Chapter 11: Part 2

Pulling into her parking spot right out front of Jack's Coffee Bean, a sigh escapes her lips. With one swift motion, she swings out of the car and waltzes inside. Finding her favorite green chair in the corner available, she plops down and pulls out her laptop. Reaching for the charger, she plugs in before getting up to head for the counter.

As soon as she lifts her head up, her eyes meet Jack's. He's behind the counter, hands in his jean pockets. His curly golden hair is a little messy, and there are bags under his eyes. The long night is apparent on him, yet there's something about the look that works.

Sera wears an awkward smile and makes her way to the counter. In an attempt to look anywhere but in his eyes, her gaze falls on his arms. His biceps flex under his shirt, as she grows closer to him.

"Hey, Jack."

"Hey."

"Listen, about last night—"

"Thank you for driving me home last night, Sera, you were a life-saver."

"Oh, it was nothing, but what I wanted..."

"It was a crazy evening. I hope you had fun, despite it all."

"Um, yeah," she lies. Thoughts of the bathroom incident and the creepy cabdriver flood her mind, and she blurts out, "Did anything weird happen to you last night? Like I think I remember some weird things... and I wasn't drunk at all."

"You weren't drunk?" he laughs, covering his mouth. "Are you sure you weren't drunk?"

"Yeah."

"How can you be sure?" he tries again.

"I saw everything clearly, and I drove us home for Pete's sake."

"You know, Sera, people who are drunk never really think they are."

"True," she admits, knowing it doesn't make sense to normal people. Thing is, Sera knows the things that have been happening to her aren't normal. Nothing about last night is fuzzy or impaired. She remembers everything with vivid detail; including the eyes of the man from her dreams, which is why she nods, dropping the conversation.

"That's when I realized—"

"Jack," Sera butts in, ignoring the fact that he is still talking. "There's something else I want to talk to you about."

He blinks. "Go for it."

She glances around making sure that no one is listening. "I... I think we should just be friends."

He peels back; smile fading. Even his eyes lose some of their shine. "Oh."

"I just don't think I'm ready for a relationship." She stumbles through her words and continues, "I'm just going through a lot right now, and I don't want to get anyone else involved." She saves herself from giving away too much. "I'm sorry, I didn't think, I didn't mean..."

"It's okay," Jack finally says. His hand covers hers on the countertop comfortingly.

Saving her from further embarrassment, the door chimes with the entrance of a young couple. His entire appearance changes as the two patrons arrive at the counter. His smile returns, but Sera can feel the fakeness. It's like an actor putting on a show. "So, Sera, the usual?"

"Yes, and extra whip cream please."

"Oh, it's an extra whip cream kind of day?" He winks before his back turns and expertly crafts her latte.

"You have no idea." They share a chuckle, dispelling some of the awkwardness between them. Once he turns back around, he hands her the steaming, caramel latte with extra whip cream, and she notices some of the warmth has returned to his eyes.

Thanking him, she returns to her spot and begins checking her emails. There are only five total. Plugging in her headphones, she gets lost in the music and dives into the onslaught of Amanda's nursing homework.

A half-hour later, Sera is so deep into correcting the jumbled mess of Amanda's homework, she barely notices someone standing over her. When she finally glances up, her heart stops suddenly in her chest. The eyes looking back at her are ones that she never thought she would see again, conscious at least. They are the ones that haunt her endless dreams. The mystery man she can picture with such vivid detail, is standing before her in an exact replica of the man that makes her weak in the knees. Every. Single. Night. His eyes are warm, blue, and limitless like the deep sea. His hair falls in wisps across his forehead until he slides his hand through it. Sera swallows. His lips are moving, but her mind can't seem to comprehend anything at this point. It's like the whole encounter is happening to a soundtrack of some kind, and she can't seem to get her ears or her mouth to work. The song stops. That's when she realizes her headphones are still in her ears. Embarrassment fills her and her cheeks redden as she pulls the ear buds out.

"What?" Awesome, Sera, very graceful.

He smiles, his teeth forming a perfect, slick smile across his lips. "I was just asking if this seat is taken." His voice is just as smooth as she'd always dreamed it would be.

"Oh, um..." She takes a look around the coffee house, which did seem to fill up while she was deep into Amanda's mountain of work. "No, go ahead."

The stranger takes a seat in the chair across from her; the proximity of him to her is doing something different to her insides. Her heart is beating like the drums in a rock song, a strange song that only her insides can relate to. Her pulse is racing to this song as well. Her mind can't focus on anything but the fact that he looks exactly like the man from her dreams. This man has stepped out of her mind and into reality like she had always wished for. What the hell is this supposed to mean?

He pulls out a book from somewhere behind him and leans back in the chair sipping a cup of coffee. Sera can't seem to take her eyes off him; maybe she's afraid that once she does, he might disappear like always. Hiding behind her laptop, she continues her assessment. The black shirt he's wearing is the same as what she thought she had seen him in last night. His eyes, the inhuman blue that ignites the fire inside her, are just as perfect in real life. His perfect strong jawline and shapely lips from her dreams are once again on hers.

He brushes his hand through his hair again taming an unruly stray. His hair is a dark chestnut brown that's long for a guy, but not long enough for him to put behind his ears. It keeps endearingly falling onto his face. It seems he's not quite used to it yet, his fingers reach for the strand every few minutes tucking it back, only for it to fall again. A smile plays across his lips. Can he feel her eyes on him? He never lifts his gaze from his book. The book with no cover, no title, and absolutely no indication into who this guy is, or what he's all about. There's something in the mystery of him that intrigues her. It gets her heart racing in a way that she thought would never ever happen.