My Favourite Stranger

‘Oh fuck!’ He mumbled as lots of pieces of paper flew out of his bag onto the wet pavement. He turned his bag the right side up before what looked like a laptop fell out and shuffled it back onto his shoulder. Kelsey was walking down the road when she saw him juggling his possessions. Being the kind girl that she was, she jogged over the road to help him.

‘Are you alright there?’ She asked holding her red fringe back in the wind so she could see the stranger better.

‘Err, yeah I think’ He replied, as the wind stole more papers from his reach. Kelsey ran around the car, which was supposedly his, and grabbed the flying papers. They both checked that there weren’t any more pieces of paper around before getting up from their crouched position. Kelsey walked back to the stranger to hand him his papers back.

‘Ah, thanks a lot.’ He said, smiling at her. They were both clutching a fairly big amount of papers, making Kelsey wonder if he’d be able to manage.

‘Do you need a hand taking these to..Where ever you’re going?’ She said smirking. She suddenly looked down and blushed as she caught sight of his rather large bicep, which was practically bulging out of his t-shirt.

‘Err- I might do yeah, would you mind?’ He said, looking up at her smiling. Kelsey’s eyes widened and she almost forgot how to breathe. He looked slightly familiar but she couldn’t quite figure out how. His hair was blonde and scruffy but it looked good, like he’d just got out of bed. Not only that but his stubble made him look manly and his bright blue eyes were shining deep into Kelsey’s-

‘Err-‘

‘Oh, no not at all!’ Kelsey blurted out as her head banged against the wall of reality. The handsome stranger closed the car door from where his bag had been turned inside out and locked it.

‘Thanks, it’s only there.’ He said gesturing towards the large building behind her.

When they got inside he flashed an id card to the receptionist behind the desk.

‘Wait!’ She called out. Kelsey and the handsome stranger turned round. ‘What about…’ the receptionist didn’t want to say ‘her’ and sound rude.

‘Kelsey’ She smiled at the slightly frowning face.

‘She’s with me’ The stranger replied after having an internal panic attack trying to think what to say, with his mouth wide open. The receptionist frowned even more. The stranger shuffled his pile of papers into his left hand and rested it on his side. ‘Really Katie, it’s fine’ He put his muscular arm around Kelsey’s back and gently nudged her forwards out of sight of everyone in the foyer. Once they were in the corridor he took his arm away from Kelsey and grabbed his papers with his hand before he dropped them again.

‘Sorry about that…’ He began ‘Kelsey, was it?’

‘Yeah’ She smiled, ‘Don’t worry about it. Unless you already have a girlfriend, which would be a little odd’ Kelsey mentally kicked herself for blurting out things again.

‘Hahaa, no, not any more’ He lead her around the corridor.

‘Oh, Err- sorry i-‘

‘No no, it’s fine.’ He smiled, ‘It wasn’t working out so we just agreed to end it.’ They continued walking in an awkward silence before the stranger opened the door to his empty office and put the pile of papers down. Kelsey put the papers she was holding on top.

‘Thanks a lot for helping out.’ He said turning to her.

‘No problem’

‘No really, i’d have been fucked if you hadn’t grabbed those papers! Could I maybe buy you a coffee or tea from the café?’ He asked nervously.

‘Oh, i’d love that but I really must get going now.’ Kelsey really wanted that cup of tea. ‘Maybe a little later?’ The stranger’s face lit up slightly,

‘Yeah, how’s 5?’

‘Okay, i’ll-‘

‘Meet you back here?’ They said in unison and laughed.