3,101 Miles (open to one woman, PM first)

[fukensploogin]

Let's try this one again.


Tommy: 24 years old, 5'10", curly brown hair and brown eyes, tan and athletic, about 170 lbs. His girlfriend recently moved out, and he now lives alone in a little box of an apartment above a seedy bar. He's a musician, but he pays the bills making coffee drinks at a funky San Francisco neighborhood coffeeshop, near the Haight. Lots of gutterpunks, yuppies, old hippies still all tripped out, musicians, artists, writers, students, bohemians, etc.

Tommy was starting to hate his job. The same old commuters, same crazy beggars harrassing him, same stupid punks who think they're cool but they're just like everyone else...

Then, on a Tuesday morning, she walked in. Natural style, ease of movement, somehow zen. Tommy had never seen her before. It had been her smile that initially cemented her in his mind and made him remember her name (as he had asked for it when she ordered her latte): Amy. That smile had been equal parts shy and lustful. Maybe he was just making shit up, but he had seen her eyes, too, and they betrayed her, as they locked eyes a few times while he was making drinks, pulling espresso shots, steaming milk.

She came in the next day, and smiled gleefully when he greeted her by name. This time they were chatting while he was making her drink.

Tommy was starting to like his job again.

The next day she came by just as he was about to take his half-hour break for lunch.


Amy is 21 years old and is a musician like Tommy, a singer-songwriter-guitarist. She is a West Coaster going to school in Boston, and is in town on her spring break.


3,101 Miles is the distance, via automobile, from San Francisco to Boston.

 

[Peppergal]

And there he was again.

"Double Latte, low foam." Amy kept her voice low as she dropped her gaze to the counter before her. He'd remembered her name. Odd that she'd become a 'regular customer' in the span of two visits. She'd been going to the coffee shop near her apartment in Boston for months, and they'd yet to even recognise her daily consistent order.

The random chat yesterday, had been a welcome reprive from the chaos of the city. Coming out here had been on a whim. One she'd been regretting since the plane hit the tarmac. Why she'd ever thought flying clear across the country would ever prove anything other than just how scared she could be; Amy had no idea.

A friendly face, no matter how random, and a good cup of coffee, was a welcome break in the day.

"Hows it going today? Busy?" She looked up, offering him a light smile along with her twenty. "Its nice out there today. Im sure they're out in force today."

 

[fukensploogin]

He gave her the change and went about making her latte.

"It's been pretty crazy. I've been here all morning, but when it's so busy, the day really flies by." He looked at the time on clock above the coffee urn. "Wow. Yeah, it's really flown by, it's time for my lunch." He tamped down the ground coffee into the portafilter and slid it into the espresso machine, flipped the switch, and in a moment a thick, caramel-brown liquid poured into a little metal cup below. When it was full, the shot starting to weaken a bit, he shut it off and dumped the espresso into a paper cup. He poured in the milk, holding back the foam and then letting just a dollop of creamy, silky milkfoam drop on top. He set it on the counter in front of her, and said: "easy on the foam." He smiled at her, and started untying his apron. Oh what the hell, he thought, leaning over, I've never done it before but there's something really special about her... something he hadn't been able to get out of his head since yesterday morning when he'd seen her again and her name had popped right into his head. Amy... what you wanna do? I think I could stay with you, for a while maybe longer if I do... that old Pure Prairie League tune that had been bouncing round his head since the first day when she gave her name with her order.

He leaned towards her, across the counter that separated them, and said: "Wanna grab a bite to eat with me? Just, um, real quick, have lunch with me?"