Harte and Soul

Chapter 3

I woke up bright and early to prepare for my very first date. I spent over an hour just curling my hair and then another hour and a half trying to find the right makeup look. I look at clock: 1:21. Okay, so I still have time, I took quite a little while trying to pick the perfect outfit. I settled on a red floral print dress with some beige booties. I hear Elise yell from the bottom of the stairs,

"Alli, you're gonna be late!" I look down at my phone. Shit. 2:19. I run to the subway station in hopes I won't miss it. That would be the start to a very shitty day. I run down the stairs into the dark underground station and there it is. Leaving. I missed the train. I decide I should tell Matt what happened

Adam, I am sosososo sorry, but I missed the train...

He texted back almost immediately.

Hey, don't worry about it, it's all good. I'm running a little bit late myself.

Thank god. I don't feel quite as bad. I wait in the station for the next train. There's so much I've never noticed. There's a musician playing his guitar. I walk over and toss a crisp 20 in his case. It honestly smells kinda like barf down here. Luckily the next train comes pretty quickly.

I know my way around manhattan and I know that the coffee shop is just a few blocks away so I decide to shoot Adam a text 

Hey, almost there, you??

Hey, just got here, table near the window :)

I know that New York is always crowded. But I just had this feeling that I was being followed. I went the long way around to get to to the cafe and I notice him. There's a guy, I can't tell much about his features as he's in all black. I pick up the pace slightly and notice that he had the same idea. Finally the cafe comes into view. I finally duck into the alleyway where the entrance is and walk downstairs into the shop. Standing at the door, I take a minute to catch my breath. I scan the room quickly and I see Adam. Wow, he is even more attractive than I remember him. He catches my glance and waves to me.

"Hey!" I say smiling as I walk over to the 2 person table.

"Hey, you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost..." He chuckles.

"Yeah I'm fine, I just had the feeling someone was following me but it was probably just some freak coincidence now that I think about it" I can feel my cheeks glowing red with embarrassment. I look over to Adam who now has a look of concern written all over his face. I'm about to change the subject when I see James approaching in my peripheral.

"What can I get you folks to- Oh Alli, hey, who's this?" He gestures towards Adam.

"This is Adam-"

"We're on a date" Adam finishes my sentence with what looks like a beaming smile. I can feel the butterflies in my stomach and the heat in my cheeks. 

"Oh I see..." James seems as though he's a little upset by this. Which doesn't make a lot of sense as we've never really been close. James and I only ever see each other when I'm here. Which yes is most of the time, but I've never even really considered us friends. "So Alli, the usual?" I nod in agreement. "And you?" He's pretty rude about it and I give James a sideways look.

"Just a large black coffee and a slice of lemon meringue pie please" Adam answers not even noticing the rudeness in James' voice. James walks away without saying another word.

    "So Alli Harte, what were you doing in Manhattan yesterday?"

    "Oh I was actually looking at apartments- wait, how do you know my last name?" I can't tell what look I have on my face. Confused? Weirded out? Frightened? I can tell the look on Adam's face though. Terrified.

    "Oh um, you told me yesterday." Ever since I was 12 I decided I wanted to be a reporter. One of the first things I taught myself, was how to know when people are lying. And ladies and gentlemen, Adam was lying. I figured he probably googled me or something and didn't want to be labeled as a freak so I decided to let it go.

    "Oh, sorry I guess I forgot. But yeah, I was just looking at apartments." The terrified look on Adam's face started to fade when he thought he got away with his bullshit answer.

    "Why Manhattan?" His eyebrow was slightly raised. I honestly completely forgot why I was so set on Manhattan until it hit me.

    "I was accepted into NYU!" I almost shout. "Sorry, I actually completely forgot until now" There goes my cheek again. Adam seemed genuinely happy for me.

    "Alli that's awesome, what course?"

    "Reporting." I am beaming. How could I forget about this great news?

    "Why don't you just stay in residence?"

    "Honestly, I'm just not a huge fan of people." He nods to agree with me.

    James returns with our food. I always get an iced coffee with extra sweetener and vanilla creamer and then I get french toast. Adam looks down at my plate.

    "French toast? It's already 4." I can tell he means it as a joke and not an insult but I stand my ground. No like, I literally stood up. I put one hand to heart and speak.

    "America, the land of the free. Where french toast can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or midnight snack" I sit back down.

    "Wow, intense" we laugh and continue making small talk while we eat. Finally I look at my phone and realize it's already almost 7pm. I can tell that Adam noticed the same thing. He walks me to the subway station and we say our goodbyes.

    "I had a really good time today." I tell him. He looks down at me and plants one right on my forehead.

    "I did too" As cheesy as it sounds, we stared into each other's eyes for what felt like 8 years. And then, I did what had to be done. I got on the train and went home.