Chapter 2

    A week went by and Laura had still been working late nonstop at her advertising representative job at Kinetic Advertising. She was exhausted.

    Adding in her commute time from Brooklyn to Manhattan, it made for very long days. She dreamed of one day living in Manhattan, but her finances made that an impossibility for the foreseeable future. Her boss, Raquel, one of the partners in the firm, was making her work long hours on a new campaign for their latest client.

    Sarah had been hounding her to make contact with Angelo, but then work took a turn for the worse. She was starting earlier, working through lunch, and eating dinner at her desk. She was exhausted, stressed out, and wasn’t up for making a call to a practical stranger. She had no time to go out right now anyway.

    Laura wanted to work her way up in the advertising world, but she knew it would be uphill all the way. Unfortunately, it seemed right from the beginning she had a testy relationship with her boss. Although Raquel didn’t seem to like her, she knew she would always get the job done, so she kept her on.

    Laura worked really hard. She wanted to prove herself, to advance in this world. She loved the creativity of a really good marketing campaign, the psychology behind it and finding success through something she came up with,making clients more money by finding and packaging the right message at the right time. It was an art form. And she was good at it. She hoped Raquel would see that one day.

    Finally on Monday night, Raquel let her go early, after having worked the second weekend in a row. Laura was relieved. She went home, had a frozen dinner while watching TV and cuddling with her cat, and then crashed early. That night, she slept like a baby and had a vivid dream.

    'In her dream, she was dressed to the nines for the opening night of a new Broadway play, “Love’s Escape.” She had gotten out of her limousine in front of the theater. Photographers clamored for her photo. She indulged them by smiling and posing all along the red carpet. At the end of the carpet, she spotted him. Angelo. He was staring at her, admiring her beauty in her sweeping, strapless formal gown. It glittered with gold sequins in rose designs over top a silky cream-colored sheath. Her auburn hair was shiny and smooth in her flattering up do, which showed off expensive diamond drop earrings.

    She made her way down the carpet as people cheered. She made eye contact with Angelo. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her.

    “I thought I’d never see you again,” he said as she neared him.

    “I’ve been busy,” she said, pointing up to the play’s poster. “This is my firm’s campaign.”

    “You designed that?” he asked, looking up admiringly at the poster.

    “I did,” she said. “I’ve always been a patron of the arts. This was a passion project.”

    He looked at her, his eye penetrating, his lips slightly parted. “Speaking of passion. I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind.”

    “I see,” she said, her voice, her posture full of confidence. She gave him a sly smile.

    He opened the door for her and she entered the softly lit theater. He followed close behind. Suddenly, they were alone. “You know what you do to men,” he said, stepping around to face her. He was looking at her lips, painted a deep ruby red. “You enjoy it.”

    She smiled like a Cheshire cat. “I don’t know what you mean.”

    “Don’t you?” he asked, touching her bare shoulder. His hands were soft and warm, but strong.

    She looked up at him coyly, batting her lashes.

    “You take my breath away,” he said as he bent down to kiss her. His lips were searching, soft and his kiss full of passion and desire. His body pressed against her…

    Then her alarm went off. 6:30 a.m. “What timing,” she groaned as she rolled over and hit the snooze button. She tried to fall back asleep, to rejoin the dream where she left off. She wanted to savor the dream, to remember it. She kept her eyes closed, but it was no use. She couldn’t fall back asleep. The snooze alarm went off. It was 6:40 am. Her mind started to get busy, thinking about the workload waiting for her at the office. She groaned again and threw the covers back. She stretched and yawned, thinking that at least she didn’t have to go in early today.

    Jasper, her three-year old shorthaired grey cat, took that as his cue to wake up. He always slept at the end of her bed. She liked it. At least there was one man in her bed. He got up and arched his back, giving it a good stretch.

    “Good morning, handsome,” Laura said, smiling at him. He meowed in response and walked up to nuzzle her chin. She loved the feel of his fur on her face. She petted him and he purred loudly. “Breakfast time?” she asked, looking into his big green eyes. He meowed excitedly. She kissed his forehead. “Let’s go!” She had conditioned him to know that those words meant he was getting his morning food. She thought it was cute.

    Jasper ran over to his bowl and sat at attention, his tail wrapped neatly around his side, until she came to the kitchen. He then followed her to the cupboard where his food was kept. He was meowing away, excited by the prospect of breakfast time. She fed him and watched him for a moment as he hungrily tackled the food.

    “I envy you,” she said. “Your life is simple and uncomplicated. You're so happy with the small things, food, love, shelter.” She smiled. “Maybe those are the big things and the rest are small things.” She liked that thought. But then her thoughts turned to the day ahead. She knew a lot of stress awaited her. She sighed heavily. Best get on with it, she thought. She headed to her small bathroom and turned the shower on.

    As she dried herself off and started to get ready for the day, she looked at herself in the mirror. “Not exactly the glamorous lady of my dream,” she said to herself. Her auburn hair was medium thickness and she applied a smoothing serum to give it a silkier look. Her hazel eyes were average-sized and her skin was pale with a few freckles here and there, that she tried her best to conceal with cover-up and powder. She felt the freckles made her look too young and girl-like. She took a look at her figure in the mirror. A couple of extra pounds here and there that she’d like to lose, but they held on. She had an average, but on the curvy side, feminine figure with a full bosom and hips. Nothing that stood out too much. Just average. That summed her up, she thought.

    She sighed. “Well, I’ll just do the best I can, with what I’ve got.” She proceeded to do her hair and makeup and get dressed. She wore a white blouse with a large, open collar, a silver flower pendant, and fitted black skirt. She struggled to look the part of a successful Manhattan-ite on her tight budget. She frequented consignment stores to try to find good bargains on quality items.

    Only one trip out of ten proved fruitful, but she had put together a modest wardrobe with some nice things in it.

    “Okay, handsome fella, I have to go to work,” she said as she bent down to pet Jasper.

    He meowed in response, pressing his back into her hand as she petted him.

    “I know, I should stay home all day and cuddle and play with you. I'll miss you, too.” Laura kissed the top of his head and then dragged herself out the door for her long commute into Manhattan.

    Once there, she stopped by her favorite coffee place, Coffee Haven. She was looking forward to having time to pick up a good cup of coffee for a change.

    The brew at the office was horrible, which is why Kinetic always catered for client meetings.

    She entered the coffee shop. There was a long lineup. She checked her watch. 7:45 am. She assessed the line. It was moving. She’d wait another five minutes, if it didn’t look like it was moving fast enough, she’d leave. Her office was just over five minutes from here.

    She looked around. It was a busy Tuesday morning. Filled with people glancing through their phones and tablets. Not many people making eye contact. She found that a sad state of modern society. Too much disconnection. She thought about how it could make a person feel really lonely in a crowd. Like you just weren’t interesting enough to pay attention to.

    Finally, she made it to the front counter.

    “Hey Laura, the usual?” the barista asked as he beamed at her.

    “You bet. Thanks, George,” she replied.

    “Sounds good,” he said, then looked behind her. He nodded. George was a college student who was working at Coffee Haven part-time. Laura liked him. It was nice to see a familiar, friendly face each morning. It made her journey into work just a little less painful. It was sad, she thought. This was one of the high points of her workday. A brief, friendly exchange at the coffee place. It was all downhill from there. Oh well, she mused, at least she had this. She reached into her purse to take out her wallet.

    “Sorry, Laura. I can’t take your money today,” George said, looking up from the till.

    “What? Why not?” she asked, confused.

    “It’s been paid for.”

    “But I didn’t…”

    “I owed you a coffee,” the deep voice said from behind her.

    She turned around and nearly fainted. It was him.

    He smiled. That smile. “Make mine black, tall, please,” he said to George.

    “You got it,” George said, trying to hide his grin.

    “I-uh, thanks,” she stammered, turning bright red. Her dream came rushing back to her.

    “It’s my pleasure,” he said, smiling even wider.

    That voice. Low and deep and masculine. She looked up at him. He had to be 6’3”, to her 5’6”, without heels. With his height, his solid build, and those broad shoulders of his, not to mention his stunning good looks, he definitely stood out in a crowd.

    Think Laura. Say something. “You come here often?” As soon as she said it, she wanted to smack herself. Of all the things you could say, it had to be a cheesy pick-up line. “I didn’t mean…I meant…Coffee Haven. Isn’t there a Coffee Stars in your building?” Her heart thundered in her ears.

    He chuckled. “Yeah, but I felt the need for a change. I decided to venture out a bit. This seemed like a good place.” He looked down at her, his big blue eyes, framed by thick, dark lashes, sparkling with humor.

    “Laura?” a voice from behind the counter called out.

    “That’s my…” she said.

    “I’ll meet you there,” Angelo said as he paid for their coffees. He gave George a twenty-dollar bill. “Keep the change. Thanks.”

    “Wow, thanks man,” George said, beaming.

    Laura took note of the exchange. She ignored the butterflies in her stomach. She grabbed her coffee. She couldn’t get the imagery of her dream out of her mind.

    Angelo came and stood beside her. He was wearing an expertly tailored dark blue suit and white shirt that showed off his golden skin. He seemed even taller standing right next to her. She felt her knees go weak. She caught a whiff of his cologne. Tasteful, masculine, intoxicating. Her mind seemed to melt.

    “I like it here,” he said. “Friendly staff, good service. Good coffee.” He gave her a direct look. “Nice scenery.”

    She felt her face and other parts heat up. Did he just compliment me? she asked herself. She couldn’t think straight. “Yes, this place is the best,” she said, her voice slightly shaky. “I’ll try to keep my coffee in my cup this time.”

    He laughed. “Sounds good. It would be a shame to let something so tasty go to waste.”

    “Uh, yes,” she stammered. Is he making double entendres, she wondered, or is that my imagination? Say something witty, for heaven’s sake! She couldn’t think of a thing.

    Angelo's coffee was ready. He stepped forward to grab it, coming in just a little bit closer to her.

    Laura's heart pounded faster in response to the close proximity to him.

    “Do you have time to sit down for a few minutes?” he asked politely.

    She noticed how his shirt, open at the collar, fit his chest just perfectly.

    There were some good muscles under there, she was sure.

    “Laura?”

    “What?” she asked, startled. She realized she had been staring at his chest, so her eyes darted to the floor. “Oh, right. Ummm…” she looked at her watch. It was 7:55 am. If she left now, she’d maybe make it on time. She pictured Raquel standing there glaring at her if she came in late. But then she thought of what Sarah said about having regrets and wondering what if? To heck with it, she thought.