Naomi

I’d been working at The Black Rose, a little downtown café for about three months.  Just enough time to really get into the flow of working there.  Every day it was the same routine: people came in, bought their drinks, and either left or sat and worked on something until they were done.  Pretty boring… Until she walked through the door.

I swear, for a second, time slowed down.  Her dark hair fell in tight little braids that framed her face.  Her beautiful eyes were deep; containing mysteries you couldn’t even dream of.  Eyes you could stare into and get lost for hours.  I even remember exactly what she was wearing.  A long sleeved, low cut red shirt that perfectly accented her curves, and jeans slung low on her hips so as she walked you could see the smallest teasing glimpse of her perfect skin.

As she walked up to the counter I struggled to get the words out.

“Can I get you something?”

I could barely force my hands to move as I punched in the price and I couldn’t even meet her eyes when I handed her the change.  She came in every day after that, and every time I saw her I could feel the flush roll over my body.  Finally, after a week of shyness and fear, I got up the courage to ask her name.

She walked up to the counter and we acted as normal, not saying anything outside the formalities.  But this time, as I dropped the change into her hand, I blurted out, “What’s your name?!”

Shit. Great Sarah, you fucking idiot! Now she’s gonna think you’re some creepy stalker.

She smiled and instead of answering, she pulled a small white card out of her back pocket, set it on the counter, and walked out onto the street.

On the card, in small, neat handwriting was:

Naomi – 555 6217

I stared at the card for a moment, then slipped it into my pocket.  I couldn’t wait for my shift to be over.

~~~~~~~~


My eyes flicked back and forth between the card in my hand and the phone on my bed.  I grabbed the phone and dialed the number.  My finger hovered over the call button and I know if I didn’t call now I would loose my nerve again so before I could think anymore about it, I pushed the call button and raised the phone to my ear.

“Hello?” came the question from the other end of the line.  For a moment I couldn’t speak then, finally, I managed to say, “Hi… it’s Sarah… from the café.”

“I was hoping you’d call.”

Her voice sounded cool and collected, not like mine I’m sure.

“Really…?”

“Yeah.  I wanted to ask… if you wanted to meet sometime, outside of your work I mean.”

I tried to keep the excitement out of my voice, “Definitely!”

“Great,” she said, “What do you say to meeting at my house then going out to dinner tonight?”

“That sounds excellent.”

“Can you be here at 7:30?  I live at 1942 Elizabeth St.”

“Yeah, sure”

“Okay, I’ll see you then! Bye.”

My hand shook as I flipped the phone closed.  I glanced at the clock. 6:28. I had an hour.

~~~~~~~~


I stood on the porch, debating whether to ring the bell or run away.  Just a few days ago, I didn’t even have the courage to ask her name and here I was standing at the door of her house.

Gathering every last ounce of courage I had, I reached up and rang the doorbell.  It had hardly stopped ringing when she opened the door.  She smiled and moved aside so I could get in.  I took a few steps inside and turned to face her again.  She looked great in tight fitting jeans and a purple tee.

“I just have a few things to do then I’ll be ready.”

“Okay,” I said, and sat down on the couch to wait.

Looking around the room, I noticed the paintings on the walls.  They were filled with every color and intricate patterns.  But before I could think any more about them, Naomi walked back into the living room.  My jaw dropped.
She looked amazing.  She had changed into a short black skirt and tight white shirt.  Over the shirt she had on a black jacket with silver stitching running down the sleeves.  I could barely keep myself from staring.

“Ready to go?” she asked with a small smile on her face, like she knew exactly what torture she was putting me through.

“Y-yeah”

She led me outside to her small silver car.  I tried to hide my excitement as I slid into the passenger seat.

“So… um… You never told me where we’re going…” I started.

“You’ll see,” she said with s smirk, “it’s my little surprise.”

We drove toward downtown, our conversation picking up after the first few minutes of silence.  It wasn’t long before we turned into a parking garage.

“Where are we going?” I asked again as we were stepping put of the car.  She just smiled and kept walking.

We walked about a block until we passed Raven, the most popular restaurant on the town.  There was a line out the door.

“What?! Here?” I said, “You have to make reservations days in advance!”

She turned back to look at me and all she said was, “I know.”

~~~~~~~~


On the way home I asked Naomi about the paintings in her living room.

“You know,” I started, “those paintings in your house are amazing!  Where did you get them?”

“I… made them myself…” she said.  She looked embarrassed.  I didn’t even think it was possible for her to be embarrassed.

“You’re kidding!  Wow, Naomi, you never told me you were an artist!”

“They’re not all that good.” she said, still looking embarrassed but a small smile was playing around the corners of her mouth.

“Yes they are and you know it.” I said, closing the conversation.  We were both quiet.  I was thinking about the paintings and she… well, I could never tell what she was thinking.

We were almost to her house.  I turned to look at her, her profile lit by the streetlights as we drove past.  She really was beautiful, I was so glad I’d found her.

Wait, wait, wait.  Hold everything.  What do you mean “found her?”  This was one date and knowing you, you’ve probably screwed that up.

I was in the process of responding to my own thoughts when we pulled into her driveway.  We got out and I walked her to her door.

I spoke first, “I had a really great time”

“Yeah, so did I” she said and my mind let out a little sigh of relief.  We both stood there for one awkward moment until she gently touched her fingertips to my cheek and kissed me.  It felt like forever and not even a second before she pulled away.  I stood there, stunned.  That little smirk was back on her face; I was beginning to love that look.

~~~~~~~~


An hour later I was lying in bed, thinking about what had happened.  There was no way I could sleep after that.  I could still feel her kiss on my lips, and the only thing I could think of was that I wanted more.  So I closed my eyes and let my mind slip off into it’s little fantasy world.  I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

~~~~~~~~


I woke up with the same smile but it disappeared as soon as I looked at the clock.  7:48.

Shit!  My shift starts at 8. Oh man, I’m gonna be so late!

I threw off the covers and searched through the laundry basket on the floor to find something to wear.  With all the excitement of last night, I’d forgotten to set my alarm.

I finally found every thing and bolted out the door, just barely remembering to lock it.  I ran down the steps and out into the parking lot.  I threw my bag in the back of the car and started the drive to work, cursing myself for getting my own place last year.  Having my own apartment meant not having my mom around all the time but it was way further from work.

Traffic was horrible.  I walked in 20 minutes late, apologizing as I came through the door.  I stopped mid-sentence when I saw Naomi sitting at one of the tables reading a novel.  She turned to look at me as I walked through the door and I felt the blush rise to my face.

Nice job Sarah! Now Naomi’s gonna thing you’re a flake who can’t even get to work on time.

I dropped my eyes from hers and walked behind the counter.  I was so ashamed, but next thing I knew she had walked up to the counter and grabbed my wrist.

“Hey,” she said with a smile, “I just wanted to tell you again what a great time I had last night and ask you…”

But just then my boss broke in.

“Hey!  Sarah!  I don’t pay you to stand around talking all day!”

“Sorry…” Naomi whispered.  She walked back to her table, picked up her bag and her book, and with a glance back at me, walked out onto the street.

~~~~~~~~


This day has been absolute crap. I thought as I pulled into the parking lot.

I dragged my sorry ass out of my car and up the stairs, thinking only of taking a hot shower and falling into bed.  I didn’t even see the flowers until I almost tripped over them… Outside my door was a vase of beautiful tiger lilies.  I unlocked the door and carried the flowers inside.  I set the vase on the kitchen counter and threw my bag on the bed.  I walked back into the kitchen and over to the vase.  There was a card on a ribbon around the neck of the vase.

It read:

Hampton Park 10:00 am Sunday

--N


It was in her handwriting.

How did she know that’s my favorite flower… for that matter, how did she get my address?

Sunday was three days away… I didn’t know if I could wait that long.

~~~~~~~~

I checked my reflection for the thousandth time, tucking my hair behind my ears and pulling it out again.  My eyes went to the clock on the shelf above my bed.  I still had 45 minutes to wait.  I picked up my book and tried to read but the words blurred and all I could think about was her.  I couldn’t believe she had asked me to meet her again.  Well, I assumed I was going to meet her again.  Why else would she ask me to go to the park?

I looked at the clock again.  Not even five minutes had passed.  I fell back on the bed with a sigh.  10:00 would never come.

~~~~~~~~


When time finally decided to take pity on me and it was 9:45, I took one final look in the mirror, making sure I looked at least passable.  I threw my messenger bag over my shoulder and walked out to my car.

When I got to Hampton Park, I guided my car into a space and shut off the engine.

Here goes nothing. I thought as I stepped out of the car.  I scanned the people in the ark, looking for Naomi.  Finally I spotted her, kneeling on a red blanket that was spread out on the grass.  She was taking things out of her backpack and setting them out on the blanket.  She looked stunning as usual, wearing a plain white tee shirt, just loose enough to let your imagination do the rest, and short denim shorts.  Her black flip-flops were kicked to the side of the blanket.

I started to walk over to her.  She glanced up and saw me.  A smile broke over her face and she held my eyes.  It was all I could do to keep walking.  The way she was staring into my eyes, straight into me, made my knees weak.

When I got over to the blanket, she finally spoke.  “Sarah!  I’m glad you could make it.”

“Yeah, no problem” I said, blushing again. “I do have a question though.”

“What is it?”  Her voice was muffled; she was searching around in her bag again.

“How did you know my address? And do you know that tiger lilies are my favorite kind of flower or was that a lucky guess?”

She looked up at me with a teasing look in her eyes.

“I have my ways” she said.

I couldn’t think of a response to that, so instead I directed my attention to what she had laid out on the blanket.

“I packed a picnic for us!” she said, a hint of pride in her voice, “Sit down.”

I kicked off my shoes and did as I was told.  She’d packed all my favorites, she really was amazing.

At first we were silent, watching the kids playing in the park.  Then, slowly, as we got more comfortable, our conversation started to progress.

I checked my watch.  11:03.

Wow, I thought, an hour’s gone already…?

Naomi interrupted my thoughts by lying down on the blanket and pulling me down next to her, resting my head on her shoulder.  I was a bit shocked but didn’t pull away.  Instead I relaxed against her and stared up at the leaves of the trees and white puffy clouds.

I could stay like this forever.

I wanted to close my eyes and capture this and capture this moment.  It felt so peaceful and so… right.

All too soon, her body shifted and she propped herself up on her elbow and looked at me.

My thoughts raced.  Oh god, what did I do? Is she mad? I hope not. Maybe…

But she broke into my thoughts when she kissed me.  Her lips were on mine before I even knew what was happening.  I felt her fingers brush through my hair and I let the kiss pull me away from everything.  Into that place where everything feels right.

I don’t know how ling we kissed but I know I wanted it to go on forever.  When we broke apart her eyes searched mine.  “This is it, isn’t it?” they seemed to ask.  She found her answer.  She gave me another quick kiss and sat up.

“I have something for you” she said, pulling something out of her backpack.

I pushed myself up and curled my legs under, still floating in the memories of what just happened.  She pulled out a little black box and set it in front of me, biting her lip nervously.

I picked up the box and pulled off the lid.  Inside was a necklace.  A sliver charm of the sun, filled with intricate spirals and patterns.  I lifted it out of the box and let the delicate chain drape over my fingers.

“It’s beautiful!” I gasped.  I looked up at Naomi; she was staring at me again.

“I’m glad you like it” she said, the hint of a smile teasing on her face, “I’ve had it since the day I saw you”

I couldn’t speak.  Since the day she saw me? What? Why would she…?

“I knew you were something special” she continued, “I just couldn’t let you get away.  I would fight for you. And so, I got you this.”  She motioned to the necklace still sitting in my palm.  “It seemed to suit you.”

My head was reeling… she couldn’t really feel that way about me?

She lifted the charm out of my palm and leaned over to clasp the chain around my neck.  Her lips barely grazed my skin as she whispered in my ear, “I love you Sarah.”