Just by chance

It was just by chance that i ended up in the same coffee shop as you that morning.

It was just by chance that you decide to try something "different" than your usual coffee house near your work and it was just by chance you approached.

"Excuse me, did you order a mocha macchiato ?" I looked up from my laptop to see a petite woman holding a coffee in front of me in a navy blue pantsuit.

"Nope, I already have my coffee, thank you miss." I pointed to the coffee on the side table beside my chair.

"Oh, I don't work here-" She smiled and sat herself in the empty chair before me while she continued to speak. "I think you have my coffee, and I was given yours; I was in front of you in line and I ordered a mocha macchiato with caramel, and I don't smell any caramel in this coffee."

I looked up again from my laptop to see her arm holding the cup of coffee as if to hand it to me. I looked around the coffee shop to see many open seats and became annoyed that this woman was invading my space.

I looked over at my coffee, picked it up, and brought it to my nose to smell. The warm steam hovered over my nose as the aroma of coffee with a sweet hint of caramel filled my nose.
"You're right; they did mix up our coffee. I can smell the caramel. I haven't taken a sip yet, but I can order a new one if you want."
"Are you Kidding me? Look at that line." She reached for the coffee cup in my hand and then handed me the one in hers.

She pointed behind her. "There's no way you're getting a new cup of coffee anytime soon." I shrugged and then placed my coffee on the table and returned my attention to my laptop. Hoping she would get the hint.

"Just so you know, I didn't drink any of your coffee."

"What?" My attention once again pulled away from my work, as I looked over at my coffee cup and then peered over the top of my laptop to make eye contact. I stayed silent as she continued to speak.

"I see you set your coffee down without tasting it, and I just didn't want you to think that I took a sip before handing it to you because I wouldn't do that."

I chuckled uncomfortably, not knowing what to say, "Oh, that never even crossed my mind; coffee here tends to comeout piping hot, so i like to keep from getting third degree burns on the inside of my mouth by letting it sit before I drink it." I went back to typing. She leaned in towards me as she spoke, trying to be heard over the hustle of the morning crowd of people.
"My name is Kara with a K." She smiled and kept her attention on me; this is not my usual place I stop for coffee, I didn't even know this place was here. I was running a little early to work was feeling like trying something different and so here I am trying something new."

I could feel her stare without looking up.

"Nice to meet you, Kara, with a K." I said sarcastically but kept typing, while talking.

“This is a block from my apartment and i had just enough money to choose between food in my fridge or paying my internet bill.
So here I sit on my day off buying an overpriced coffee just so I can use their internet to finish a VERY IMPORTANT DEAD LINE, not my proudest moment.”

I felt this shift in the energy around us; a weird vibe. Awkward silence for what seemed like forever. I felt my face get hot. I was feeling guilty for taking my frustration out on this poor woman. It was not her fault I had waited till the last minuet to finish my work. But she was talking my ear off, which was distracting more then the clatter of dishes and people around the coffee house.
Reluctantly I made eye contact with Kara with a K who's smiling face was replaced with a frown, flushed red cheeks and a blank stare. She abruptly stood from her seat as if she had just sat on a tac.

"Look at me talking your ear off when it's clear that you're in the middle of something important and want to be left alone. I saw how you first looked at me when I sat down, but I brushed it off. Most people in town are so friendly, but you clearly have proven me wrong."

She brushed past my chair hitting the arm to find a spot up near the front facing towards the storefront. It took a moment for me to register the words that she said.
I couldn't help but laugh at her honesty and also felt impressed for her bravery to be so matter-of-fact with me. I turned to look in her direction still smiling.

As I tried to dive back into my work, I couldn't help but replay the interactions. I couldn't Ignore guilt for being so short with her and I was ashamed, I had to fix it..

“Well, my dead line is just gonna have to wait because I really can't concentrate on anything right now, good job Jamie” shaking my head I looked back to make sure Kara was still sitting in the front looking out the window.

"Would you like a cinnamon scone, Kara?" At her mercy, I stood in silence beside her waiting for her to tell me to go F myself or to turn to look at me, take my plate of peace offerings and then tell me to go F myself. I watched as she cupped her coffee with both hands on either side as if to warm them up. She brought the cup to her lips and gently blew into the cup to cool down the piping-hot liquid. I watched as she slowly eased it closer to her lips as if to test the temperature before pouring it into her mouth and burning her throat. Not even paying me any attention, I thought ok I deserve this. She placed the cup down, and then turned to look in my direction, more to look at the plate of pastries I was carrying, but I would like to think it was to look at me. I noticed her thick blond hair, neatly tucked into a bun, had some loose strands that fell in the back and laid against her neck.

"I noticed while we were in line waiting to get coffee you were eyeing the scones, and so when I told the cashier what an a-hole I was towards you, she suggested I also get you this as a peace offering." There on the plate was a few cinnamon scone, but the centerpiece and what I was pointing to was a freshly baked, oversized cinnamon bun with a creamy, sugary glaze cascading over the sides into a pool of yumminess.

As Kara took the plate, her eyes widened with shock, and she almost dropped the plate. It made a loud "ting" noise as it made contact with the table in front of her, which made me jump and look around like maybe she saw a mouse or something.

Still staring at me, Kara struggled to get her words out, "I - I am so EMBARRASSED."
"I didn't notice that you had, well, those."

Kara was gesturing with her hand and pointing.
My eyes followed the direction of her hand, and I saw that she was pointing to my chest.
"Boobs? You didn't realize I had boobs? I mean I know I'm no Dolly Parton, but I don't think they're that small that you didn't notice.”

At this point, we were laughing, and I pulled an empty chair from across the way to sit beside her. I was leaning my elbow on the table as I held my head up with my hand, trying to take in the reality that his woman mistakenly thought I was a guy. Kara turned to face me; her face was red, and to be honest, so was mine.

"In my defense, I couldn't see over your laptop, which was hiding those." She pointed again to my chest I laughed as I spoke,

"But I talked to you and answered your questions. Do you think I sound like a man?

You think I look like a man? Gee's thanks for thinking I look and sound like a man.”

Kara reached over and grabbed the baseball cap that said GAP on it and ripped it off my head to reveal long brown hair that fell just below my jawline at an angle. Kara let out a gasp before finding her voice, "Oh, I was not expecting that-" Kara's tone changed, almost softer and breathy.

"I thought you would have had short hair under that hat. Like a man.” she said with a smirk teasingly.” But how was I to know you were a woman, you had it tucked into your hat? And what's with the oversized hoodie hiding your body like you gave up on life and sock with sandals, that was a dead give away you were a guy. No woman would do that. Well…..until now.” Kara laughed even harder and louder at herself.

“Ouch, ok fashion police dang pull your claws out of me dam,” I grabbed at the hat, and then with my other hand I quickly tried to comb through my unwashed hair trying to tame it by tucking it behind my ears.

"I didn't have my hair tucked under my hat Kara. It's my day off, and I didn't feel like doing anything with it, so I just grabbed a hat and put it on so I wouldn't have to worry about brushing it. And I don't usually dress up for coffee at 7 a.m. when I'm running out the door when it's 60 degrees outside." I laughed more to myself for admitting out loud about my laziness. I reached for the plate of pastries to grab a piece of the cinnamon bun as Kara jokingly jerked the plate away from me and more towards her. But not before I grabbed a chunk of one side. Kara turned so her back was a barrier between me and the plate of food as she wrapped her arms around the plate to create a second barrier. She turned her head back towards me to speak.

"Um, excuse me, but these are for me, not you. Gap hat." Her tone was light, and you could tell she was joking. I shrugged smiling, I savored the bit of pastry I had grabbed by breaking off the tiniest of pieces and eating it slowly. I didn't even care that a sugary frosting coated my fingers. "OH, excuse me, pantsuit can we revisit the fact that you were trying to engage in flirty conversation with me because you thought i was a guy"

Kara stumbled over her words as she tried to defend herself

"Ahhh, I was feeling depleted, from lack of caffeine, I was on a mission to uncover the culprit behind the disappearance of my caramel mocha macchiato. I was NOT flirting, I was being nice. I can understand that you may not engage in friendly conversation too often with your bubbly personality and I'm sure it's not the first time someone accused you of stealing"
I couldn't contain my laughter, and clapped loudly at her come back to me. I did love a good banter.

Oh so we're just not gonna address my comment regarding the fact that you assumed I was a man by how I was dressed and you were flirting with me.”

I couldn't help myself but drag it on a bit more, all in good fun. And to see how many shades of red Kara could turn. I tucked my hair securely in my hat, pulled the hood up on my head, and slumped back in my chair. I sat with my legs wide open (like a guy would sit) pretending to stroke my beard on my chin and the other hand resting on top of my groin area as if I was trying to invoke a swagger pose from every front album cover I had ever seen of an RnB artist.

"Come on, do I look like a Brad or a Jason? You think im cute, it's ok to admit it.”
I smiled big and then sat up, my legs still wide. I hunch over, resting both elbows on either knee while my forearm and hands hung down on top of each other in between my legs. My head facing down, I angle my face to the side to look up at Kara and, in my most masculine voice I could pull off I regretfully said

, "Hey baby girl, how you doing? My name is Chris and I love a woman in a nice pantsuit.” I gave Kara a half smile, thinking I nailed it as I held my stare; Kara looked like a deer in headlights her mouth gaped open and at this point, she was facing my entire body. I could tell she was holding her breath and so I panicked and sat up pulling my hood down off my head. The look on her face, I couldn't tell if it was just shock, if she was mortified, or if she was amazed at how good I could pull off sounding like a man. (not a talent you want to brag about, now that I think of it) The silence broke by the sound of laughter, which was a relief. I took my hat off, trying to brush through my hair to tame it. I forgot I had sticky hands from the cinnamon roll, and now I had placed beads of frosting into my hair, which left it clumping in certain spots. I groaned with annoyance at my mistake and put my GAP hat back on, but this time, allowing my hair to be more visible on the sides instead of all my hair being tucked in the back.You could see that I was a girl wearing a GAP hat this time I made sure of it.

"Um, I have no words." Kara's body language was off. Like I made things awkward and she looked conflicted, unsure of what to say or do when she looked up to see my girl hair down showing on the sides of my hat. I was feeling embarrassed for going overboard with the joke, I looked out the window as if I was confessing a dark secret.
I opened up a bit about myself personally.

“I grew up with three brothers and my dad, fishing, camping, fixing things. My mom died when I was a baby, so I never had any aunts or grandmothers to help influence the girly side of me. So I was bound to grow up to be a tomboy more than I was to look like a Boss lady who designs her own high-end lady suits like you.”.

My real name, is Jamie not gap hat by the way" I smiled but kept looking out the window. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable just now with the whole pretending to be a guy and terrible pickup lines. Sometimes what I find funny others find to be not so funny."

By now, the morning rush was over, and the cafe was less chaotic with noise other than an occasional hiss from the espresso machine. A few stragglers were left picking up coffee, leaving just the workers, Kara, and myself as the last remaining occupants.

Kara never took her eyes off me even when I turned to look out the window and talk. It was like she was studying me. Like she was looking inside me and trying to read my thoughts, she had kind eyes and a warm and welcoming personality and I envied that.

Kara placed her hand on my leg and I immediately felt a jolt of heat from her touch.

"Thank you for sharing your REAL name with me, Jamie. And thank you for opening up to tell me more about who you are. I'm sorry for teasing you about what you were wearing, sometimes i too can take it too far. That's something we have in common. I'm also sorry to hear about your mom too."

Kara sat back in her chair, looking out the window, savoring the last bit of coffee in her cup, not saying a word. She was definitely in deep thought. Kara seemed like the type of girl in school that every girl wants to be friends with and every guy wants to date.
Her petite frame, big blue eyes, high cheekbones, and full lips resemble what the media referred to as the perfect look. Ironically enough, my boyish skinny body and lack of any femininity resemble what the media would call the result of drinking while pregnant.

I blame it on my brothers for how I turned out; it would have been nice to have had some female influences around me growing up to show me how to use make up or prepare me for female hormones. But nope the school nurse was the closest female mentor that took pity on me growing up and became my encyclopedia of all things about being a girl. But now, in my late 20s, I was set in my ways and habits, and it's trial and error when it comes to anything girly. Kara's phone went off, and she looked down to see who was calling her; she smiled wide but then hit the ignore button before looking up at me. I pretended to be typing on my laptop, that was not on. I was trying to watch what was happening out of my peripheral vision.

"Well, Jamie, I have got to take this call, so if you excuse me. But before I leave, I just want you to know this was a nice change of scenery. I'm happy I decided to pop in and try this place out. I don't remember the last time i laughed so hard By the way, I take back what I said about your personality and not being friendly, I can tell you do have a kind heart.”
I watched as Kara turned to head towards the exit door with an oversized black designer handbag hanging from her forearm and cell phone in the other before turning back around to talk to me one last time.

"Do you think this suit REALLY looks designer?"
Kara spread her arms out wide on either side before doing a slow circle for me to see the suite from every side. I smiled wide and said, "Kara, I think that suit not only brings out your eyes but you look stunning in it and it looks expensive, It's a power suit for sure!"

"A power suit." She smiled from ear to ear.
Her phone rang again, and this time, she answered it, but not before winking at me as she headed out the door, not looking back.