Alpha, Not

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Pete

The aroma of fresh baked bread fills the shop as I opened the door and entered. It seems that they bake their own bread for their sandwiches. At least I know the bread will be fresh. There are three people behind the counter, an elderly couple and a young man who looks like he's in his early twenties. He's quite nice looking and I find myself immediately attracted to him. Since I came to the Full Moon pack I haven't had any relationships or even been interested in anyone. This is the first time I've felt something like this in a very long time. The older woman looks up at the jingle of a small bell above the door and smiles.

"Welcome to our shop. Please take a moment to look at our menu and let us know what you would like." She says pointing to a large menu board on the wall behind them. They offer quite a variety for such a small shop. I look over the menu and then make my choice.

"I'll have a Reuben on rye, that sounds good. I'll also have a bowl of your Tomato Basil soup, a large soda and some chips."

"Would you like that to stay or take-out?" The woman asks me.

"Hmm, I pause for a moment, I think I'll have it to stay today." I inform her and I watch as they make the sandwich then I move over to the cash register to pay the bill.

"That'll be $9.25." The young man smiles as I glance down at him.

I'm captured by the most stunning brown eyes I think I've ever seen; I can't look away. After a moment that seems to last forever, a light blush colors his cheeks and his smile becomes shy.

"Hi, my name is Pete Danver." I hand him a twenty-dollar bill. "I work at the NorthStar Advertising Agency just up the road."

"I'm Avery, I work in this sandwich shop." He responds cheekily, suddenly losing the shyness as he counts my change back into my hand.

So instead of taking my food back to the office as I'd originally planned, I take a seat at a small table by the window. A few of the other tables are occupied, but most of them are empty now that the lunch rush was over.

As I eat, my eyes keep wandering over to the counter where the young man and the older woman are chatting as they tidy up from the lunch rush. His voice has a pleasant tone, though he speaks softly. When he laughs at something the woman says, his laughter sends chills down my spine. It's totally intoxicating; I could sit here and listen to him all day.

After a while, I have finished my meal and have been sitting here without an excuse. I rise from the table and find myself wishing I had a reason to stay longer. Somehow, I want to get to know this guy better; I see something in his eyes that says he might be interested in me too. Yeah, I'm interested in a guy, so what? I've learned a lot about myself while I've been here and one of them is that I can be attracted to both men and women.

Avery

That good looking guy who came into the diner this afternoon seemed nice. The way he introduced himself gave me the impression that he was giving me more than just his name. It felt like he might be interested in me, which might be nice since it's been quite a while since I've been in any sort of relationship. My last relationship ended badly so I've avoided getting involved again as a result.

Of course, none of my relationships have lasted very long to begin with. Most of the guys I've dated don't like hanging out with someone like me; they usually find out pretty quickly how wimpy I am and how little self-confidence I have. My last boyfriend decided it meant that he could knock me around to get his way. I'm still not sure how I found the courage to break up with him. I did end up with a black eye and a sprained wrist for it though. I missed three days of work because of it; calling in sick because I didn't want Beth and James to make a fuss over me.