Sharing a Joint with a MILF

Tommy Orion is 23 years old, just under six feet tall, with a nice athletic build, tan skin, longish curly brown hair and dark brown eyes. He's a barista at a little corner neighborhood coffee shop, making about $10 an hour. He recently graduated from college and discovered that his undergrad degree in English was pretty much worthless without a whole shitload of additional credentials and schooling.

And really, he's burnt out on school, anyway. He's accepted that he's going to be spending a good chunk of his twenties smoking too many cigarettes and too much pot, consuming a variety of other mind-altering substances, particularly alcohol and cocaine (though never crack, and he hates to get TOTALLY trashed out of his gourd).

He sees a lot of different people come through the door of the coffee shop every day. There are a lot of regulars, and he knows most of their names and drinks. Sure, there are some pretty young women who come in, and flash him flirty smiles, and he smiles right back and chats a bit, but lately there's just one woman who's really been exciting him, and it's a type of attraction he's never indulged before.

Anne is probably 20 years his senior. She has long straight strawberry blond hair, which is carefully colored to blend the grey into the blond. Her eyes are bright blue. The wrinkles on her face are hardly noticeable, and she has a wondefully sweet smile. Her breasts are large, probably DD, and Tommy imagines they are quite soft and full. She has wonderful curves to her, even if she is a little thicker than she was in her 20's and 30's.

Tommy keeps his drug use quiet, but is open about it if he trusts someone. Anne partied pretty hard in college, and now that her children are in high school and she has some more time for herself, well... she wouldn't mind getting high every now and then, especially with a hot young stud...

bumpity

bump???

Anne looked forward to her morning trip to the coffee shop just down the road from her house. She usually waited until at least 9am to avoid the before work crush earlier in the morning. It also let her enjoy some quiet before those college students in the area, who might not have classes that morning and might have partied to hard the night before, usually came stumbling in. It was just a quiet little slice of the day that was just for her.

The exceptions were Monday's which were the only days she had to actually go into the doctor's office she worked for and on which she was part of the work rush herself. She'd been coming to the shop so long that all the baristas knew her and her sons by sight and they'd usually have her drink ready for her by the time she had her laptop opened and connected to the internet.

Lately though she'd found herself paying more attention to the coffee bar than her computer. One of the newer employees, Tommy, had caught her eye and she couldn't quite help looking at him more than she should. She kept telling herself that he was probably young enough to be one of her sons but that didn't stop her from eyeing the attractive barista when she thought he wasn't looking.

If she were 20 years younger he was exactly the type of man she'd have simply invited out to a party or bar...or maybe even back to her place for a quiet drink. Forcing her eyes back to the computer however, she reminded herself that she wasn't 20 years younger and no doubt he wouldn't be interested in a woman old enough to be his mother. Forcing herself to focus on her work she pushed thoughts of Tommy to the back of her mind to be fantasized on later...when she wasn't in public.

After the last rush died off, and he had made Anne her cappuccino, the last drink on the screen, Tommy finally had a chance to take his ten-minute break. He'd been cooking up lattes and cappuccinos and mochas and all other such nonsense for about two and a half hours straight, and he was fiending for his nic-fix. He took off his brown apron and went out to the back of the store. Behind the building was a little patio with a couple benches and a makeshift table, and Tommy sat down on a bench, put his feet up on the table and finally enjoyed his coffee, a big cup of the Sumatra, nice and smooth even when drunk black.

He lit his cigarette, took in a deep drag, and chemical relief calmed his rattled nerves for the moment. He pulled out a little bag of marijuana from his pocket, and a little metal sneak-a-toke, a little one-hitter. He perused the front of the New York Times as he loaded a little nug into the end and then lit it, drawing the smoke straight into his lungs and holding it for a good minute. He watched his cigarette burn in the ashtray. He closed his eyes, letting the stoned euphoria wash through his mindspace, trying to get her out of his head for a moment.

Her. Anne. With the cappuccino and the computer and warm smile and bright eyes and two sons who were only a few years younger than he was...

He coughed, a cloud of pot smoke bursting forth, and he put the sneak-a-toke away and finished his cigarette. Nothing in the paper was as interesting as Anne. He shook his head as he stamped out his cigarette. Not that he'd ever have a chance with a woman like that anyway... He went back out to work, and his manager asked him to go reload the sugars and milks and napkins and such. He went out to the floor, the other side of the counter, and went about filling all the condiments, quite aware that Anne was sitting at a table just a few paces away.

When he passed by her, they made eye contact.

"How's your cappuccino," he asked her.

"Stop fooling yourself Anne," she muttered to herself as her eyes tracked Tommy going outside on his break. "He's eye candy nothing more."

Shaking her head once the door to the patio had closed behind him she forced her attention back to the computer before her and tried to focus on her work. Lines of numbers tracked down the pages but her mind wasn't fully on them. It never was anymore if Tommy was working when she came in. A part of her mind was focused on the patio door, expectantly waiting for him to return.

"Twit," she muttered to herself once more. "What kind of a fool do you have to be to have a crush, a stupid crush on a man young enough to be your son!"

Her words were quiet so that only she would hear them but any further berating of herself was cut off when Tommy came back in from his break. She felt like a schoolgirl with her first crush and while a part of her felt silly for it part of her liked it as well. It had been a long time since she'd felt so drawn to anyone. Being the single mother of two sons it had been a long time since she'd even allowed herself to notice anyone. She supposed it made sense that the first person she felt drawn to was younger than herself and so perfectly the picture of the type of man she had dated before the boys were born.

Feeling calmer she sipped at her cappuccino and actually managed to get some work done before he moved past her table filling the condiments, "How's your cappuccino," he asked her.

"Perfect," she laughed trying not to blush when he flashed her a quick grin. "But then I expect nothing less when you're working," she added warmly hoping he wouldn't be as embarrassed at the compliment as she was in giving it.

Gods but she used to be better at flirting!

"Perfect," she laughed trying not to blush when he flashed her a quick grin. "But then I expect nothing less when you're working," she added warmly hoping he wouldn't be as embarrassed at the compliment as she was in giving it.


He smiled, the compliment was nice. He had always been a perfectionist of sorts, and strived to always put his best work out there. Sometimes his cappuccinos weren't that good, but often they were stellar, and it was nice to hear that they were stellar often enough to be considered standard.

"Thank you," he said, smiling at her and then turning to his work, he dropped a handful of sugar packs in their little box, and then some splenda and equal, too. He refilled napkins and then the milks. Oh, good God, there had to be something brilliant that he could turn around and say to her, that would give him half a chance at her. He refilled the honey jar. Oh honey...

The words choked in his throat. He caught her eye again and smiled at her again. She's just another pretty customer, he tried to convince himself, and failed.

Anne sighed softly when he moved away to continue working and tried to be subtle about watching him. She didn't really want him to realize that a woman old enough to be his mother was watching him with anything other than the professional interest of a customer and barista. Lord how humiliating would if be if he did! No doubt he'd laugh in her face.

Feeling a blush spreading across her cheeks she forced her head back down, her eyes back to her laptop and tried to get some more work done. She tried to make the insurance numbers scrolling past her make sense but her concentration was shot. She was just too aware of the younger man working around her to keep her mind on the endless scroll of abbreviations and numbers that made up her work world.

He smiled when she glanced up again. He had moved from the sugar packets to the honey jars and she couldn't quite keep an image from flashing through her mind of licking that sticky sweetness off of his skin. It was an image that she quickly tamped down on (though she'd remember it later at home) before returning his smile, blushing slightly, and looking quickly back down at her computer.

"You're being ridiculous Anne," she muttered to herself and her mind agreed with the words...unfortunately her hormones didn't.

Sighing again she reached into her purse, pulled out a pack of cigarettes and headed out onto the patio for a quick cigarette of her own. She didn't really want to leave the cozy atmosphere of the coffee shop for the day yet but if she couldn't control herself better than this she was going to have to.

She doubted very much that her boss would accept being "in lust" with a younger man as a justifiable excuse for not getting her work done.

Things were slowing down significantly in the coffee shop. Dark clouds hung low outside, and rain was imminent. After Tommy finished filling all the condiments, the manager asked him to check out his drawer and then call it an early day.

He was more than happy to. He took his cash drawer to the back and counted it all; it balanced nicely.

He clocked out, threw on his jacket, and headed outside. He saw Anne finishing her cigarette. He steeled himself.

Just go ask her for a light. Start a conversation. See what happens.

"Hey, Tommy!" came a shout from the other direction. Female. He knew that voice. He turned to her.

Kelly. A regular, college freshwoman, 19, and she'd always been someone who was quite forward with her flirting when she made her nonfat mocha (no whip cream, please). She was a waif, a little thing, cute to a fault, and maybe a month or two ago he would have been attracted to her.

But today there was only one woman he really wanted, and she was a woman, not a little girl.

But he couldn't be rude, either.

"Hi Kelly, how are you today?"

"Great! I'm so happy I saw you, there's this party tonight and you should totally come!"

"Yeah, cool. Oh, shit, I can't go, I've got tickets to the baseball game."

She looked up at the sky. "Well, why don't you call me if it gets rained out?" She grabbed his hand and pulled a pen from her bag and wrote her number across the back of his hand.

"Uh, sure thing," he said. A few raindrops started to fall. He saw Anne crush out her cigarette in the ashtray.

"Great, well, hope I see you tonight," she said, and winked at him before going inside.

He turned to Anne again. She was heading inside. "Wait, Anne," he said, as she passed by him. "Umm, do you have a light?" he asked.

"Hey, Tommy!"

Yes I am fool enough to have looked over when I heard a female voice calling Tommy's name and to have felt just a mild pang of jealousy when he moved away toward that voice. She was a cute little thing. Clearly around his age and the sort of waif-ishness about her that was so touted as the ideal these days...and that I had never had even before having my boys.

Pretending to be engrossed in finishing my cigarette I watched quietly as the girl talked to him and wanted to grind my teeth at the innocent sweetness of the way she simply wrote something on his hand. Even at her age I'd never been quite that free around the men I liked, but that had been a different time entirely too and acting that way would have labeled me a slut, or worse, very quickly.

I think what annoyed me most though was that she was the sort of young woman I had actually pictured him dating, seeing it confirmed though...well let's just say it sucked and leave it there.

Berating myself in my head I crushed out my cigarette under my heel and was ready to turn back into the coffee house when Tommy's voice stopped me in my tracks.

"Umm, do you have a light?" he asked.

"Of course," I said, almost mumbling as I looked down and fished my lighter out of my purse without thinking. Starting to hand it to him I paused however and held it back slightly looking at him with mild curiosity, "But only if you tell me what's wrong with the light you used on your break earlier."

"That was my last match," I replied, pulling an empty matchbook from my pocket. I looked into Anne's big blue eyes and smiled a bit. I reached out and took the offered lighter and lit my cigarette, drawing the smoke in and then releasing it skywards.

The rain was light still; we were standing under the awning in front of the coffee shop. I wasn't sure what to say to her. I wanted to say something, anything. Ask her if she wants to get a beer sometime. That's nice and easy, right?

But why would she want to go out drinking with a kid like me? She probably would hate that I smoke weed, too. Bah, what the hell was I thinking, anyways? I should call Kelly and at least go to the party and find someone my age to fuck around with, right?

Then why am I getting lost in this woman's eyes, so easily?

I handed the lighter back to her, and our fingers touched for a half-moment. My heart skipped a beat. "Thanks," I said.

"That was my last match,"

Pausing for just a moment, as if thinking over whether that was a decent enough excuse or not, I finally managed a small smile and handed him the lighter. This close he was even cuter than when I was just watching him inside the shop. His eyes looked darker up close and if I wasn't mistaken there was just the faintest scent of weed clinging to him. I almost opened my mouth to ask but in the end I kept it shut. It would have been rude if I was wrong and no doubt he'd likely just tell a polite lie about it anyway thinking that the a woman old enough to be his mother would likely just lecture him about it.

And I wasn't about to tell him that part of the reason I liked owning my own business was that there was no one around to tell me I couldn't indulge in the occasional joint myself when I wanted.

"Thanks,"

Such a simple work but it snapped me back into the moment and I managed a small smile. I wish I could say I had something witty to say in return, something to start a real conversation with him, but nothing came to mind. In fact my mind was almost entirely blank. A situation that would have been desireable if I were at home meditating but not while standing beside the young man I was actively desiring.

"You're welcome...anytime," I finally said a few seconds after taking my lighter back. It wouldn't have done to speak sooner because my voice might have shook, just that little brush of fingertips had set things low in my body tingling.

Anne, you need to meet a nice guy your own age and get laid! I berated myself inside the privacy of my own mind.

Despite the blank mind and knowing he was likely trying to leave I didn't want to let him get away quite yet and heard my mouth speaking independantly of my brain, "So was the cute girl just now your girlfriend?"

"So was the cute girl just now your girlfriend?" she asked me.

I tried to stop it, but a quick laugh escaped. "Ah, no. Not even dating or anything. She's just a flirt," I said, taking another drag, watching the rain falling in the street. I turned back to Anne, got stuck in her eyes again.

"Besides, I don't think she's really the woman I'm looking for."

I was nervous as hell talking to Anne. I'd only been crushing on her and fantasizing about her for the last couple of weeks. Fortunately, I was also a little stoned, which took all the nervous energy, smoothed it out quite a bit, and made me start rambling a bit.

"I mean, a girl like her... college girl, popular, shrill and annoying as hell... they thrive on drama. I can't handle that kind of energy, you know, that just feeds on scandal and other people's misfortune."

I took another drag. "But I'm sure she'll make some jock or two really happy tonight at the party. You know, she doesn't even know it, but I'm not the kinda guy she's looking for, either."

"Besides, I don't think she's really the woman I'm looking for."

I know it's stupid but my heart skipped a little at the double meaning that could have been in those words. I quickly berated myself for even thinking he could be meaning me however. After all just because this cute little waif wasn't the woman he was looking for didn't mean that he meant that I was. It was a silly, hopeful though and I recognized it as such.

Though I have to admit that his description of the type of girl she was was slightly satisfying.

But I'm sure she'll make some jock or two really happy tonight at the party. You know, she doesn't even know it, but I'm not the kinda guy she's looking for, either.

"She's young," I said quietly thinking about the pretty young girl he'd sent away. "Likely she doesn't know exactly what she wants yet but she finds you attractive and likeable and at that age sometimes that's enough for awhile."

It was much more generous that I had expected to be but it was also true. At least it seemed that way to me. The girl couldn't have been more than 19 or 20 and at that age I'd been clueless as to what I wanted. Unfortunately I also hadn't protected myself the way I should have and had found myself unmarried and pregnant. Luckily my Bradley had been a good and honorable man even at the young age of 20 and had made an "honest" woman of me by marrying me and raising the twins I gave birth to 7 months later. Well raising them until they were eight anyway when a drunk took my husband and their father from us.

With the exception of a few very bad first dates, I'd been a single mother for the last 11 years and that wasn't going to change just because I was suddenly feeling freer with the boys on their way to college.

"Anyway, you mentioned a party and I'm sure you're eager to get to it instead of standing here yakking with a woman old enough to be your mother," I said with a small, self-depricating, smile. "Have a good time tonight Tommy."

"Anyway, you mentioned a party and I'm sure you're eager to get to it instead of standing here yakking with a woman old enough to be your mother," I said with a small, self-depricating, smile. "Have a good time tonight Tommy."

"Aww, shit, I'm not going to that stupid party," I said, cigarette dangling from my lips as I rubbed Kelly's phone number off the back of my hand. "It's some frat party, and I'll stick out like a sore thumb. I don't have any Abercrombie in my wardrobe. But I'm not going to any baseball game, either, I just told her that to get her off my case. My good time is at the Pub around the corner here."

The next thing I said just popped out before I could be too nervous to shut up.

"Wanna join me there tonight for a beer or two? Around 8 or so?"

"Wanna join me there tonight for a beer or two? Around 8 or so?"

I heard him but my brain just didn't seem to want to register what he'd said. I mean I heard the words but somehow they just didn't want to make sense in my head. I was sure that I must just be hearing what I wanted to hear after so many hours of fantasizing about him.

I was silent long enough that I could see him start to close down and suddenly my mouth seemed to be working independantly of my brain, "I'd love to. Fair warning though, I'm not much of a partier and am likely to less energetic company than you're used to."

She felt stupid for adding that last comment but what else was she supposed to say? No doubt he was used to perky little co-ed's and she couldn't, for the life of her think of why he'd actually asked her to come hang out at all anyway. He had to be crazy to be asking the woman old enough to be his mother out to the bar for a couple of beers when he had cute lil things (his own age) panting after him.

"I'd love to. Fair warning though, I'm not much of a partier and am likely to less energetic company than you're used to."

"Well, you'd have to be dead to be less energetic than some of the company I keep at the Pub. It's a pretty chill spot. Definitely not some wild crazy college bar, I promise," I said.

Oh, shit, what the hell have I done? Why couldn't I leave this woman in my fantasies? Why make it real?

But... wait. She said yes. She's coming to have a beer with me, tonight, at the pub. Good god, what are my friends going to think?

They'll fucking love her. That's the thing about my friends there... they're all somewhere between 22 and 60 and they're all goodpeople and we've all stopped giving a shit about how old we are... we're all adults.

I smiled at Anne. This was just the woman I'd been wanting for a while...

"So I'll see you there around 8?" I asked, taking a drag on my cigarette before throwing it into a puddle.

"So I'll see you there around 8?"

"Eight it is," I heard my voice agreeing and was amazed at just how calm I sounded. How could I be agreeing to go out for a drink with this young man?! He was young enough to be my son for Christ's sake not someone I should be dating.

This is what lusting after inappropriate men got you.

Still I managed a small smile and a wave before slipping back into the coffeshop to gather up my things. It was getting late enough that the college crowd - those who needed a shot of caffiene after morning classes and those that were just waking up - would be drifting in soon and my quiet idyll would be lost anyway. Stupid as it is I did wait until I knew he'd be gone before actually leaving the shop myself.

* * *

Later that night I was frustrated and nervous as hell. I'd gotten no work done because my mind simply wouldn't function properly to focus on anything but the fact that I was supposed to be meeting Tommy tonight. I kept going over and over scenarios in my head and they all ended in disaster and yet I couldn't manage to convince myself not to go either!

By 7:30 I'd showered and gone through nearly everything in my wardrobe, vetoing all of it for various reasons. Work clothes, too casual, too dressy, too mom-ish. The simple fact was that I didn't own any real "bar-clothes" and even if some had magically appeared in my closet the odds are good that I never would have worn them. The things I saw young women wearing these days were scandalous!

At last I decided to just settle on casual. Hell Tommy usually saw me in scrubs or sweats at the coffeeshop, and a time or two I'd just trundled over still in flannel pyjama bottoms, so this would be an improvement! Jeans, a jade green halter top (one that covered my chest entirely and left only my arms and upper back bare!) and black ankle boots with a modest heel completed my outfit and my hair I left floating free around my shoulders. The outfit was comfortable but in no real way suggestive, hell it was something I could have worn in front of my own mother without fear of a lecture.

If he didn't like it he could just go to hell.

Chuckling to myself at the false bravado rampant in that thought I grabbed a light jacket and headed out the door to meet up with Tommy while actively forcing my mind not to use the word "date" in conjunction with that meeting. Asking someone friendly out for a beer didn't constitute a date and I really just couldn't bring myself to believe that he could want anything more than friendship with someone my age.

A bit shallow and self-depricating of me? Probably but hey, being a single mother has left me a little out of practice with the whole dating scene!

I walked home feeling on top of the world, my footsteps light and my head lost in a daydream. I got to my little box of an apartment. The place was a mess. The possibility that Anne and I would come back to my apartment didn't even occur to me... that was in the realm of dreams and wishes I dared not venture into quite yet.

I took a long hot shower, wash all the coffee away. Sometimes, after work, when the water is hot enough, it feels like I'm brewing. This was one of those showers. I started humming a tune.

The tune stayed with me as I dried myself off and put on my evening attire. Dark blue boot-cut jeans, tight around the thighs. Black leather boots. Wifebeater and a white button-up dress shirt, leaving the top couple of buttons open. I let my curly hair go wild. I took a look in the mirror, shrugged. I looked at the clock, still had a good hour or so.

I picked up my guitar and started working out that little tune. It was bouncing around nicely and I figured out the hook just as it was time to go. I set the guitar down and headed out the door...

Since the Pub Tommy wanted to meet at wasn't far from my place, hell it was just around the corner from the coffeeshop he worked in, I simply walked. At least that's why I told myself I was walking. After all it was a beautiful night perfect for a quiet stroll. It couldn't possibly have anything to do with needing the extra time walking gave me to steel my nerves against the fact that I had agreed to meet the young man I'd been lusting over for months.

Reaching the door the diatribe running inside my head almost became deafening and I nearly turned to leave but a part of me was just too damned curious to make myself go all the way back home without going inside first. I mean really, why had he asked me to meet him here anyway? What could have been going through his mind? Granted the town was rather smallish but it wasn't as if he would have heard about me having a reputation for playing "Mrs. Robinson" for the college boys...that reputation didn't even exist in rumor.

So why had he asked me to be here?

No matter what else was going through my mind it was that one question that finally made me push the door open and step inside. I simply stood in the doorway for a moment, letting my eyes adjust to the dimmer lighting of the bar, before I started looking around trying to spot Tommy. The nervous butterflies were fluttering away in my stomach at about a mile a minute and I could almost feel myself ready to bolt if I didn't spot him quickly.

I headed out the door and started walking towards the Pub, nervous and uncertain as hell. What had I done? This was a woman I had asked out, and I was starting to feel like a little boy. I hadn't been on a date in a little while. But was this even really a date? Just drinks at the Pub? It could be construed as a date. Was there that much romance there, or were we just two people who needed to sit down and enjoy a beer together?

I wasn't too sure. We hadn't said anything to make it outright romantic, but that was the thing... the romance (in my head, anyway) was all in the subtle glances and lingering gazes that we'd been sharing for too long. The english language had failed us in that regard, but we'd been communicating in other ways...

The fact of the matter was that I was crazy about the woman and I didn't have a clue what to do with her. I'd only been with girls.

But then I saw Anne walk into the Pub from about half a block away, as I was walking towards her. I hastened my pace, walked in through the front door, and almost ran into her as she was looking about the place. I did the only thing I could think of at that moment.

I placed my hand on her lower back and said: "Hi, Anne. Thanks for coming. Can I buy you a beer?"

"Hi, Anne. Thanks for coming. Can I buy you a beer?"

The familiar voice near my ear and the warm hand suddenly on my back made me jump slightly before a slight laugh parted my lips and I turned a sheepish grin to Tommy. Nervous? Me? Nahhhh. Jumpy or not though I didn't move away from that hand on my back; even through my jacket I could feel my skin tingling just knowing his hand was that close to me.

Taking a deep breath to try and calm my shaky nerves I managed a real grin and finally nodded my head, "A beer would be great thanks."

Moving into the bar with him I was startled to realize just how many of the people here he seemed to know. Clearly Tommy was a regular here as even the bartenders referred to him by name and made wisecracks with him about college life. He seemed relaxed here in a way I'd never seen him at work. Not that anyone could really relax working in a coffeeshop.

It was nice seeing another side of him but with all the commraderie floating around I couldn't help feeling a bit out of place as well. While he ordered the beers I slid up onto the nearest bar stool and couldn't help but to wonder (yet again) just what he'd been thinking in asking me here tonight...and what I'd been thinking in saying yes.

I sat down on the barstool next to Anne after the obligatory hello's and how-are-ya's were spread around to my old friends at the bar. It began to occur to me that maybe I should have taken Anne somewhere else, but it was too late to change that now.

Will, the bartender, pulled out a pair of pint glasses and started pouring my regular beer, a locally brewed Imperial Pale Ale. He was a big bearded fellow a few years my senior, with a bellowing laugh and a big heart. He'd poured my numerous beers on the house when I was broke, because when I had money I always tipped well. He was a good friend.

I took a look around and no longer regretted bringing Anne here. There was a wide cross-section of folks here and they were all good people. College kids and grad students, blue-collar union guys, a lawyer or two, a few retired old men down at the end of the bar. I knew most of their names. I wasn't known for bringing dates here, so I noticed a few raised eyebrows. The music was loud enough to hear and even sing along to, but not so loud you couldn't have a conversation. There was a pool table (currently being played by the union boys) but there were also several couches and comfy chairs around the perimeter.

I put a ten down on the bar for Will and we both looked at Anne. "What would you like?" Will asked her. He poured it for her and took the ten and we were left to ourselves, for the moment.

I held my beer up, looked into Anne's big blue eyes and said "I'm happy you said yes and came out tonight. Cheers."

I held my beer up, looked into Anne's big blue eyes and said "I'm happy you said yes and came out tonight. Cheers."

Chuckling softly I touched my own glass to his - having had the bartender fill it with the same beer Tommy was drinking - and repeated his "Cheers". I still wasn't entirely comfortable but the beer certainly helped to smooth out some of the rough edges on my nerves rather quickly, despite my sipping at it, because I wasn't much of a drinker normally.

"I have to ask Tommy, why did you ask me to come out tonight?"

It was a question that had been running through my mind all day and I finally just screwed up my courage and asked it. I knew why I'd said yes but I simply couldn't fathom why he'd even asked in the first place and I really wanted to know.

Clearly so did the bartender who remained close enough to listen in though he tried to make it seem like he was working....at least until he realized I was watching him at which point he gaze a slight shrug, an almost sheepish smile that seemed to ask if I could blame him before he wandered down to the other end of the bar and the patrons waiting there.

"I have to ask Tommy, why did you ask me to come out tonight?"

It was a question that had been running through my head all day. I saw Will linger and then move to the other end of the bar.

I opened my mouth to speak, but needed a little courage first, so I took a long pull from the beer.

"Why did I ask you out?" I said, pulling out my cigarettes and lighting one. "Well... when you're in the coffee shop, I have a really hard time taking my eyes off you. All I want to do when you come in is talk to you," (okay, not really all I wanted to do...) "And I figured this might be a better place to have a conversation. You know, while I'm not running around trying to do ten things at once. Honestly, Anne... you're the brightest part of my morning, and I was hoping you could do that for my evening, too."

"And I figured this might be a better place to have a conversation. You know, while I'm not running around trying to do ten things at once. Honestly, Anne... you're the brightest part of my morning, and I was hoping you could do that for my evening, too."

I couldn't keep myself from blushing slightly in pleasure at his answer. What woman wouldn't like hearing she was the brightest part of someone's day? Certainly he'd been the most interesting part of my for quite some time but that was because he'd become a central figure in my fantasy life! Not that I was going to tell him that!

Taking another sip of my own beer I also pulled out a cigarette to keep my hands busy, not wanting to look as nervous as I felt. The truth was I didn't really know what to say to compliment like the one he'd just given me. It had been a long time since any man had said anything even remotely that sweet and it just sort of made my mind blank for a moment...lighting the cigarette gave me a second to regroup my thoughts.

"Thank you Tommy," I finally managed to say after a long drag on my smoke. It was hard not to qualify that sentiment, to say something like I didn't see how that could be but I didn't want to seem to be invalidating the compliment or his feeling so I left it at a simple 'thank you' and called it good.

"So do you think we can kick those boys off the pool table and play a round or will they put up a fuss if we want to cut in?"