“Hey, Johanna?”
Suddenly, next to me in line at my favorite cafe was a young woman, about a head shorter than me, looking up from her phone to me through delicate wire-framed glasses. Her eyes are so cute and round, and the perfect shade of brown. She has chestnut hair that bounces its way out of a center part and down around her soft-featured face to her shoulders. She was wearing a lower-cut top so I could see the way her neck flows into her shoulders and collarbones, and the way she clasped her hands in front of her squished everything together in a way I’m sure she must be well aware of. Her breasts are the kind I’d have liked to show my surgeon, especially if how they look clothed is any indication of how they look without. I felt sort of lecherous for lingering on them so much but the heart wants what it wants. I don’t think it’s wrong to have desires and preferences, or to notice things, or… in any case, her top was very flattering.
I had to take a moment to collect myself before I remembered she was there because we were talking online and I asked if she wanted to meet up some time. “Yes? Yes! Hi! Erin, right?”
“Haha, yeah!” She giggled. “It’s so nice to meet you! Were you waiting too long?”
“No, no,” I said a little too hastily. It was only a half-lie, I arrived at the cafe about a half hour early and walked around the block a few times before going in. She wasn’t late, so if I hadn’t listened to my nerves and left so much earlier than I had to I’d have only been waiting a few minutes. I decided that was the version of reality I’d present so as not to seem desperate, which I was. “Just a few minutes! Easy time getting here?”
She stepped into line next to me. “Not at all, just a quick little bus ride. So what’s good here?”
“I always come for a bagel, they make ‘em in house so they’re really good, and like anything coffee I’ve gotten has been good? I dunno,” I chuckled nervously a bit, “I think anything you like would be good. What do you normally go for?” I had to remind myself, with my hair half-up and my makeup on and my cute little sundress, that she agreed to come on what was clearly a date, so there must be some mutual attraction. Whether the level of attraction was lopsided was a different story. I am an attractive, charming woman. I may be tall and kinda gangly and I may have had to get store-bought boobs instead of homemade but other girls still like me! First dates just make me forget that.
“Ooh, okay! Do you do like an everything bagel?” Every question she asked sounded so genuinely interested. This wasn’t just small talk you do on a date to her, she genuinely wanted to know my baked good preferences. Christ, she could have had me then and there if she’d wanted.
“With cream cheese, yeah. I’m, I’m a simple, kinda girl!” God, why did I say that like that? What’s wrong with me?
She giggled anyway, like soap bubbles and late-summer butterflies. “Nothin’ wrong with that! Maybe I’ll get a bagel too!” She looked up at the blackboard menu hanging behind the counter and swayed side to side ever so slightly. I shifted my weight just barely enough to feel her shoulder brush against my arm, in a way that I hoped looked like a casual coincidence. She noticed and bumped her shoulder into me with more intent, not looking at me but smiling knowingly. Where the hell was all my confidence when it mattered? I wanted so badly to wrap my arm around hers standing there in line so people would think we were together. She was my perfect counterweight; soft and round in all the places where I was long and thin. Gorgeous and effortless in perfect contrast to my carefully-constructed.
We both ordered bagels and I got a cappuccino so as to seem sophisticated; she ordered a lavender latte. She seemed surprised when I tacked “and whatever she wants” onto the end of my order but thanked me after I paid. We waited by the counter for our drinks and snacks. The barista drew a heart in the foam on mine, which he probably did for everyone but I chose to think of it as a cheeky “I see you” type thing. There was one small table open on the back wall that we sat down at. She just looked across the table at me and smiled for a bit, and I looked back and did my best to mask my anxiety, or at least express it in a way that looked cute.
“Did you say you work in the Loop?” I asked.
She had just taken a bite and answered while chewing. “Oh, yeah,” she swallowed, “just this like e-mail job. Nothing fun to talk about. You?”
“Oh, IT,” I answered. “Also nothing special. Pays the bills, buys coffee for cute girls.”
“Ooh, I’m a cute girl?” she teased.
“Well I was mostly referring to myself but I think today you are one of the cute girls I buy coffee for, yes.” There was something disarming about being around Erin that had really started to bring out my charm, finally.
There was that laugh again. “I’ll take it! Do you live near here?”
“Not as close as I’d like. I used to work across the street so that’s how I know about this place and I try to come out whenever I’ve got the chance!” I sipped on my coffee a little more. “You’re in Lakeview, right?”
“Yeah, almost straight north from here. Nice area!”
“For sure, for sure! I’ve got a couple friends up there.”
We sat quietly for a bit looking at each other again. I broke eye contact first to eat some more of my bagel. She just kept looking at me and smiling gently. I smiled nervously back.
I swallowed. “Are you… doing anything after this…?”
She shook her head.
“Would you like to?”
~~~
One hour later there was some movie on the TV and a woman mounted on top of me, swaying her hips slightly as I helped remove her shirt. Her hair cascaded back down like a waterfall as it came up and off to reveal a lacy black bra and more skin than I knew what to do with. Both of us had taken our glasses off already, when she started kissing me nearly five minutes after I turned on the TV. I was frankly astounded I held myself back that long, but let no one say I’m not demure for first dates.
She kissed like an angel. Like an honest-to-God divine being sent from Heaven to make out with me. Lips like pillows, gentle and sweet, our breath co-mingling and our tongues brushing against each other. I pulled back and forth, exploring all over and learning the way she moved and felt. We danced, locked together at the mouth, swaying back and forth in rhythm with nothing but each other. My hands found her legs, then her hips, then her waist. I wrapped myself around her and ran my fingers up her spine to the nape of her neck, where I pulled her in and onto me as she moaned gently and I parted my lips wider to invite her tongue into my mouth. She obliged.
Impatient, she reached back to unclasp her bra and let it fall, pulling the straps off her arms hastily with one hand and dragging mine up to her chest with the other. My other hand followed and she moaned again as I groped and massaged her breasts. I parted my lips from hers for the first time since we’d started to stare in wonder, like an orphan at the window of a candy shop. She had left far more to the imagination than I expected, and what I saw I exceeded any assumption I could possibly have made. My lips were on them in seconds, licking, sicking, and biting in all the places that got the best reactions. I left a modest mark on the bottom of one, and she bade me leave another. I obliged.
~~~
Three hours later we were still naked on the couch with some other movie on. I was still leaking just slightly and she twitched eagerly whenever I brushed over a sensitive spot. We breathed heavily in sync with one another, our heartbeats still not completely calmed. Every now and then she’d turn from where she was laying on my chest and plant another soft little kiss on my skin, and I’d return the favor on the crown of her head.
I could feel her breath slow and become more regular, and felt her shoulders rise and fall slowly as she calmed. She closed her eyes and nuzzled into me more. I reached over and pulled a blanket over us, and settled into her and closed my eyes, too. I gave her shoulders a squeeze and drifted off.
~~~
Five months later and that couch was long gone, left in an alley when we moved in together. My cat had scratched hers up plenty to make up for lost time.
~~~
Seven years later my father walked her down the aisle, because hers had been long absent. I stood at the altar and wept openly, staining my dress with tears to match hers.
~~~
Nine years later our daughter started third grade, and after we dropped her off we went back to that cafe for bagels, a cappuccino, and a lavender latte. She paid.
{A short story by Leona Maria}
Suddenly, next to me in line at my favorite cafe was a young woman, about a head shorter than me, looking up from her phone to me through delicate wire-framed glasses. Her eyes are so cute and round, and the perfect shade of brown. She has chestnut hair that bounces its way out of a center part and down around her soft-featured face to her shoulders. She was wearing a lower-cut top so I could see the way her neck flows into her shoulders and collarbones, and the way she clasped her hands in front of her squished everything together in a way I’m sure she must be well aware of. Her breasts are the kind I’d have liked to show my surgeon, especially if how they look clothed is any indication of how they look without. I felt sort of lecherous for lingering on them so much but the heart wants what it wants. I don’t think it’s wrong to have desires and preferences, or to notice things, or… in any case, her top was very flattering.
I had to take a moment to collect myself before I remembered she was there because we were talking online and I asked if she wanted to meet up some time. “Yes? Yes! Hi! Erin, right?”
“Haha, yeah!” She giggled. “It’s so nice to meet you! Were you waiting too long?”
“No, no,” I said a little too hastily. It was only a half-lie, I arrived at the cafe about a half hour early and walked around the block a few times before going in. She wasn’t late, so if I hadn’t listened to my nerves and left so much earlier than I had to I’d have only been waiting a few minutes. I decided that was the version of reality I’d present so as not to seem desperate, which I was. “Just a few minutes! Easy time getting here?”
She stepped into line next to me. “Not at all, just a quick little bus ride. So what’s good here?”
“I always come for a bagel, they make ‘em in house so they’re really good, and like anything coffee I’ve gotten has been good? I dunno,” I chuckled nervously a bit, “I think anything you like would be good. What do you normally go for?” I had to remind myself, with my hair half-up and my makeup on and my cute little sundress, that she agreed to come on what was clearly a date, so there must be some mutual attraction. Whether the level of attraction was lopsided was a different story. I am an attractive, charming woman. I may be tall and kinda gangly and I may have had to get store-bought boobs instead of homemade but other girls still like me! First dates just make me forget that.
“Ooh, okay! Do you do like an everything bagel?” Every question she asked sounded so genuinely interested. This wasn’t just small talk you do on a date to her, she genuinely wanted to know my baked good preferences. Christ, she could have had me then and there if she’d wanted.
“With cream cheese, yeah. I’m, I’m a simple, kinda girl!” God, why did I say that like that? What’s wrong with me?
She giggled anyway, like soap bubbles and late-summer butterflies. “Nothin’ wrong with that! Maybe I’ll get a bagel too!” She looked up at the blackboard menu hanging behind the counter and swayed side to side ever so slightly. I shifted my weight just barely enough to feel her shoulder brush against my arm, in a way that I hoped looked like a casual coincidence. She noticed and bumped her shoulder into me with more intent, not looking at me but smiling knowingly. Where the hell was all my confidence when it mattered? I wanted so badly to wrap my arm around hers standing there in line so people would think we were together. She was my perfect counterweight; soft and round in all the places where I was long and thin. Gorgeous and effortless in perfect contrast to my carefully-constructed.
We both ordered bagels and I got a cappuccino so as to seem sophisticated; she ordered a lavender latte. She seemed surprised when I tacked “and whatever she wants” onto the end of my order but thanked me after I paid. We waited by the counter for our drinks and snacks. The barista drew a heart in the foam on mine, which he probably did for everyone but I chose to think of it as a cheeky “I see you” type thing. There was one small table open on the back wall that we sat down at. She just looked across the table at me and smiled for a bit, and I looked back and did my best to mask my anxiety, or at least express it in a way that looked cute.
“Did you say you work in the Loop?” I asked.
She had just taken a bite and answered while chewing. “Oh, yeah,” she swallowed, “just this like e-mail job. Nothing fun to talk about. You?”
“Oh, IT,” I answered. “Also nothing special. Pays the bills, buys coffee for cute girls.”
“Ooh, I’m a cute girl?” she teased.
“Well I was mostly referring to myself but I think today you are one of the cute girls I buy coffee for, yes.” There was something disarming about being around Erin that had really started to bring out my charm, finally.
There was that laugh again. “I’ll take it! Do you live near here?”
“Not as close as I’d like. I used to work across the street so that’s how I know about this place and I try to come out whenever I’ve got the chance!” I sipped on my coffee a little more. “You’re in Lakeview, right?”
“Yeah, almost straight north from here. Nice area!”
“For sure, for sure! I’ve got a couple friends up there.”
We sat quietly for a bit looking at each other again. I broke eye contact first to eat some more of my bagel. She just kept looking at me and smiling gently. I smiled nervously back.
I swallowed. “Are you… doing anything after this…?”
She shook her head.
“Would you like to?”
~~~
One hour later there was some movie on the TV and a woman mounted on top of me, swaying her hips slightly as I helped remove her shirt. Her hair cascaded back down like a waterfall as it came up and off to reveal a lacy black bra and more skin than I knew what to do with. Both of us had taken our glasses off already, when she started kissing me nearly five minutes after I turned on the TV. I was frankly astounded I held myself back that long, but let no one say I’m not demure for first dates.
She kissed like an angel. Like an honest-to-God divine being sent from Heaven to make out with me. Lips like pillows, gentle and sweet, our breath co-mingling and our tongues brushing against each other. I pulled back and forth, exploring all over and learning the way she moved and felt. We danced, locked together at the mouth, swaying back and forth in rhythm with nothing but each other. My hands found her legs, then her hips, then her waist. I wrapped myself around her and ran my fingers up her spine to the nape of her neck, where I pulled her in and onto me as she moaned gently and I parted my lips wider to invite her tongue into my mouth. She obliged.
Impatient, she reached back to unclasp her bra and let it fall, pulling the straps off her arms hastily with one hand and dragging mine up to her chest with the other. My other hand followed and she moaned again as I groped and massaged her breasts. I parted my lips from hers for the first time since we’d started to stare in wonder, like an orphan at the window of a candy shop. She had left far more to the imagination than I expected, and what I saw I exceeded any assumption I could possibly have made. My lips were on them in seconds, licking, sicking, and biting in all the places that got the best reactions. I left a modest mark on the bottom of one, and she bade me leave another. I obliged.
~~~
Three hours later we were still naked on the couch with some other movie on. I was still leaking just slightly and she twitched eagerly whenever I brushed over a sensitive spot. We breathed heavily in sync with one another, our heartbeats still not completely calmed. Every now and then she’d turn from where she was laying on my chest and plant another soft little kiss on my skin, and I’d return the favor on the crown of her head.
I could feel her breath slow and become more regular, and felt her shoulders rise and fall slowly as she calmed. She closed her eyes and nuzzled into me more. I reached over and pulled a blanket over us, and settled into her and closed my eyes, too. I gave her shoulders a squeeze and drifted off.
~~~
Five months later and that couch was long gone, left in an alley when we moved in together. My cat had scratched hers up plenty to make up for lost time.
~~~
Seven years later my father walked her down the aisle, because hers had been long absent. I stood at the altar and wept openly, staining my dress with tears to match hers.
~~~
Nine years later our daughter started third grade, and after we dropped her off we went back to that cafe for bagels, a cappuccino, and a lavender latte. She paid.
{A short story by Leona Maria}
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