Especially about Evan Monroe. I wasn’t even sure why we were having coffee. Neither of us seemed to like the other all that much. But I felt bad for him. The town had all but thrown him out and he was trying to find a place he belonged. I didn’t feel right shutting him out at that moment. The outfit was just my way of looking my best. I wasn’t really sure why. I just knew it was important.
As she continued to babble about the impossible, I glanced at my phone hoping to see a message from Nick. There was nothing. He hadn’t even contacted me about our favorite show. Not that I’d watched it. But it was unusual for him to not even contact me.
I was slightly worried that maybe his life crisis had led him to the woman of his dreams. Of course I felt hypocritical; worrying about that as I sat listening to my best friend tell me that Evan Monroe might just be my knight in shining armor.
“You okay?” Kendall’s question brought me out of my thoughts.
“Yeah,” I replied halfheartedly. I knew she’d never buy it if I left it there so I continued. “Nick has been MIA for a couple of days.”
“Maybe he’s met a real woman?” she snapped, and quickly regretted it. “I’m sorry Lex. I didn’t mean it like that.”
“It’s okay,” I shook my head, trying hard to convince both of us that I was fine. “I should probably get some fresh coffee on before my
date
arrives.” I emphasized the word just to return her to the smiling and giddy girl that had drifted away for a second.
“I better get out of here! Three’s a crowd you know,” she grinned and picked up her things. “Call me later and tell me everything!”
“Of course,” I nodded. “Love you Kendall.”
“Love you too,” she slung her hand backwards over her shoulder to wave as she made her way out the door without looking in my direction.
I went to the counter and put on three fresh pots to brew. I opted for a hazelnut, mint chocolate and regular coffee. I wasn’t sure what he’d enjoy, but these were three of the most popular I carried.
The idea that he might like a snack hit me and I found myself creating a small platter of candies for him to sample. I wasn’t sure if he’d ever even tried any of my candy. If not, he was in for a real treat.
For the remainder of the time I waited, I found ways inside the shop to keep myself busy. None of those included a customer. In fact, by the time noon was about to strike I hadn’t seen a single customer. That was odd even for the slow days.
It’s fate.
I could hear Kendall’s voice in my head and I couldn’t help but laugh. Her imagination could go wild.
“I’m not sure it’s safe if a woman is in a candy store alone and laughing like she just heard the funniest joke,” his voice caught my attention quickly.
It was a distinctive voice. I’d heard he was from somewhere up north, Ohio or Pennsylvania or something, and it showed when he spoke. I was used to the thick drawl that came with the southern boys, not the northern sound of his thick and deep voice.
“It’s probably not,” I admitted. “Especially considering the knives are back here.”
“Back away from the cutlery, Alexis,” he teased.
“So what type of coffee would you like?”
“Hot and full of caffeine,” he grinned.
“You are in luck,” I went to grab a cup. “We have hazelnut, chocolate mint and standard.”
“What do you think I’d like?” he was making this difficult.
“You seem like a straight black coffee kind of guy to me,” I told him honestly. “But they are all good.”
“Then surprise me,” his voice took on a lighthearted tone. “Show me how to get away from boring.”
“The suit has to go.”
“Here? Now?” He chuckled. “Wouldn’t that be awkward?”
“I meant in general,” I rolled my eyes at his lame joke. “Definitely not here and now.”
“So suits are boring down here, huh?” his puzzled expression made me laugh. “Not big on success?”
“Not big on flaunting money,” I disagreed. “Suits are for weddings, funerals and salesmen.”
“I see,” He nodded, taking the cup. “I don’t have much else.”
“What you wore to the community meeting was perfect,” the words slipped out before I could stop them.
“Really?” I saw the grin take over his face. “And here I thought you hated me.”
“I do,” I stumbled for words as I felt my face flush. “I mean I did.”
“But you don’t now?”
“I don’t know really,” I confessed. “Let’s just have our coffee.”
I made my way around the counter and we sat at the same table Kendall and I had occupied not long before that. Almost immediately, Evan began to talk. He shared how he had spent the previous night trying to decide what he’d done wrong. I told him that trying to bring in retail shopping to a small community was the start.
Over our coffee and platter of candy Evan opened up about his life. He’d never really had anyone serious. Women tended to blow him off when he worked as much as he did. He’d come here to change his life and it definitely had. He wanted the people to accept him and didn’t think he stood a very good chance anymore.
As he talked I found myself seeing him in a slightly different light. He was still the cocky asshole that had tried so hard to ruin my town. He was still the ego filled douche that had thought a smile, wink and dinner invitation would sweep me off of my feet. But there was something softer about him. Something that just wanted to be liked. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was. I just knew that I was seeing something different and it was something that I kind of liked.
I told him about my life, family and the reasons I chose to open a candy shop. I talked a lot about my love of Asheville and the mountains of North Carolina in general. I even told him of some of my favorite nearby places to spend a day. He seemed really interested in the Blue Ridge Parkway and Pisgah Forest and hinted at the possibility of me showing him both.
Our small and quick coffee date ended up stretching out for quite some time. I had to refill the cups several times. The third time, I stood and walked toward the counter. I saw him pick up his phone. Something about the gesture caught my attention. I knew that he didn’t really have many local friends and I wondered if maybe he was seeing someone.
Sitting back down, I asked what brought him to North Carolina other than business.
“I needed a change of scenery,” he told me, sipping at another cup of the hazelnut blend. “I came here to check out the area for work and I really liked it. Made me want to stay.”
“Still feel that way?” I laughed. “After all that has happened.”
“Yes,” he smiled. “I hope to win everyone over.”
“How do you plan to do that?” I asked.
“I wish I knew,” he sighed. “Any ideas from the queen of Biltmore Village?”
The title made me laugh. A queen? I highly doubt that. I was nothing more than someone willing to say what they felt.
“Well, money never hurt,” I teased and he laughed.
Just as we began to chat again I heard the chirp of my phone.
“That went off when you were getting coffee,” he told me. “I’m sorry, I forgot.”
“It’s okay,” I told him as I picked up the device, already knowing who and what it was. A message from Nick.
I am a failure. I forgot Reckless was on last night. Yesterday sucked so bad that even the image of you naked couldn’t help.
I couldn’t help but smile at the message. Nick had a way of causing that to happen no matter when he wrote or what he said.
I didn’t watch it. I didn’t get naked either. I crashed early. Do I even need to ask about yesterday? Was it the bat shit crazy one?
I was debating whether to hit send. I wanted to, but I felt like starting a conversation with Nick would deter me from the conversation I was in at that moment. Besides, what if Kendall was right? What if Nick was just an imaginary diversion to prevent me from dating real men? Not that I was dating Evan. Not that I would date Evan. But the theory still stood.
“That’s a pretty serious smile,” Evan commented. “Must be someone very special.”
“Yes,” I blushed. “No. Hell, I don’t know. It’s…..”
“Complicated?”
“How’d you guess that?” I was surprised.
“You’re a woman. Everything is complicated,” he noted. “Besides, whenever I’m trying to get to know a beautiful woman she has someone else she is interested in. Story of my life.”
“I…uh…wow…thanks,” I was struggling to find the right words. “But it’s not like that. It’s ….complicated.”
“So it’s not someone you are interested in?” Evan seemed hopeful.
“Not really,” I tried to find the words to explain. “I mean I am. But I’m not. And it doesn’t matter because we’ve never met.”
“Oh,” he sighed. “One of those online things.”
He didn’t seem surprised or turned off by the idea. He more seemed disappointed.
“Sort of. But it will stay an online thing,” I informed him. “We will never meet.”
“Why?” he asked sincerely.
That was when I decided that rather than make myself look stranger than I already did, I would tell him what was going on with Nick.
“It’s hard to explain,” I began. “We have mutual friends so we started chatting. But we really don’t even know who the other is. And we’ve agreed to never meet,” I added.
I watched Evan’s expression change and I wondered if he judged me for the Nick situation. I wanted to explain more. A part of me wanted to confess to the fact that Nick made me feel sane and desirable. I wanted to tell him how much I enjoyed the conversations and wished they occurred more often. But I didn’t want Evan to decide I was crazy.
“How long have you been talking to him?” he asked. “I met someone in a similar way. That’s pretty weird.”
“Why are you here then?” I asked.
“Why are you?” he replied.
“Because maybe it’s time to spend time with new people. Real people. Not ones that I have to type to all the time.” It was the only answer that I had.
“Do you like him Lexi?” I paused and tried to decide how to answer him.
“I do. We have a lot in common and……what did you call me?” the name hit me.
“Ite
what they call you right?” he asked.
“Yes, but how did you know that?”
“I just sent a message to the girl I met online not too long ago,” I didn’t understand why he’d changed the subject. “And then you got the message.”
“No, my message is from a guy named Nick,” I laughed. “But nice theory. That would have made my best friend’s whole week. “
“Lexi,” he continued, bothering me with the use of a name I reserved for friends and loved ones. “Let me introduce myself.”
“I’m pretty sure we’ve met,” I laughed. “What did you slip into your coffee Evan?”
“Nothing,” he laughed as well. “You know me as Evan Monroe.”
“Is that not your name?”
“It is. Evan. More specifically, it is Evan Nicolas Monroe.”
“Nicolas,” I repeated. “That’s your middle name?”
“Yes,” he replied. “And its
what sparked the Facebook name Saint Nicolas.”
“How do two people have the same……”
Suddenly it hit me. Nicolas. Saint Nicolas. He was Nick. He was Nick and Nick was him. The guy I’d come to rely on to chat with by night turned out to be the same man that was making my life a living hell by day.
“No,” I shook my head. “No, that’s not ….you can’t be….I don’t believe…”
I decided to test the theory and I hit send on the message. Within seconds his phone went off and he looked at the screen.
“Ugh, don’t ask,” he spoke quietly and I felt everything inside of me freeze. How the hell did this happen?
“I need to get back to work,” after an awkward ten minute silence, it was the only thing I could think of to say.
“Lexi,” he began, but I interrupted.
“I’m sure you know the way out,” I huffed and walked back to the counter, feeling uncomfortable and unsure of anything that had happened in the previous month.
The only thing I knew as I watched him quietly walk out of the shop was that Kendall was going to absolutely love this turn of events.
*****