MHOS Part 2: A meet-cute

I'm in a bar on a sunday afternoon, sitting in a booth in the back, people watching with a big messy table in front of me and a big open bag taking up the seat across from me. I'm eating lunch while grading papers and taking notes in a little book, characters, for short stories I write in my spare time. Tragic romance novels, inspired by Romeo & Juliet, where the heroin loses the hero just as they thought they were going to get their happy ending.

People watching is one of my favourite past times, I like to base my characters likeness to the people I watch in the pubs and diners I grade papers in. It makes for a wide variety of character descriptions without the hassle of having to think too much. As an ESL teacher who travels the world, I only take on wealthy clients, and I only take them one at a time so I have a lot of time to pursue my own personal interests.

Today my interest was Shawn, a handsome, slender, brunette man cruising the bar and approaching the solo women, grabbing them by the waist as he introduces himself, testing to see if a public show of charming affection looking for a specific type of woman. So far it wasn't working the way he had hoped, one woman returned his energy and scared him off, another showed him her ring and talked about her husband and I could see that it was beginning to irritate him. He was looking for an available woman who would remain quietly uncomfortable as he pushed her boundaries and that was going to be me.

I called for the waitress to get me a to-go container as I began to pack my books and papers into my large duffle bag. Once my stuff and my leftovers were put away I tried to suppress a quiet grunt as I picked up my bag and made my way over to the cash register to pay for my food before I went on my way. Shawn saw the relief on my face as I put the bag down on a chair with a quiet thud while I went to pay my tab and ran up behind me, putting his hand on my waist. He tells me a little lady like myself shouldn't be lugging around such heavy things all by myself and offers to pay my tab as he picks up my bag for me.

What an adorable little meet-cute, had it been genuine, I could flash him a smile and gladly accept leading to a number exchange and future date, but I know that's not what he wants. "Oh, uh, thank you. You don't have to. I don't want to be a bother. My car is just outside." He hands the waitress money, tells her to keep the change, and guides me out of the pub asking me to direct him to my car so he can put my bag away for me.

As I thank him for his help, I avoid direct eye contact and it draws him in closer to me. He asks me if I'm new in town and I say that I'm travelling for work and am actually planning my next destination soon. He insists on taking me to dinner tonight since I'm not from around here, he knows a family owned diner whose cheeseburgers would change my life. I didn't know then, how right he was.