He walked in…a little more edgy and a little more interesting than the usuals hanging out on a Saturday morning.
I stood waiting for our coffee order. Momma had gone to sit outside. The barista called out my name.
Retrieving the drinks, I moved to grab some napkins and a straw. He was standing in front of the straws, two large, clear, plastic cups resting on the counter in front of him. One held only ice while the other had a green matcha look to it. Both lids were off and he poured some of the green mixture into the ice only cup.
“Sorry I need to reach around you.”
“No problem.”
I brushed his arm as I reached for a straw. He turned slightly, so my eyes were level with his Alice in Chains T-shirt, stretched nicely across his chest. I stepped back with my straw while my eyes roamed down his body.
Damn, I breathed out, his chiseled calves were glorious with tattooed bands and skulls. I drew my eyes back up his body to meet his stare. He smiled.
“Only good things happen on Saturday.”
“Yep.” I looked down at his chest again. “Nice shirt.”
He grinned. “You a fan?”
“A little bit…it’s just nice to see something other than khakis, plain shirts, and matching athletic gear.” I glanced around at the coffee house, then back at him.
He did the same. “Yeah…guess you are here a lot or maybe you just notice things.” His eyes roamed down my chest. “Your shirt is plain.”
I looked down, then back at him. “My Green Day shirt was dirty.”
“I bet.” He grinned.
Silence fell between us.
“Well, Momma needs her straw.”
“Yep, better get it to her then.”
“Have a good Saturday.”
“Always.”
I walked to the door leading to the outdoor patio. Leaning in with my hip to open it, I looked back. He was still there. He was looking. He smiled. I smiled, ducking my head into my chest, and walked through the door.
“Here Momma.”
We sat in the mid-morning sunshine drinking and lightly chatting. I glanced over as he sat behind us in a cluster of chairs. I turned back to Momma. Even with my back to him, I felt him there.
“That guy has two half-full green drinks. But he is alone.”
“Little weird, Momma. I saw him pouring one into the other.”
“Yeah, weird.”
We drank in comfortable silence for a bit watching cars go by.
“I think I’ll go for a quick hike in the state park tomorrow.”
“You should,” Momma said.
Staring straight ahead, he walked by with a huge smile on his face. Was the smile for me? Did he hear everything we said?
He walked to his car and turned back. With a large half-filled green drink in each hand, he lifted his chin to me, the right side of his mouth curving up.
I expected a rugged truck or sports car, but he put the cups on top of a family-looking SUV. He unlocked the door, bringing the cups and himself into the driver’s seat.
Family man, I thought. How sad…must be for his wife.
Walking the next morning, the path turned up to an incline. The back of a broad-shouldered man came into view. He was sitting on the bench facing the state park beauty. He turned toward me as I approached.
Our eyes met this time in the outdoors and not under the coffee house lights. He smiled.
He scooted over on the bench. “Time for a little rest before you climb on?” He patted the bench.
I stood there, the sunshine beating down on me, along the isolated trail deep in the state park. I looked around. There were no hikers coming. The path was unusually empty this morning.
“Uh…”
He got up then. Rising to his feet with ease, he held his hands up in front of his chest. I glanced down to see two cups with iced green liquid in them. One had significantly less than the other.
“I’m not a stalker, really. I overheard you tell Momma you were going to be here, so I took a chance.”
He had that same smile on his face, but he tilted his head as if that would make him more disarming.
“You know that’s what a stalker would say…right?”
“Yeah, I know, but that’s all I got.”
“And seriously what is with the two drinks?”
He grinned wider. “My grandma told me to offer a drink to a girl. ‘That’s the best way to do it,’ she always said. Supposedly that was how she met my grandfather.”
“So, you go around with two half drinks hoping to tempt some girl? You know none of this sounds good, right?”
He shuffled his feet back and forth looking down. “Well,” he said. “It might have worked, but you were having coffee with Momma. And then I had two full drinks today, but I have been sitting here a while and finished one and was still a little thirsty, so I split the other one.”
I shook my head. “So, you are offering me a half drink in an isolated spot just in the chance that I would walk by this exact path.”
“Yep…a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.”
“Another grandma saying?”
“Nope. Think that was Popeye.” A laugh burst out of me. “Laughing is good…I will take that. Would you be willing to sit with your stalker or I could walk with you?”
I glanced around again. “Let’s walk.”
His smile spread to light up his eyes. “Okay then.” He turned and grabbed the two drinks. “Did you want this?” He offered the half drink to me.
“I think I am good but thank you. Grandma was right though…offering a drink is a great way to meet someone.”
He lifted one of the drinks to his lips and swallowed the remaining liquid. He put the empty cup in his pack and slipped the half cup into the side holder of his pack.
We started walking up the trail.
“So, what is the deal with the green drink. Seems like you just don’t drink the drink like an ordinary person.”
“Well again grandma…she made this concoction of matcha green tea where she got it from the coffee house, brought it home, mixed her secret ingredients, split the drink, and then had two days of drinks.”
“What are the secret ingredients?”
“Well, she would roll over in her grave if she knew I told just any stranger.”
“But I am your stalkee…doesn’t that count?”
“Probably but still not telling.”
We fell into step with each other as we climbed the slight incline. “How long has she been gone?”
“About 10 years now, but I still go get her drink and split it just like she did and make the drinks…every year on her birthday.”
“Jeez…okay. That is a good story. Nicely done, stalker.”
“Worked well, didn’t it?” He grinned over at me.
We finished the loop of the trail and headed back to our cars. Only a few empty cars were parked in the area.
He opened the back of his SUV. We sat half in, half out of the back of his SUV, our legs dangling down.
He placed the green drink between us. “Are you sure you don’t want to try it? Grandma would be upset if I didn’t offer.”
“Just to be clear, this isn’t the same drink as yesterday, right? I mean you did stalk me and wait in an isolated place with a half drink.”
“Nope…new batch I mixed this morning in hopes that grandma was right, and I could offer you a drink.” I looked down at the drink. “Does that mean you would be willing to try it?”
“Well in respect to grandma,” I looked up at him, meeting his eyes. “And because I don’t want your grandma to think you couldn’t seal the deal with meeting someone…sure.” I shrugged.
I reached for the drink and brought it to my lips. He scooted closer and reached behind us putting his hands to rest directly behind my body.
I took a sip.
“Damn, grandma.”
“Told you, she really knew what she was doing.”
“I gotta know the secret ingredient now. What would it take to pry that out of you?”
He pressed his leg closer to mine. His hand trailed up my back to rest on the back of my neck. He turned my head toward his. I moved the cup down and scooted into his body. Heat consumed my head. His face swam before me. Sweat broke out. I tried to slur out a word. His grip tightened on my neck, and he moved his mouth close to my ear.
“You can ask her yourself.”
My eyes fell shut as my body fell back.