The café was small and quaint, not much like the ones you would normally see on a large boat. There were old wooden tables, neatly dressed with flowers and soft fabric seats. Smiling to myself I walked over to the counter; it was almost empty in here, strange since the other places were packed with restless travellers.
The only people other than me were a few smartly dressed men in the far corner, giving all their attention to the newspapers they were reading. I reached the counter; they had a wide range of ice drinks, perfect for this type of day.
My eyes drifted to the price and my mouth nearly dropped open. No wonder nobody else was here, although quaint they had marked the prices up beyond belief. I huffed angrily before picking out my favoured drink; a pure strawberry chiller. The waitress took my order and I settled myself down in a soft seat nearby.
Wondering how much time I could pass in here, I barely noticed the waitress drop my drink down next to me. I quickly grabbed my bag so I could look for my purse to pay the woman. When it didn’t reach my hands immediately I dug a little deeper, not wanting to repeat the incident in my car earlier. The waitress tried to mutter something but I stuck my hand up to her hastily, lost in my frantic search.
When I hit the bottom of the bag I started to pull things out desperately; my purse was massive how could I miss it. Suddenly it dawned on me, it was somewhere in my car. I froze, the table was covered in my belongings and my face flushed.
“I’m sorry I left my purse in the car, I’ll have to go and get it,” I muttered sheepishly. The waitress’s face looked mildly concerned as her eyes darted between me and the pile on the table.
“I’ve been trying to tell you Miss the gentleman over there paid for your drink,” she said hastily before darting off. Why would a few old business men pay for my drink, they hadn’t even seen me walk in?
My eyes darted around the room, I was sure I hadn’t missed anybody. Just as I was trying to convince myself of that my eyes landed on the mystery man from the car behind me. He was sat right near the entrance; I had just walked past him.
My already red face flushed darker, I really had an awful eyesight, either that or I was just plain unobservant. The man noticed my staring and raised his drink slightly to me. My mouth dropped and I just watched him, unsure of what to do.
I slowly nodded at him, acknowledging that he had brought me the drink. It didn’t take him long to notice the pile of stuff on my table and to break out in silent hysterics. I put my head in my hand, embarrassment flooding over me; I had never actually met this man and yet he always seemed to see me at my worst.
I shook my head violently, trying to erase the first hour of my escape plan; it definitely hadn’t gone to plan at all. What felt like hours pasted but it had probably only been a few seconds. I lifted my head slightly, ready to face the world again; I immediately realised it was a mistake when my eyes met the torso of my man.
He was wearing a bright white t-shirt and faded black jeans. The trousers hung loosely from his hips, creating an extremely sexy look. I pulled my eyes away from them and dragged them over his toned stomach. My legs tightened at the image of him, the heat from earlier had rushed back instantly. I twisted my legs under the table, trying to quench the hunger radiating through them.
When I finally reached his face a concerned look covered it; hidden slightly by his light brown hair covering a single green eye. The look in his other one betrayed his face slightly, just behind the concern was obvious humour at what he was witnessing.
“I… um,” I stumbled lamely. He smiled brightly at me, his eyes sparkling slightly.
“Is this seat taken?” he asked gesturing to the free seat next to me. I shook my head slowly, not sure if my mouth could handle words yet. The man pulled the chair out slowly, just as a few items from my handbag dropped loudly from it to the floor.
My cheeks blazed heat again as I rushed to pick them up, at the same time as he did. Our heads collided with an incredibly loud sound which echoed off the walls around us. I could imagine everyone looking round as I struggled to regain my correct sight.
Two strong hands pushed me back in to my seat and dropped my belongings next to the others on the table. I rubbed my sore temple slowly against my hand, trying to stop the pounding. When I finally looked up, the man was sat down next to me, giving his fully concerned look this time.
“I’m fine,” I said, my head slowly starting to stop spinning.
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to hit you,” he said honestly. I nodded slowly, immediately regretting the move as my head spun again. I rubbed it and started to wonder why this man had actually come over to my table in the first place.
“I’m Jeremy,” he said interrupting my thought process. He stuck his hand out hesitantly, as if trying not to hurt me again.
“Robin,” I said taking his hand and shaking it quickly. The soft feel of his fingers brought back the reminder of my earlier heat as it surged through me again. My thighs rubbed together intensifying my need and desire for this man. I had never been that much of a sexual person, until now that was. Something about the thrill and dangerous excitement of this trip made me want him.
Scared he could somehow read my thoughts I put a wide smile on to my face, covering any trace of it. At least I thought it did until I looked at the man again. The same heat I was feeling seemed to burn from his eyes, they had changed so quickly. I breathed in quickly, almost choking as I did so. Jeremy smiled at me knowingly, like it was only a matter of time before I would admit what I was thinking.
“What are you doing here?” I asked in a casual voice, taking a sip of my now defrosted drink.
“Well I saw a pretty woman earlier and I made her jump. So I thought I’d buy her a drink to make up for it,” Jeremy said surely, taking a sip from his own drink.
His words caught me off guard. I hadn’t been expecting him to just come right out and say why he was here. My mind went in to overload trying to figure out what to do. He had called me pretty, for some reason my body was having a massive reaction to that word. I was almost dripping now, the tense excitement overpowering my body. I pushed my legs together, covering the feeling.
“Well thank you for the drink,” I said quickly, they were the only words willing to come out of my mouth. He looked taken aback slightly at my harsh words; nodding hastily he pushed himself up to leave. I just watched him, dreading the fact that he was leaving me and I only knew his first name.
He had already made it half way across the café when my courage returned. Downing the last bit of my drink I stood up quickly, what I hoped would be an impressive moment was ruined by my lap full of handbag items spilling out all over the floor. Before I had a chance to fix myself up laughter came from the other side of the room and Jeremy turned back to me.
“Wait!” I shouted, forgetting that my impressive plan had already failed. Jeremy stood laughing at me; it was no longer quiet as it had been before. I scanned the room helplessly; the men in suits had lowered their papers and were pointing and muttering between themselves.
I passed by them quickly, trying to save myself as much pride as possible. The waitress looked incredibly annoyed at the mess I had made all over her floor; I muttered a quick apology and bent down to clear it all up. In the minute or so it took me to clean everything up the boat had started.
Everything jolted around and just as I put the last thing in to my bag I stumbled sideways. Before I could hit the solid ground the same two hands as earlier caught me firmly and pulled me back into a standing position.