Falling for a British bloke

Chapter 2 - invitations

Sarah pulled back her hands from her face and watched them start to tremble at last. She still couldn't quite fathom what happened in the last one and a half hours. Shaking her head she stood up and cleared the table, cleaning the two mugs they used. I'm just dishwashing the very mugs out of which Mr. Richard Armitage and me had coffee together! This has not been a dream! And apart from being "the man" himself, he is such a nice guy - I wish we could be just normal friends, hang out together sometimes and get lost in conversations...

"Hey Sarah, who was this guy you were talking to? I overheard you talking in English?" Melanie, a hostess of the publisher, stepped into the small kitchen area of the booth and looked at her curiously.

How much did she hear? "Oh yes, imagine, he was British! He couldn't even read my book but liked the cover design I painted. As I had nothing else to do I invited him to a mug of coffee and told him what the story was all about." Sorry, Mel. You're too much of a gossip girl. And I'm not sure if I want to share this precious secret with anyone, anyway.

"That's cool! He seemed to be quite good looking, too, don't you think?" Melanie grinned.

"Yeah, quite... maybe a little old though..." SORRY Richard! Just trying to get rid of her! Sarah bent over the sink again, continuing her work, and winced inwardly at her little white lies. She liked Melanie but she was also determined not to give away anything that could lead her to suspicions.

Melanie seemed to sense that Sarah wasn't in a mood to talk and left the kitchen to look for something to do in another part of the stall.

The rest of the day went by quite unexciting and Sarah had some time to get sober from the bliss her little coffee appointment this afternoon had put her to. She met some more readers of her novel and enjoyed having smalltalk with them and signing their books. She was still all happy smiles, but after the rush of excitement had ceased, Sarah hat decided to relish the encounter as it was - a once-in-a-lifetime coincidence.

When closing time neared, Sarah stored away the books, pens and other official stuff in some drawers to lock them in, gathered her personal belongings and tucked them in her handbag, grabbed her book of the "Hobbit" and took her leave from the few colleagues still at the booth. Walking head down with her nose stuck in the book, gently caressing the lines of Richard's signature on the map of Middle Earth, she bumped into a tall man turning around the next corner. He caught her in a firm grip at her shoulders as she stumbled and lost her balance.

"Sorry, ich..." her voice trailed off as she lifted her gaze upward. She knew that grey hoodie that was now partly covered by a well-worn black leather jacket. Looking further up, she caught sight of the collar of the familiar shirt, his jaw, slightly more stubbled than a few hours ago, his lips that curled upward in a tiny smile, and locked finally to his incredibly blue eyes that sparkled with amusement. Damn! What is this about now? This incident caught her completely off-guard and this time she wasn't able to keep her composure. Her mouth fell open and she dropped her book to the ground, staring at him wide-eyed with an incredulous expression on her face.

He chuckled, loosened his grip on her shoulders and bent down to get her book off the floor. "So, here is the fangirl that hid so well this afternoon..." He smiled at her but she noticed a somehow sad expression in his eyes now, as he handed her back her book.

..ooOOoo..

Richard made it just in time for makeup and the press conference. In fact, he was so tight to the time that noone was able to question him before, so he had at least one hour time to avoid the teasing of his colleagues and friends. The storm would start soon enough, he supposed.

"So, where have you been the hours before the conference?" Graham startet interrogating him as soon as they had left the stage.

He managed to put on a smug smile and answered plainly. "I had a very nice conversation with a German writer and must admit that I forgot time over it."