A Lion's Love

[AriaSilverfyre]

Sorry but this thread is only open to LionofBalance and myself. You are all more than welcome to enjoy it though.

IC: The coffee shop was kinda quiet as I walked in and sat in a corner booth. I just needed some time alone. The server came up to me and asked for my order.

"Just a vanilla/hazelnut italian soda." I told her.
"Sure." She replied, "Be right back with your drink."

She dissappeared to get it for me. It was pretty warm outside and a cold drink would be perfect. I opened the book I had brought with me and began to read while I waited for my drink.

I stared out the window as I sipped my drink. Silently, I hoped that some handome prince would walk in, sweep me off my feet and carry me off to his castle. "Myriam, you're insane. You should know that will never happen..."My brain tells me as I continue to stare...

 

[LionOfBalance]

It was a beautiful late-April day outside. The sun was shining brightly in the cloudless sky, and glinting off the windows of the windows of the shops and restaurants of the windows of the shopping centre before me.

I stepped out of my cherry red Thunderbird and walked through the parking lot, drawing in a breath of the cool breeze that blew across my face and rippled the sleeves of my leather jacket.

"Damn," I thought as I approached my favourite coffee shop, "this day is just too beautiful to be spent indoors.......but coffee is the blood of life, after all."

It was my day off, and as I did every available morning, I decided to stop by my favourite coffeeshop for a cup of java and a chat with the server at the shop, who was an old friend from high school. After all, few things chase away loneliness like a good friend and a cup of coffee.

Truth be told, I wished I had someone to spend an amazing Spring day like this with. But after my past relationship ended 6 months previously, I hadn't been able to find someone to get beyond the wall I'd built up around myself. And unfortunately, my day off of work never seemed to coincide with any of my friends' days off, which generally left me in the position I found myself in as I swung open the door of the coffeeshop before me......alone.

 

[AriaSilverfyre]

I snapped back to reality as the door opened. Quickly, I turned back to my book and pretended to be reading. From the corner of my eye I watched the stranger as he went up to the counter.

"Hmm..." I thought to myself.

I was in an interesting mood. Usually, I just sat there checking out the guys and hoping that they would come up to me first. Today seemed different. My brain decided to kick my heart's ass and make the rest of my body stand and walk over to the table he had chosen and sip his drink.

 

[LionOfBalance]

I walked up to the counter and greeted my friend behind the counter.

"The usual. Caramel-au-lait with the #2 coffee of the day."

I winked and grinned at the server. "And how are you doing today?"

"You don't want to know," she replied with a touch of irritation in her voice. She wasn't exactly known for always being in a good mood, so this response didn't surprise me. I took it as a sign that this wasn't the best possible time to strike up a meaningful conversation. The frazzled mother with the two screaming children who walked into the shop behind me confirmed it.

So, I paid for my drink, dropped a couple of bucks in the tip jar in hopes of making her day a little brighter, and grabbed a seat by the window. On my trek towards my table, I glanced over and saw an amazingly beautiful girl reading at the table across from me. More than a little intrigued, as I hadn't seen her there before, I attempted a surreptitious glance to see what exactly it was that she was reading at the time. Unfortunately, I caught a glimpse of her eyes first, and immediately found myself unable to tear myself away. I thought I'd better grab my seat before it became any more obvious that I found this girl more than a little attractive.

"Incredibly beautiful, amazing eyes, and she's actually READING in a coffee shop. Yeah, right, Devyn," I thought, "You've got NO CHANCE IN HELL." I took my seat and looked out the window at the sky.

 

[AriaSilverfyre]

"Hi!" I say to him as I walk up, "I don't think I've ever seen you here. I'm also positive that I don't know you."

I smile, laughing to myself and thinking how stupid I must sound. At least I wasn't using one of the countless cliche'd pick-up lines that were out there. Originality has it's bonuses.

Realizing I had brought my drink with me, I sipped it casually while waiting for his reaction.

 

[LionOfBalance]

I turned around, startled. Up until that moment I'd been carefully examining a large, fluffy, white cloud outside the window beside me. The only thought that was currently on my mind was a yearning to follow that fluffy little cloud off to whatever destination it had in mind. The sight of the aforementioned beautiful girl suddenly standing beside me, and better yet, actually SPEAKING to me snapped me back to this reality.

I considered her words carefully before responding, while a thousand different thoughts shot through my head. Did I know her from somewhere else? Is she being sarcastic about not having met me? Is she actually speaking to me? Is she SINGLE?

"You're not speaking," my brain suddenly informed me, "Commonly, when you are spoken to by another individual, particularly an ATTRACTIVE individual, it's generally a good idea to verbalize an actual RESPONSE."

Ah, yes.

"Hello," I said, proud of my brilliant and creative reply.

I paused for a moment, and accidentally looked directly into those gorgeous, mesmerizing dark eyes of hers. It took me another moment to pull myself together enough to continue with my words. WHY was I having such a difficult time talking to this girl?

I continued.

"No, I don't think I've seen you here before, either. And I'm sure I would have remembered seeing you before."

"Oh, NICE ONE," my brain berated me, "Just let her KNOW that you think she's mind-bogglingly beautiful, why don't you?"

Quickly, I added, "That is, I come here pretty often." I smiled, with more than a little shyness showing on my lips. Thank goodness for the shades I was wearing, because otherwise it would have been more than a little apparent that I couldn't stop looking into her eyes.....

 

[AriaSilverfyre]

A smile dances across my lips at his resonse. I wondered what his eyes were like. If they were anything like his voice I would be in trouble for sure.

"I'm Myriam." I say, extending my hand, "We must not cross paths often here. I'm in this place every morning. Got to have my caffiene and/or sugar fix for the day."

My eyes scan over his myriad of jewelry. He seemed to really like stone bracelets. A particular necklace caught my eye. Dragons were always one of my favorite things.

"That's a nice necklace you have. I'm a big fan of dragon related items. Where'd you get it?" I ask.

 

[LionOfBalance]

A girl who actually likes dragons, as well as books. A BEAUTIFUL girl who likes dragons, as well as books. A beautiful girl who likes dragons, as well as books, and just so happens to have the most amazing eyes I've ever seen, and a smile that makes the sun look dim in comparison. A girl who....

"YOU'RE NOT RESPONDING AGAIN," informed my brain helpfully.

I glanced down at my necklaces. I was wearing four at the moment. Two above my shirt, and two tucked underneath. The ones above were a silver ankh on a silver chain, and a silver dragon grasping a crystal ball, on a longer silver chain. Those below were a silver sword with an ankh embedded into it, and a green stone accenting the eye of the ankh, and a silver Lion grasping another crystal ball, with the Talisman of the Balance hidden behind it. I've always had a thing for jewelry, and always chalked it up to the gypsy in my blood. Who knows? Whatever the case, I felt much better with a few necklaces around my neck, bracelets on my wrist, and rings on my fingers.

Before my brain could prod me again, I replied.

"Salem. Massachusetts, that is. I picked it up from a little arcane shop when I went there for a vacation a couple of years ago. I saw the dragon, and just had to get it........I've always loved dragons, too."

I smiled, and suddenly she reached over to examine it a bit closer. At the very same moment, I went to flip it over to show her the back. Our hands touched. My heart skipped a beat.

I froze for a moment, then laughed gently, and dropped my hand awkwardly back to my side.

"I'm glad you like it......." I trailed off, and thought for a moment about what soft hands she had. I would have given almost anything to touch them once again.

 

[AriaSilverfyre]

"I've always wanted to go there. I think it'd be pretty neat. " I say with a smile as I reach the necklace to get a closer look.

His hand brushes mine as I reach for it. A strange feeling runs through me as we make contact. I can feel our eyes meet even though I am unable to see his. Strange how things like that work.

"Mind if I sit down?" I say, not waiting for an answer and taking the empty seat across from him, setting my book and drink on the little table before me.

"Tell me about yourself. I am intrigued by you. There aren't to many men that I know who wear as much jewelry as you." I laugh softly.

 

[LionOfBalance]

The beauty standing next to me suddenly asked if she could have a seat across from me. Before I could respond something particularly profound and suave such as "HELL, YES!", she pulled up a chair and requested that I tell her about myself.

Now, here was a real challenge: Being able to form coherent sentences while the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen in my life was sitting directly across from me. But life's just FULL of little challenges, and this one seemed worth taking up. All I had to do was avoid those eyes. And that smile. And those hands. And that long, sensuous neck. And --

"BRAIN TO DEVYN, BRAIN TO DEVYN. Come in, Devyn."

Shut up, Brain.

I laughed when she asked me about my jewelry. For a moment, I was a bit concerned that she had misconstrued my large amount of jewelry as a sign that I was.........well........not too particularly fond of the ladies, so to speak. Fortunately, I assumed that the fact I blushed every time she smiled, and that I occasionally stumbled over my words when her eyes sparkled, would give her some indication that I was quite "fond of the ladies", and was growing increasingly fond of one in particular, whom I barely knew. So why did she feel so familiar?

"For starters, my name is Devyn." I smiled again. "And may I ask your name?" She told me her name was Myriam, and I stuck out my hand formally. I must admit that part of the reason I did so was out of common courtesy, as it's always polite to have a handshake during an introduction. But most of my reasoning involved the fact I wanted to touch her hand once again.

We shook, and I went on to explain that I'd always been quite fond of jewelry, and that I was never without mine. I began to explain that I had a bit of gypsy heritage, and that I thought perhaps that's how my fascination with large amounts of jewelry had begun. Suddenly, I realized I had forgotten to let go of her hand after shaking it in the original introduction.

"BRILLIANT, Senor Suave," I could hear my brain shouting. If my brain had eyes of its own, I knew for a fact that it would be rolling them.

Fine, so I'd held onto her hand for about 30 seconds too long. She hadn't really seemed to notice, so perhaps it wasn't as horrible of a faux pas as I'd imagined. I stood for a moment, and took off my leather jacket.

As I did so, I said, "I live nearby, and I've been coming to this shop since I was just a kid. I love to read, and this has always been a nice spot to relax with a cup of coffee and a good book when I need some quiet time."

I was wearing a tight black t-shirt and faded black jeans at the time, with a black and silver belt. I had a bit of a nervous habit of straightening out my shirt by tugging it down a bit when I was slightly uneasy. This situation definitely qualified, so I did so.

I sat back down, took a sip of my drink, and gave her a bit of a quirky smile.

"So, what all would you like to know?"

 

[AriaSilverfyre]

"Pleasure to meet you Devyn." I replied, taking his hand.

He held it longer than most people would. However, I didn't mind. There was something about his touch that left me wanting more. I tried to shrug off the feeling, with little success. He let go of my hand, maybe realizing how long he had been holding it and stood to remove his jacket and adjust his tight shirt.

I could see the outlines of his toned muscles. Not overly done like some guys, but just enough to show that he cared about his appearance. My mind started to drift, but luckily didn't go too far. His words brought me back to the normal realm.

"Hmm... good question. How about I let you pick what you'd like to share. Though there is one thing I'd like to know." I say, trying to see his eyes through the shades. "What color are your eyes?"

 

[LionOfBalance]

I paused for a moment, slightly taken aback. That was one question I really wasn't expecting, and suddenly I found myself blushing. Yes, blushing. A 22-year old male Scorpio, unable to stop himself from BLUSHING.

"Bring out the champagne and satin sheets, because this boy is SMOOOOOOOOOOOOOTH....." chided my brain. I silently wished that I could whack it with a mallet without knocking myself unconscious. Unfortunately, at this rate, perhaps unconsciousness would have been slightly less embarassing.

The shades I was wearing were dark-blue, with black rims. They were prescription sunglasses, and I wore them commonly both indoors and outdoors. My reasoning was that since the eyes are the windows to the soul, that perhaps it was about time that I quit giving so many people easy access to what lay within me. Perhaps then, I wouldn't be so vulnerable to pain or betrayal. Besides, I've always been quite a movie buff, and my years of watching movies have taught me many things. One of those things is that everyone on Earth needs a good pair of sunglasses, whether it be as part of a blues band, to block the glare while flying a fighter jet, or to prevent the possibility of having your mind wiped by a neuralyzing ray while removing the memory of alien invasion from an innocent person's mind. Hey, it made sense to me at the time.

But with this girl, I didn't see the need to hide my eyes. Maybe I didn't even need to hide my soul. I reached up, and took off my shades very slowly. I set them on the table in front of me.

Now mind you, these are PRESCRIPTION sunglasses, so without them I can see just colors and shapes. Years of reading fantasy-adventure novels had made me near-sighted. But on the plus side, I could quote Tolkien and Piers Anthony by heart. Some sacrifices are worth making.

I looked back towards Myriam's eyes, or at least where I assumed Myriam's eyes were. Damned near-sightedness.

"All right. Well, I go to college not far from here. I'm working to get my teaching license so that I can teach elementary school. I love kids, so I think that'll be a lot of fun. My long-term goal is to get my doctorate in Archaeology, and use my teaching career to help me finance the classes I'll need to get that doctorate. Maybe then when I graduate, I'll have the option of going on digs, or teaching Archaeology myself at the University level."

Feeling my throat a bit dry from the combination of conversation and nervousness, I reached over for my drink. I grasped blindly at the table in front of me, and picked it up. As I started to draw it closer to me, I realized then that it was not in fact my drink. It was the salt shaker.

"All right, THAT'S it. I'm leaving!", announced my brain.

If only that were true.

I assumed this would be a good time to put on my regular glasses. I pulled out the silver case from the pocket of my jacket behind me, emptied out my glasses, and put them on. They were gold rimmed, and had more than a little of a John Lennon look to them.

I watched as Myriam took a sip of her drink, and admired her profile as she set it back down.

"Wow," I thought. That pretty much summed everything up.

I reached over to my ACTUAL drink this time, and took a sip.

"I'm big into anything music-related, for one thing." I paused, and noted that particular sentence had several grammatical errors. Unsurprisingly, I didn't elect to give a damn.

"I love all sorts of music. Celtic, Latin, alternative, punk, techno, trance, gothic, basically, you name it. I do a lot of meditating, and tai-chi. I love coffee, and you can find me here fairly often visiting with friends. And I also love movies and books. I'm almost never without one. As a matter of fact, I have an entire stack in my car right now."

I smile, and glance down at the table. Her book is face-down.

"May I ask what you're reading?"

 

[AriaSilverfyre]

He agreed to my request and removed his sunglasses, revealing the most beautiful blue/grey eyes I had ever seen. All I was able to do was stare into them as he started to tell me about his goals for the future.

Archaeology... that sounded like a lot of fun.

A playful smile spread across my lips as he reached for the salt shaker instead of his drink. Luckily, I managed to stifle the laugh that was dying to escape. Once he realized that he was about to drink salt, he reached for his case where his regular glasses lay.

I sipped my drink while he regained what little was left of his composure.

"I love music as well. Lately I've been listening to a lot of techno and industrial. It's great to dance to." I reply

 

[LionOfBalance]

When I put on my regular glasses, I noticed that Myriam had been staring into my eyes the entire time I was speaking. My first impulse upon realizing this was to blush for about five straight minutes. No, actually, my FIRST impulse was to lean over the table, pull her to me, and kiss those soft, sexy lips as passionately as humanly possible for upwards of three weeks. But due to common courtesy, I decided on the former rather than the latter.

"All right, Devyn," said my brain, "I have a brand-new game for us to play! It's called 'Let's See If You Can Make It Through More Than Two Sentences Without Making A Complete Ass Out Of Yourself!'" I glanced around the table for a moment for an eating utensil, considering removing a portion of my brain with a fork. After careful consideration, I decided against it. For now.

Wait, did she just imply she liked DANCING?

"You like to dance?" I asked. "I LOVE dancing. I took ballroom and Latin dance classes in high school, and I've been hooked ever since. Lately I've been getting into swing and modern dance." I definitely smiled that time.

"I used to go with my girlfriend in high school," I said. "My EX-girlfriend," I added hastily. "Unfortunately, I don't have a dance partner anymore....." I trailed off. I wondered how she'd react to that.

No response from my brain this time. For once, I think it may have been proud. Or else, it was coming up with an appropriately sarcastic insult in preparation for future humiliation. One guess as to which one I figured it was.

 

[AriaSilverfyre]

"I don't know any real styles of dancing. I just like to go to the goth clubs and move however the music dictates." I reply with a smile, "Latin dancing... that looks like a lot of fun. I've seen some of it on television. I wouldn't mind learning it. If you don't mind teaching"

Did I really just say that last line? I just met this guy and now I'm asking him for dancing lessons? Earth to Myriam...

I turn my book over so that it faces up and the title is visable. "Violin" by Anne Rice, it read.

"This is one of my favorite books. Ever read it? I love her books, especially the Vampire Chronicles. They're great books. However, the movies were kinda ok." I say.

 

[LionOfBalance]

I sat there momentarily with a frozen smile. "If you don't mind teaching," she says. If I don't MIND teaching?! I would WALK directly from here to New Zealand and back, being sure to avoid stepping on the sea creatures in the coral reefs under the ocean, if I had the opportunity to dance with this girl!

But of course I didn't want to seem TOO eager.

"I would LOVE to teach you!" I exclaimed with a bright smile on my face.

"THANK YOU, CAPTAIN SUBTLETY!" shouted my brain. "Surely, you are the undisputed MASTER of Not Wearing Your Heart On Your Sleeve! All BOW to the Master! Bow, I say!"

*sigh*

When she told me what she was reading, my eyes lit up. Could this girl BE any more perfect? As I was to later discover.......yes, she could be.

"I love Anne Rice," I said. "I've read the 'Vampire Chronicles' about a dozen times. But I'm sorry to say I've yet to read 'Violin'. But I think you've inspired me to add a new book to my list of necessary reading materials."

I looked back into those amazing eyes, and decided to take a chance. I had a feeling about this girl, and wanted to test something out. Acting as if I were simply reaching for my cell phone to lay on the table, I first grabbed my set of keys from my pocket. The keychain had many items on it, most prominently a silver pentagram made of vines. I'd had it since my freshman year of high school, and it was given to me by a good friend when she discovered I was Pagan. I wondered how Myriam would react to the pent, so I laid out my keys on the table before me, and set my cell phone next to it.

I did so for another reason as well......it would make an awfully easy segue to ask for her phone number. That is, if I could do so without another patented Devyn Moment.......such as attempting to drink the salt shaker again.

"I take it you like to read, then." I said, and took a sip of my drink. "Any particular style of writing you enjoy?"

Just as I asked, the server stopped by my table for a moment. She grinned at me, and handed me a napkin, and walked off. I glanced down at it.

"ASK HER OUT!" was scribbled on the napkin in tiny black letters. I quickly set my drink on top of the napkin and glared over at my friend, who was grinning and attempting to hide a fit of the giggles.

"Well, at least ONE of you has the right idea......" said my brain.

 

[AriaSilverfyre]

"Great." I replyed as he said he would teach me.

He paused to reach in his pocket for his phone and keys. They must have been getting annoying. Happens to me too. The way he set the keys on the table spread them out. He had a variety of keyrings. I smiled, I had a few as well.

Glancing them over, I noticed the pentacle. My hand instinctively went to my necklace that was tucked under my shirt. I didn't think it would hurt to reveal it. I pulled it out to reveal a sterling silver pentacle. I let it rest on top of my shirt, waiting to see if he would notice.

"Violin is a great book. I highly reccomend it. I love to read fantasy novels. Those are my absolute favorite. I also enjoy an occasional 'adult' tale as well." I said, wondering if I really just told him I liked erotica.

I drank the last sip of my drink as I pondered what I had really just said to him.

 

[LionOfBalance]

I watched as she pulled out her necklace. Actually, it would have been a bit difficult for me NOT to notice her necklace. After all, my eyes happened to be drifting down the slope of her long, graceful neck at the time. What an incredible neck. What unbelievably sexy shoulders. What........

My eyes drifted a bit lower.

My, my, my.

That train of thought was fortunately temporarily derailed when I noticed that the necklace was in fact a pentacle.

"You're PAGAN?" I exclaimed without thinking.

"GREAT," announced my brain, "How very subtle. You've known her for all of 20-some minutes, so why NOT give her the Spanish Inquisition about her religion? Why not ask her for her BRA size next?"

I rapidly attempted to cover for my outburst.

"My apologies, I didn't mean to pry. I just run across so few Pagans around here, and was rather glad to have met another....."

The more I got to know about this girl, the more I liked her. She seemed too good to be true. Beautiful, intelligent, open-minded, sweet........I began to think the napkin just might have a good idea.

"I love fantasy novels," I continued. I read practically any that I come across. I've been writing my own for some time now, and have been working on getting a publishing deal. That's always been one of my dreams."

I stopped for another sip of my drink. I wish that I could have seen the look on my face when she announced that she liked adult stories. Now, I REALLY started to like Myriam.........on top of everything else, she was comfortable with her sexuality.

My mind took a temporary detour, and imagined what fun it would be if this little conversation led into an adult story of its own........ahem. But really, Devyn, what kind of crazy person would want to read about THIS?

As that thought went through my mind, I got an odd feeling that I should know the answer to that question. How strange.

An equally strange smile crept across my lips. And before I could stop myself, I said, "I'm very glad I met you, Myriam."

 

[AriaSilverfyre]

I smiled at his response to my necklace. He was right, pagans were rare.

"We should be on the endangered species list." I think to myself.

"No need to apologize. " I tell him, "I get that sort of a response every so often. Ok, every time I reveal my necklace."

There was definately someting about him that made me feel completely at ease. I was telling this guy, whom I had just met not even an hour ago, things I wouldn't normally mention to anyone.

"I'd like to see your writing some time if that's ok. I love reading new stuff." I muse, " I do some writing of my own as well. I wouldn't mind having my stuff published. It'd have to be a complilation of short stories, but that would still be cool."

 

[LionOfBalance]

Why did I feel so comfortable with this beautiful girl that just suddenly appeared at my table? Why did I find myself completely entranced with her every word, every motion, every smile? Why did I find myself wanting to spend a LOT more time with her?

And why was I attempting to drink out of an empty cup?

Apparently, I was so into the conversation we were sharing, I'd managed to down my entire drink in only a few minutes time. Unfortunately, my friend the server had put my usual amount of espresso shots into the drink. All four of them. Thus, on top of being nervous because I was in the presence of this incredibly beautiful, amazing girl, I was also suddenly feeling very hyper.

"Good one, Romeo," added my brain. "Surely, she'll be impressed to PIECES when you have so much caffeine in your system that you vibrate right out the window."

"Sowhatkindofwritingdoyoutypicallydo,Myriam?" I asked in a caffeinated blur of speech.

Just then, the server stopped by once more, with another drink.

"Thought you could use this," said the server, and walked back behind the counter.

I peered at the drink. A blackberry-vanilla french soda, one of my very favourites. And carved into the styrofoam of the cup near the lid was the phrase "ASK HER OUT!" I glanced over at my friend, and noticed her once again attempting unsuccessfully to avoid giggling loud enough for the entire population of Luxembourg to hear. I then considered how much I'd enjoy setting fire to my friend's shoes, but decided against it. For now.

Instead, I took a sip of my new drink, and used this opportunity to try again.

"Pardon me. What kind of writing do you usually do, Myriam? I'd love to read something you've written as well. Maybe next time we're both up here you could bring something?" I was taking a chance here.......hoping that she'd like to meet me here again. It was the first step to asking her out on a date, but first, I needed to determine if she was actually single.

I certainly hoped she was.

 

[AriaSilverfyre]

Yet another smile crosses my lips as he speaks in a blur. "How much caffiene was in that?" I wonder to myself.

"I write a few different things. Fantasy mostly. You know, stuff about vampires and the like. But lately I've been writing some adult oriented stories." I say, still unsure of why I'm telling him these things.

I grab a pen from the side pocket on my jeans. Taking a spare napkin, I scribble down the address to my website.

"I've got the links there. A bunch of my stories have been published on a site. You can find my e-mail on there as well." I say with a curious smile.

I wonder how he'll respond to it.

 

[LionOfBalance]

Myriam handed me a napkin with the URL to her website on it. And her E-Mail address. Hmmmm.....an E-mail address. This could potentially be a good sign. Not as good of a sign as a phone number, of course, but perhaps I could do something about that.....

The more I got to know about this girl, the more I liked her. And so the bolder I became in making sure this opportunity didn't pass me by. Not this time.

I reached behind me into the coat pocket of my long leather jacket and pulled out an ink pen. I then tore my napkin neatly in half, and said:

"Thanks, Myriam.......I'm online from time to time, so I'm sure I'll check out your site. And I'd be happy to E-Mail you, as long as you're sure I don't mind." I smiled at her, and gave her a small wink.

"You WINKED AT HER?" said my brain, incredulously. "What in the HELL kind of flirting is WINKING? What year are you living in, 1954? Why don't you ask her to go to the soda shop with you because you think she's 'really neat-o'!"

I ignored the Realm of Never-Ending Insecurities that is my mind, and began to write my own E-Mail address on the napkin. And then, taking a chance, I put my pen to the napkin to add my phone number as well. I was confident! I was seizing an opportunity! I was being daring!

I was......out of ink!

"BWAH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" said my brain, helpfully.

At that point, bashing my skull against the table seemed like an awfully good idea. And just as I went to inform Myriam of my ink-deficiency problem, I felt something poking into my hand. It was another pen, being jabbed into me by my ever-helpful friend, the server.

"Good boy," she said, loud enough for Myriam to hear. She then casually walked back behind the counter, smiling smugly. Yes, I was embarrassed once AGAIN, but at least I had a functioning pen.

"THANKS, COURTNEY," I said to the server through slightly gritted teeth, flashing her a somewhat insane smile. She nodded and said, "You're welcome, DEVYN," still smiling like the proverbial cat who ate the canary.

I quickly jotted my phone number on the napkin, and passed it across the table to Myriam.

"Here you go. My number's on the bottom. Feel free to give me a call anytime you like, my cell phone is on 24/7." Hey, I might as well put the ball in her court. If she was interested, she'd call me. If she wasn't interested, or if she was taken, she'd refuse. At least this way, I'd know. I mean, what's the worst that could happen?

"You could try to drink SALT again," offered my brain. "Or maybe you could try win her over with some of that sexy WINKING again!"

Shut up, brain.

I looked right into Myriam's eyes, and waited for her response.

 

[AriaSilverfyre]

"It's not a problem. If I minded I probably wouldn't have given it to you." I said with a grin that grew a bit larger as he winked.

He just winked at me. That's too cute! I stifle a giggle. Then the server appeared, yet again, with a nice new pen for him. The one he was attempting to use to write something on the napkin seemed to have died.

A small giggle escaped me as she said "good boy" to him. I did my best to hide it with minimal success. I tried to take a sip of my drink and quickly realized that it was empty. Damn...

He passes the napkin across to me. I can't believe this, he's giving me his number and informing me that the phone is never off. And all this time I was figuring that he was unavailable. They usually are....

"I'll give you a call sometime." I say as I put the napkin into my pocket, "Why don't we leave here? There's a few good movies out and i've nothing to do today. Our drink suply seems to be depleted anyway."

 

[LionOfBalance]

This time, I really couldn't hide my smile. Not only did she say that she'd call me, but she'd just invited me to go to the movies with her!

"I'd love to," I said, with a big grin. I stood up, pushed my chair in, and walked behind Myriam. With one quick gesture, I picked her coat up off of her chair, and helped her put it on. I then returned to my own coat and put mine on as well.

"Anything in particular you'd care to see? I'm up for pretty much anything." I added.

"Yeah, I'll BET you're 'up' for anything with this girl around," said my dirty, dirty brain. I made a silent note to stab it with a Q-Tip later.

In the meantime, I was silently trying to think of a way to let her know that I was available. I was pretty certain she already had that impression, but I wanted to make absolutely sure that she knew that I was single, without actually being so desperate-sounding as to go right out and tell her. I'd had enough bad experiences with being hurt by women in the past, but I had a very good feeling about this one. I wasn't so delusional as to think this incredible girl would actually be interested in me, but.......wait. COULD she be interested in me? If only I could think of a way to let her know that I'm single........

"He's single, you know!" said Courtney, happily, from behind the counter. I shot her a quick Look of Death, and smiled at Myriam, blushing insanely. "Why, so I am," said the most embarrassed guy on the planet. "Thanks for noticing!"

I grabbed both of our now-empty drinks, and tossed them in the trash.

"So, anything out that you'd like to see?" I asked with a shy grin.

 

[AriaSilverfyre]

I was just about to stand to put my coat on when he pushed back his chair and came over to me to help me. Wow... no one has ever done that to me.

"Chivarly ISN'T dead?" I think to myself, "Cool, I can get used to this."

A huge smile appeared on my lips as he went back to his seat to get his coat.

"Anything you care to see?" He asked me

I hadn't really thought about anything in particular. I figured I was going to go to the theater and pick something from the list.

As we're about to walk out, the server informs me that he's single. I did my best to hold in the giggle as he blushed.

"Umm.. well actually I wasn't thinking of anything in particular. I love action and sci-fi though. You have any ideas?" I tell him.