Café Love

The Café

I sit at the table slowly writing the latest chapter on my newest book I'm working on in the cute organic cupcake shop that I tend to frequent when I really need to get away and when I'm hungry too. They have a great natural lunch menu that I really like. I'm waiting for their chef to deliver my sandwich to my table. I'm on a roll with my latest chapter so I really am not paying attention to anything going on around me.

The owner has known me for years, I've been coming here since they opened, I feel like they are my second family. Although they don't really know me like family, they just know I like to write and hope to make it big one day as a writer. They also know I enjoy hot chai latte's even in the heat of summer. The clerk who took my order finally brings my hot chai latte with his usual smile, though today he does give me that wondering look whenever I have small scrapes and bruises. I nod at him and smile and he leaves, they never ask me about the marks that started appearing recently in the last year.

I don't notice the stranger enter the shop because my head is buried in my iPad busy writing away. I don't notice him approach my table until he taps my table with his long fingers. I look up and his blue grey eyes meet my light green ones. My eyes go wide at the recognition but it really doesn't phase me, I've met famous people before in the past. Him though, this is different, what is he doing here? I don't remember hearing anything about any filming going on around our area, but honestly I haven't been paying any attention to anything outside of my bubble.

"Hello there, I'm sorry to disrupt you, but you are the only one here and I am guessing that you may know what is good to eat." His thick Irish accent surprises me as I've only heard him in interviews

As I'm about to answer him chef delivers my usual sandwich and he looks at it hungrily.

"This is what I usually get, but anything here is great for lunch. Chef is magical, this is my usual, but I have them make it my way because I'm rather particular in how I like my food."

He laughs at me, actually laughs then boldly reaches down and picks up one of my halves and takes a bite out of it and looks at me with this intense look of "I take what I want" and I am speechless, except I'm also appalled at his boldness.

"Well, now you owe me half of Victoria sandwich and you don't even know me. That's rather bold of you to come eat off of a strange person's plate. How do you know I wouldn't bite you or get mad?"

"Well honestly I wasn't sure, and your sandwich looks so tasty I just couldn't help myself. I apologize, first let me introduce myself, I'm Jamie Dornan and I'm very sorry for eating off of your plate, it was bad form. I owe you more than a sandwich, because I highly doubt you were going to finish the whole thing were you."

"Ok you got me there, I usually don't finish my whole sandwich, ever, so you can have the rest of the half you took a bite out of. I recommend the chai latte, either hot or cold and of course if you enjoy cupcakes all of them are great, though I'm not big on the vegan and gluten free crap. They also have alcohol infused cupcakes that are fantastic, hey it's 5 o'clock somewhere."

He smiles at me and sits.

"You know you didn't tell me your name, it's only fair, then I will order my drink, I think a hot chai latte sounds fantastic. You don't have a cupcake, not eating one?"

"Not today and my name is Victoria Finnegan, hello by the way."

"Your Irish? Or is that your married name?"

"Not married, my grandparents immigrated from Ireland."

"Hmm I could tell there was something about you." He winks at me.

For some reason we have easy conversation while waiting for his latte and cupcake. We eat our half of sandwiches and get to know each other a little better. Though I admit I know more about him than he does, though who knows what the internet puts out there and how true it really is though. He tells me that he's no longer married, hasn't been in over a few years, but has had to make a show of it due to PR. He asks about my family, I let him know that I spent my time mostly with my maternal grandparents while growing up but then joined the military for a few years and finally settled here in Virginia after getting out of the military. He asks what I do professionally and I let him know that I'm an executive assistant to a local CEO. He wants to know so much about me, my interests, what I do for fun, what I like to read. We talk for about two hours until I notice the time and start to get nervous. He notices.