I Don't Do Relationships

Nice To Meet You

I do not know anyone in this story and no harm is intended for anything written about them.  The pictures do not belong to me and credit goes to the owners.  Some names and places of origins are changed for story purposes.

A simple life was all I wanted these days.  There had been heartache and I decided it wasn't worth it.  Pouring everything into my small business and cottage was actually enjoyable to me.  The Outer Banks of North Carolina was a beautiful place to live and I utilized my surroundings to keep me busy and entertained.   Between the beaches, wildlife, kayaking, parasailing, fishing and so much more, I was usually pretty content with how my life was going.  I had friends, some who I found out actually wanted to be more and then family back home. 

There were rumors that a big time film crew was scouting our town for the remote locations it could provide for an upcoming movie.  I was a bit behind on the world of Hollywood in the last year or two because I was busy with my shop and my house.  The coffee shop I owned had been a project that took a lot of my time.  I bought that first and renovated the house, converting it into the coffee shop / bookstore that also sold pastries and occasionally pies or whatever the bakery wanted to send over from next door.   There were books from local authors, books about local sights like lighthouses or just histories of the local counties.

It was on the water, one of the many canals, and I had tables and chairs on the deck and a screened porch that came along with the property.  There was an upper deck as well with tables and chairs and benches.  A small pier along with a few benches was attached to the lower deck.  There were umbrellas on some of the tables and benches too.  Inside there were also tables, chairs and benches. 

The menu with all the coffees and beverages offered hung behind the counter and otherwise looked like most coffee shops.  My favorite spot to sit varied, depending on the time of year.  The sunset was magnificent no matter where you sat.  Of course the best view was from the upper deck but if I was just sitting with a cup of coffee, my favorite spot was the screened porch.  There was a breeze from the ceiling fans and in the evening the frogs could be heard singing their little hearts out. 

I bought my house once I had the shop up and running, another fixer upper.  It also was on a canal and had a dock and pier along with a screened porch.  I had redone the floors, painted and had pretty much finished the main points I had wanted to renovate.  I had my kayak that I loved.  Paddling out into the sound, I would just float around or even fish.  There were certain times and places I had found that the dolphins loved to swim in and eat.  I would try to be out there and be sitting in time to see them.   I liked to also fish from my pier/dock or catch crab.  It was nice being able to catch dinner and then cook it fresh.  I was back off the road and enjoyed jogging on the back roads early in the mornings or evenings.   Plus there was always the beach walks for shells or driving my Jeep on the beach so I didn't have to lug everything out there to sit.

My best friend had just moved back home to Australia.  Calvin and I actually moved here to the beach together to begin with and he was living with me.  We fixed the house up together along with the coffee shop.  His grandmother fell about 6 months ago so he had to pack up and head home to help out.  We had become friends in college when I transferred my sophomore year.  It didn't take long before we became the best of friends.  He's been so busy helping his family and got a job there for right now, so I have poured myself into work. We still split the revenue that comes in because he's co-owner with me, but we count the hours I put in towards some of my share too.

There were a few locals I had become friends with, meeting them either when they came into the coffee shop or just around town while I was out.  None of them were Calvin though, he was one of a kind.  One of my employees, Rachel,  and I had become very good friends.  That's how I met Tommy, who loved asking me out all the time.  Thinking it was a joke, because he is ridiculously hot, I always flirted back with him, joking around.  Eventually Rachel let me in on the fact that he was probably actually serious.  There was no way though because this guy looked like he stepped straight out of an Abercrombie & Fitch ad.  Typical all-American beach boy.  Built upper body, tanned bronze skin, blondish hair that was just the right length of long and beautiful brown eyes.  His teeth were perfectly set and so white they could almost blind a person.