Be Mine

Pearls don't lie on the seashore.

If you want one, you must dive for it. - Chinese proverb

Monday, January 6th

Mike Montgomery hated January. He hated everything about it. It was dark every morning when he left his luxury apartment to manage the design firm he'd created eight years ago, and darker still when he returned home at night. January was the worst time of year in his opinion. The holidays were over, and winter would rear its ugly head for the next sixty to ninety days, or at least until the rat bastard, Punxatauwny Phil, gave his opinion.

The beginning of a new quarter, his clients once again had a budget to allocate on their marketing and design needs. In turn, business would be good. The longer hours and higher accounts receivable were always a welcome distraction to what Mike knew to be true. He was lonely.

A striking and refined man, Mike wasn't your run-of-the-mill tall, dark and handsome. Awkward through most of his teenage years, he'd quietly developed into the gorgeous chunk of change he was during design school. Unfortunately for him, his certainty in his looks and ability as an artist and businessman didn't do diddly-squat for his confidence with women he was romantically interested in.

He'd had his share of casual sex, as it was hard to turn a blind eye to a gorgeous woman offering it up. But he'd never been in love. He'd never cared for anyone past one romp in the hay, or inelegant sexual encounter. At the age of twenty-nine Mike Montgomery still retained his shy and awkward nature.

He'd committed most of his life to his career and the business he'd built since graduation. By allowing his personal life to take a back seat to his professional goals, he'd succeeded in amassing a small graphic design empire in the last decade, but had exchanged his acquaintances and friends - both male and female - for business colleagues and clients.

He had no time for love. At least that's what he told himself.

The one thing Mike looked forward to each morning was his daily trip into the downtown coffee shop. For the past year, on occasion he would cross paths with a woman who was nothing less than a goddess in his eyes - the beauty, who at seven fifteen a.m. would karmicly patronize his Starbucks on Vine.

She wasn't an ordinary woman. Beautiful of course - long blonde hair, blue eyes, and an unspoken grace that made him feel like he was in the presence of something special. And her smile - her smile made his heart beat wildly out of control. He found his mouth stitched together by his anxieties when his lingering gaze would catch her eye.

Although he'd not seen her since late November, he hoped each morning he'd get the chance to study her beauty yet again.

Last month he'd promised himself if he saw her he would find out who she was, what she did, and ask if she would join him for lunch, dinner, or even oddly enough, coffee. He knew her merely by her Starbucks' moniker - tall, non-fat, no foam latte.

Carefully choosing the witty banter he'd say upon meeting her again, Mike had spent countless hours working on his approach. But each time he would get within ten feet of her, his body tensed and his mind went blank.

And so it went. Every day Mike would patronize the Starbucks at seven fifteen sharp, in the hope he would have one fleeting moment to experience her graceful beauty. And today, Monday, January sixth, was no different.

"Good morning, Mike," Lexi the barista chimed. "It's getting messy out there already, huh?"

"Just another day in paradise," Mike smirked as he dusted the early morning snow from his head.