Valerie opened the door with the sweetest smile, and I gathered her in my arms for a giant hug without even thinking. The way she snuggled against me told me clearer than words that she enjoyed being held.
“I just have to grab my purse,” she said, popping into her bedroom for a moment. Her apartment was small and spotless. As I expected, two huge bookshelves were absolutely stuffed. She also had a wide assortment of paintings, and little knickknacks that brought a lot of color and life into the space.
“I like your place,” I said as she came out.
“Thanks,” she said in her sweet, soft voice. “It’s my first solo apartment. I’ve always had to have roommates, since I moved away from my family.”
There was something in her tone that suggested I should avoid asking about her family for now. “Well, I think you’ve done a spectacular job,” I said, curling an arm around her and kissing her gently.
I honestly wanted to pull her to the couch for an extended makeout session, but knew that patience would be the smarter option.
We left her apartment building hand in hand, walking slowly toward the bookstore while chatting about the local shops in the neighborhood. Her attention to detail and interest in the places around her were admirable.
When we got to the bookstore, around a dozen people were standing out front, looking slightly confused.
“Hi,” I said to the tall, thin man who seemed like he might be in charge. “Is the reading canceled?”
“Apparently, yeah,” he said, pointing to the sign on the door of the shop.
It read, “Due to a broken pipe, the shop is closed for a few days, as there is no running water, and we had to turn off the electricity. Please visit us again soon, and sorry for the inconvenience.”
“How many people usually come to this reading?” I asked Valerie.
“Around twenty to thirty,” she said.
“So everyone would easily fit into the coffee shop, right?”
Her eyes grew wide as she looked up at me, nodding.
I held out my hand to the tall guy. “Hi, I’m Dave. I own the Dark Mug coffee shop a few blocks away.”
“Philip,” he said as we shook.
“Would you like to put a sign on the door, and move everyone to the café?” I asked.
He looked instantly relieved. “Really? That would be amazing.”
A woman that may have been his girlfriend provided some large drawing paper, and they put a sign on the door with directions.
“Follow us, everyone,” I said to the crowd, which had grown slightly. “It will take me a minute to get the coffee on.”
Valerie gave my hand a squeeze as we walked briskly. “This is so nice of you,” she said.
I flashed her a grin. “Supporting arts in the neighborhood, while inviting some new people to check out the shop… It’s all good.”
As soon as I had the door unlocked, I scanned the room, quickly moving two tables out of the way to create a stage area. Valerie instantly saw what I was doing, and started moving chairs so that they were all facing one direction, creating sort of a cabaret seating arrangement.
I put on a pot of coffee, and arranged two trays of cookies and biscotti to set out.
A petite girl with orange streaked hair came up to the counter. “Philip is going to hang out there for another five minutes to direct people here. How much is a coffee?” she asked, counting the quarters in the palm of her hand. It was obvious that she didn’t have much money.
“I don’t want to bother turning the register on,” I winked. “Coffee and the last of the food are free tonight.”
“Really?” she exclaimed. A few others behind her looked surprised as well.
“Sure. Free coffee tonight, but I assume that you’ll all come back another time, right?”
“Sounds fair,” another girl said.