Coffee Breath

It was the morning after a very wild, chaotic party his coworker, Jones, was hosting. ‘To celebrate the end of the semester!’, He recalls what his coworker said.

While Arthur wasn’t particularly close to the guy, and they didn’t even really know each other that well but they sort of counted as friends.

As professors, they were quite busy, which didn’t give them much time to hang out outside from the work place.
Arthur was an English Professor in an international academy, and so was Mr. Jones-or Alfred F.Jones- as he’d refer to himself. Alfred was a mathematics Professor. He was that kind of professor that always wanted to set a good reputation between his students-and he was very loved between them.

When Arthur met him for the first time, He couldn’t stand him one bit. He was loud, obnoxious, reckless-and just seemed like an utter moron. He was determined to avoid Mr. Jones at all costs.

But that proved to be hard with Mr. Jones’s persistent personality. The first two weeks, Arthur was successful. But on the third week, they had a meeting to discuss some things with other professors. After it was done and everyone started leaving, as Arthur started packing his papers, he failed to see Mr. Jones approaching him. ‘So how much longer are you planning on ignoring me, Mr. Kirkland?’, Said Alfred with an amused yet bright grin on his face. Arthur was startled and jumped at the voice that suddenly invaded his space. Whipping around to look at said person, Arthur glared up at him. ‘Sneaking up on people like that is quite rude, don’t you think?’, said Arthur, which has earned him an amused laugh from the bright American. Although Arthur disliked the fellow professor, he still admitted, to himself at least, that the American was quite the looker.
A young, 25 year old, tall man, with a beautifully tanned sun-kissed skin, Broad shoulders and blonde hair. And his eyes, god his eyes, so blue like the ocean or the beautiful clear blue sky on a sunny day.
A shame he was an utter idiot, though.

‘I’ll knock next time I approach you then.’, came in Alfred’s response along with a chuckle. Arthur couldn’t help but roll his eyes at this, but before he could get up and leave, Alfred grabbed his forearm and squeezed it gently. ‘Hey, seriously, why are you ignoring me? You’re literally the only professor that has been determinedly avoiding me.’, He sounded a bit more serious this time, ‘Did I offend you in some way?’. Arthur wasn’t sure what to say. To be fair, Alfred hadn’t done anything that could have offended Arthur in any shape or form. True, the guy sort of spoke before he thought, but he has always been nice to everyone that talked to him. From students to coworkers.

‘I-I....Well-Um...I mean...’,Arthur’s cheeks heated up slightly with embarrassment, as he stuttered, not sure how to respond. Alfred eyed him silently for a moment before letting go of his forearm and standing back a bit. ‘Well, if I have, then let’s start again!’, Arthur looked up with confusion written on his face at the American.
‘Hi! I’m Alfred F.Jones, nice to meet you!’, exclaimed the American as he extended his hand out for the English man to shake.
Arthur stared dumbfounded up at Alfred. A minute passed between them just standing like that with either of them moving. ‘Come on, buddy, don’t leave me hanging like that, I look like an idiot standing like that.’, said Alfred finally breaking the stretching silence between them. Arthur flinched slightly as the American’s voice sounded again. After a moment of staring at Alfred’s hand, he blushed slightly as he took it. ‘Ah, yes, nice to meet you too, Mr. Jones...I’m Arthur Kirkland.’, said Arthur as they shook hands.
The American professor laughed slightly, ‘You know, you don’t have to call me Mr. Jones, just call me Alfred.’, he added.
Arthur stared at him for a moment then nodded slightly.

After that encounter, Alfred and Arthur started talking more together, if they had any free time at all, that is. They would sometimes have small talks when they could, and if they happened to stumble upon each other outside of the work environment. They would sit somewhere (a restaurant, cafe, or a park) and talk about anything and everything. They never really talked about themselves but didn’t feel the need to do so.