Fated (A Chris Evans Series)

Across the Room

Denise's fingers absentmindedly thrummed the tabletop as she murmured the last line she just wrote to herself. "Across the room, Chris watched you intently with a small smile on his lips. He thought of approaching you, but wondered if you were the kind of girl that would appreciate or reject his boldness." She chewed the inside of her cheek, her finger hovering over the backspace key. It seemed like yet another cliché, and though clichés were what she and her hopeless romantic readers loved- she wanted to expand herself. She huffed and pushed down on the delete key, watching her words get chewed up by the blinking bar.

"What was wrong with that?" She flinched and tensed when she heard an oddly familiar male voice come from over her shoulder. The stranger was so close to her she could feel the warmth of his minty breath on her cheek. "Clichés are great." He winced as he pulled back, knowing he'd gotten a little too close. "I mean- there's a reason they're overused, right?"

Usually, Denise wasn't the kind of person who would snap at a stranger in an airport; she was too worried about the repercussions to do that. Usually, she'd just send a death defying glare their way and let her eyes do the talking as she'd been told she had a very intimidating face; one she'd no doubt got from her mom. But this was different, this was a stranger reading her writing without her permission. She'd always been incredibly protective and defensive when it came to her writing and people peering at her screens- be it laptop, iPad, or iPhone. It was her biggest pet peeve; she hated having people stand behind her while she was on any of those said devices. It wasn't like she had something to hide, she just didn't like her privacy being invaded.

"Thanks for the input I didn't ask for." She bit as she abruptly closed the screen of her MacBook; a chuckle heard from him. "Do you want to know what I think?" She quizzed rhetorically as she turned to shoot the nosy stranger her famous glare. "I think you should mind-" She cut herself off when she saw who it was. "Oh my God," she felt her breath caught in her throat. She gulped then breathed, "you're Chris Evans."

Denise couldn't believe it. The man she had snapped at was Chris Evans. Christopher Robert Evans: the talented actor, brilliant director, and Captain America himself. The brown haired, blue eyed, Bostonian that she knew she could only ever dream of marrying one day; the man who accompanied her protagonist in all her life endeavors. Chris Evans was actually in front of her, talking to her, breathing the same air as her, and all she'd said to him so far was "thanks for the input I didn't ask for" as well as "I think you should mind your own damn business." Even though she didn't get to finish her latter, it was still not the way she'd imagined her first meeting with her celebrity crush to go.

"Indeed I am," he moved to sit in the chair across from her, "but please, don't let that stop you."

Chris attempted not to show too much amusement, but he couldn't help his smile. Denise was exactly the kind of girl he liked: sassy, but clearly sweeter than honey. He'd seen her earlier, when they were both checking in. She was talking to the little boy in front of her. He was wearing glasses too big for his face, but between Denise and young Jasper- Chris found Denise cuter. He then spotted her again in the departure hall, talking to an airport security dog while its officer was searching someone else's bag. He was about to approach her when the officer took the dog away and she'd walked off, pouting. He thought that was it, that he wouldn't have the chance to talk to her again, then he came across her sitting in Starbucks. He spotted her in the window and decided it was time he got to actually meeting her, rather than admiring her from afar. So far his decision to approach her had been one of his best.

"You think I should mind..." He trailed off, his captivating blue eyes urging her to continue.

"Your own damn business," she mumbled sheepishly as she mentally cussed herself out. She knew her attitude was going to bite her in the butt one day, it was just her luck it had to happen in front of her idol. It wasn't until she heard him laugh that she felt a little better. It was then she realized he lived up to his reputation of being genial and down-to-earth. "I am so sorry," she felt the need to apologize though he didn't feel the need for an apology. "I'm not usually that rude, I just-" she swallowed when she saw his intent gaze on her. "I don't like it when people look at my screen. I'm very protective of my writing and I don't-"