificial exotic flower she could barely recognize. Brown followed her eyes and touched one of the red petals on the flower. She could tell he was disappointed once he realized it was a fake.

“The café doesn't seem that rowdy today” Brown said.

“It’s midday, only geeks go for cover by midday.”

“Carl looks like he has lost a couple of pounds” Brown nodded towards the counter.

The man behind the counter was as fudgy as Carl, with plump cheeks. The nametag on his apron was definitely not Carl. It was something that began with an R.

“That's not Carl”

“You sure about that? I seem to think...”

“Trust me. I've been a regular here for more than ten years now. I'd recognize Carl even if he was a million miles away with a facelift and a Halloween mask.”

“Whoa! More than ten years of drinking coffee. That's quite a record”

“My father loved the place. Brought me here for every single celebration”

“He sure loved coffee a lot”

“Not exactly, He worked at Norton which is just close by, while I schooled at Kingsville High just around the corner.”

Brown didn't reply. There was something about the way she spoke of her father. So much love and yet so much pain underneath.

“The first day I he brought me here was when he got his first major promotion at Norton”

“He must have taken Norton as his very own to celebrate it that way”

Rebecca heaved and dropped her eyes. She stared at the flower on the table as though it were alive, fondling it tenderly the petals with her thumb and index finger.

“Gave the company thirty-four years of loyal service before he passed away”

Rebecca glanced around, blinking hurriedly.

“But it was nothing. Norton had him replaced days after his demise!”

The weight of her words remained suspended in the café atmosphere as she heaved heavily. Brown reached for her hands and took them in his.

“Its fine, Anna”

She shrugged off her hands. “It’s not Brown. That’s all anyone ever says.”

“It’s definitely fine, Anna. You just have to believe it”

“It is not.” A teardrop trickled down her cheek and she quickly wiped it off with back of her palm. “Nobody ever does anything. All we ever do is sit and say nothing happened. Nobody ever changes anything”

“Power, Anna. Whoever doesn’t have power can only hope for change’

A weak smile creased her face. “That is why I would make the change. I would ensure that nobody ever goes through the same pain I had to endure from Norton.”

Brown searched her face intently. The Rebecca that now stared back at him was nothing like the naïve girl he had met in this very café. A new wave of energy and determination now swept through her face. The same kind she had a while ago at the office.

All he wanted was to kiss that pain away, and maybe, a little bit more.