There was still work to be done.
Monday morning came as always, and I sat there in my office hours mulling it all over. Mama’s floral tin sat on the corner of the desk. Memories of our conversation taunted me, but it was nowhere as potent as the memory of dark eyes glancing over a delicate shoulder.
Millie.
With a shake of my head, I pushed her out of my mind. There was no time for daydreaming. I had a full schedule, and I found myself conducting my lectures in a haze of fast-food smells, leaving my stomach growling by the end of my eleven o’clock class. It wasn’t like me to break my lunchtime routine, but I found myself wandering toward the corner kiosk at the far end of campus.
Well, I knew more than my stomach was carrying me there.
The food they sold wasn’t even particularly good, but it was the only place I could think to run into her again. Our campus was so massive. It sprawled across several city blocks, with thousands of students filling every building. It would have been easier to find her if I knew her last name, but all I had was a few memories, a first name, and that damn coffee stand.
How many times had I stood there around the same time, just hoping she would show up alone? How many times did I look to the wind and hope some other brown-haired woman was her? It was such a lovesick and foolish act, but there was an appeal of the unknown. As long as she lived in my fantasies, she was more of a figment of my imagination than a real woman.
I desperately wanted her to be real.
As I reached the line, newly forming with classes letting out, I found she wasn’t there. My eyes checked every face, but none of them were hers. It didn’t surprise me, to say the least. I simply slipped into the line and stared ahead at the menu board, wondering whether I should get a large or small coffee. There was no reason to waste time with the frilly little frozen drinks. I knew what I liked.
I got so lost in my thoughts I nearly missed the two fingers tapping on my shoulder. Not thinking, my head turned, and two warm brown eyes held mine. Her ruby-red smile brightened. Dressed in shades of blue with her hair swept back from her face, Millie looked better than I remembered. My memories hadn’t done her justice.
“Do you know how long I’ve been waiting to buy a coffee for you?” she asked me.
Her Irish lilt was fading, yet the melody of her voice remained. As the wind whipped up the street, the faint scent of vanilla wafted off of her, and it almost smelled too perfect.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Do you know I’ve been buying coffee just to see you?”
“Let’s save you some money then,” she offered. “I’ll buy your coffee.”
I shook my head. “Only if I can buy you lunch first.”