Love is Blindness

Chapter 7; Starbucks and Street Gangs

Chris flagged down a taxi and then opened the door to let me in. He told the driver that we just wanted to go downtown.

The cab dropped us off on a main street of the city. Chris helped me out and grabbed my hand, entwining his fingers though mine. I sighed happily as we began to walk down the street looking for a Starbucks. Our arms swung slightly between the two of us as we continued on happily.

I spotted one at the corner of a street and we walked inside. The smell of different coffees immediately hit us as we entered. Together we looked at the menu. I decided on a Mint Chocolate Mocha.

"Got your eye on anything?" he asked, still looking at the menu himself.

"Yeah I think I'm gonna get the Mint Chocolate Mocha. They'll be gone in a couple of days anyways with New Years in a few days. What about you? Anythin' sound good?"

"I think I'll just get the Vanilla Bean. I don't need any caffeine at this time of night." The cashier called us up.

"I'll have the tall Vanilla Bean and she'll have a tall Mint Chocolate Mocha," he told the guy at the cash register. He gave Chris his change and we took a seat by the window to wait for our orders.

"I can't wait to go to Phoenix tomorrow!" I said, attempting to start up a conversation.

"Is that so? Why would you like to visit our opponents so badly?" He joked around.

"I don't care about those Coyotes," I played along. "I just LOVE going to Arizona. It's always warm there- well unless you're staying up in the northern parts of the state, the scenery is beyond beautiful with all the mountains and the cacti! When I was younger, I really wanted to move here. I still do. But not anytime soon..." I trailed off.

"Wow, now that I think about it, you're right! It is pretty nice," Chris said. Just then someone yelled out our order. He began to stand up.

"No, I'll go get them. You've worked hard enough tonight."

I stood and walked over to where our orders were waiting. I grabbed them then began to head back. I sat down and was about to give Chris his drink but then took it back.

"Hey! That's mine!"

"Not anymore. They're both mine now!" I took a sip from his drink. I looked back at him and stuck my tongue out to him. He gave me a surprised look then snatched my drink out of my hands and gulped down some of my coffee. He then stuck out his tongue at me. It was pretty cute.

We both fought to get our own drinks back, both failing. We kept reaching across each other to the other's extended arm to try and grab our drinks. It was a whole lot of fun and made an ordinary outing to Starbucks memorable. I finally gave up when I couldn't reach my mocha for the 5th time. I relaxed my body and rested my head on his shoulder. I sighed heavily.

"Truce. Truce, you can have your drink back! Just give me mine!" I said.

"Alright... Since you asked..." I gave him a surprised look as he handed my my coffee.

"What? Are you tryin' to tell me that this whole time, all I had to do was ask?" I asked, laughing.

"Yeah pretty much! Now finish your drink and let's get going. It's getting late and we have to catch a plane in the morning," he said.

We threw out our empty cups and walked outside. It was very cold now and the breeze had picked up an awful lot.

"Brrr it's cold!" I said.

"It sure is," he said then looked down to me. Chris smiled. Just that one, simple thing warmed me up a bit. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me to the side of his body. I instantly felt warm again.