Chapter 8 - Samantha

The sun was rising as a new day began. Sam got out of bed, showered, got ready and had some breakfast before she left for work. For some strange reason, she could not stop thinking of the strange encounter from the day before. What she could not understand was why she felt like she knew this man from somewhere, even when she could not remember where?

She showed up to the airport and smiled as she reminisced of what had went on in her mind. Today seemed as though it would be much hastier than the day before, since, in one day the much anticipated World Cup would begin. People from all over the world were coming and going.

She walked into the cafeteria and prepared herself for a long day at work. That day she had to do a double shift, making up for the time she took for her SATs the day before. Gordon was thoughtful, but also strict when it came to work. It would be a boring morning since her friend would come in until past noon. She would have to deal with costumers without Carlos grimacing from the other end of the bar, which always seemed to help lessen the strain.

The first two hours went by uneventfully. Sam was taking orders and pouring coffee like an expert, although her mind would wander off every now and then, thinking of the stranger with the blue eyes.

«Who I won't ever meet again, most definitely». She thought as she fixed a couple cups by the counter.

“Hello. Good morning” A male voice said.

“I'll be with you in a second” Samanta replied without looking.

“OK. I'll wait” the man agreed.

At that moment, Samanta felt her heart skip a beat. That voice sounded familiar. She slowly turned to meet a man reading the menu on the wall, through a pair of shades. A very tall gentleman wearing a gray hoodie.

It was him.

Samanta took a deep breath, trying to keep her sudden nervousness at bay. She cleared her throat.

“What will it be, gentleman?”

The man kept his eyes on the menu.

“Something hot or cold?” She insisted.

“Please, one tall caramel macchiato, frappe” he asked, without even looking at her he was absent minded, looking at his cell phone screen.

“Alright. Sir?” She tried to get his name so she could write it down on his cup.

“Dominik” he said. “D-O-M-I-N-I-K” he spelled it out, emphasizing each letter.

Samanta couldn't hold back her smile. He was a stubborn man, and she was loving it. She took her chance writing down a message on the cup for him by his name, hoping he would notice right before she handed it out to her customer.

The man paid, took his cup and sipped.

Samanta felt her heart stopped as he walked away without even realizing she had written something down for him, but her heartbeat returned as the man stopped and nailed his stare to the cup. He turned around and smiled at her.