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Alana’s WiFi was out, again, for the third time this month.
Gathering up all her things, she took the short walk downtown to her favorite cafe and sat in her favorite seat, the well-worn couch upstairs right next to the window. The weather outside topped it all off, a gloomy drizzle that gave the whole atmosphere a cozy feeling.
She wasn’t there for very long though when she heard someone coming down the hallway just around the corner from the bookcases; she looked up just in time to see a man in a rain-dotted coat come into view, coffee in hand and some books and papers under his arm, and stop short, “...oh.”
Oh?
At first Alana thought she’d taken the man’s seat; hurrying to repack her things, she made to move somewhere else, “I’m sorry, were you sitting here? I didn’t know...”
“No no!” The man hurried over and set his drink on the table, sitting in the matching chair just beside the couch, “You’re fine, I’ve never seen anyone else up here before is all. It’s kind of hidden away.”
The man seemed kind, had a professor sort of look about him with his ruffled hair and rain-speckled, dark-framed glasses, not to mention his scruff. He had a soft smile as well, one that warmed her and made her feel at ease.
“Do you mind if I sit here? I’ll just be reading, doing some papers.”
Whoops, she had been staring a little, but thankfully didn’t seem to notice, “That’s fine, I’m doing about the same.” She relaxed back into the cushions and removed what things she had repacked from her bag, “Do you come here often?”
That made him laugh some as he took off his coat, his smiling growing wider, “Are you hitting on me?”
“What?” She hadn’t even meant to say it like a pick-up line, but too late to take it back now, “No, I was--”
To save her the trouble, he interrupted, “A few times a month, when I need some alone time.” The woman was still looked a little flustered but at least glad that he dropped the flub. “My name’s Will, by the way. Will Graham.”
“Alana Bloom, it’s nice to meet you,” they shook hands, Will’s a little sweaty with nerves, much to his embarrassment, but oh well.
He nodded in agreement before continuing, now holding his coffee to take a drink after, “How about you? Do you come here often, I mean.”
“Sometimes, when I want to be around people or when my internet is out, like right now.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
She waved him off, “Thank you, but please, don’t be, it happens all the time.”
Will’s words suddenly failed him then as she turned on the lamp beside them, her features becoming much clearer now. First his eyes went to her necklace, a beautiful starfish that reflected the light nicely, then his gaze fell upon her chestnut colored hair and striking blue eyes, the way her mouth curved with just a hint of a smirk, and her strong jawline that added to the pleasing aesthetic of her face.
Now it was his turn to realize that he had been staring a little, coughing before glancing back down at the coffee table that only had one cup, his. “Do... do you have a drink? I could get you one, if you’d like.”
She peered at the table herself and made an expression of forgetfulness before starting to stand, “I knew I was forgetting something, I can grab it.”
“Alana,” he set his hand on her arm before she stood completely, “Tea or coffee?”
A heat rose to her cheeks and she couldn’t help but smile, “Tea, please, any kind.”
When he returned, things were mostly silent between them for a while until Alana happened to catch a glance of what Will was reading, “‘Evolutionary Origins of Social Exclusion.’ Hannibal Lecter.”
“Have you read it?”
“Read it? I was there when he wrote it.” That got her a curious glance, “He was my mentor during my residency at John Hopkins. I’m a doctor in psychology, focusing on family trauma. I just got my degree last year.”
“Really? Well, congratulations, Dr. Bloom...”
The two kept up steady conversation after that, neither of them getting much of their work done. Eventually it was time for them to leave though; exchanging phone numbers, Alana suggested that maybe they could meet up in the future, that she had a great time talking with him today and that she’d love to see him again, if that was okay.
Which of course it was, neither of them knowing, though, how much their lives would actually intertwine...