Table (supposedly) for Two

Claudia Winchester had had a very stressful morning. She'd run around her apartment in a panic, too anxious about her date- or was it just coffee?- that afternoon to just sit down and relax. Walking up to the Forbidden Zone a quarter to four, her legs burned from her very first attempt at shaving. She'd panicked about that too and just ended up throwing on some black tights and denim shorts over that failure; coupled with a black cat sweater and a black knit beanie, she felt like she actually managed to make herself look halfway decent for the date. Coffee. Whatever this was.

With a tablet tucked snug under her arm, she walked into the cafe and came to a slow stop to scan the tables and booths. The amount of faces in the crowd to search was already overwhelming her.

She might have arrived early, but what if he'd gotten here before her? Actually, what time even was it? Claudia pulled her phone from her back pocket and turned it on to check, relieved to see that she was indeed fifteen minutes early and not fifteen minutes late like she'd feared for a moment there.

Now, where was Clement Lamont...?

The sound of her own name rang in Claudia's ears, making her feel rather conflicted. On one hand, her instincts were to ignore it; being invisible taught you that you were only ever just someone with the same name. On the other hand, she couldn't possibly ignore that voice. Also, who names their kid Claudia?

She quickly spotted him, and while half of her was so nervous she kind of just wanted to go outside and vomit, the other half of her couldn't help but smile and start making her way towards him. She told herself that her date--coffee. Guy. Coffee guy?--probably didn't feel anywhere near as nervous as her. Come on, he was like, what, four-hundred years old or so? No way someone as old as that could get nervous about anything.

"Clement, hi!" Shoot, was that too peppy? She took a seat across from him and pulled the tablet from under her arm to set on the table. It had been meticulously cleaned, not a single fingerprint, smudge, or speck of dust on its surface. Claudia could totally make a good serial killer.

"It's great to see you too! I actually ran here, so I'm pretty warm. Were you waiting very long?" She rubbed her hands on the tops of her irritated thighs and almost immediately regretted it, but she quickly hid the discomfort. "Thank you!" she said, and, after not so subtly eyeing him over, she added, "You look very charming, too. The plaid suits you."

"How have you been? I hope I didn't steal away too much of your past-time by taking your e-reader; I tried to be quick with it."

"I really did! I like your taste in books a lot--I could hardly put the reader down," she laughed. Claudia idly brushed her fingers through the ends of her hair, trying to make sure it wasn't frizzy or messy from running there.

Her eyes turned to the waitress, about to voice her order before she noticed that the waitress was in disbelief that she even existed. Claudia's gaze returned to Clement as he spoke, and she couldn't help the rosy blush that rose to her cheeks, nor the silly smile as she admired him, thinking about how he might make a good father one day.

She turned back to the waitress and began to reach a hand out. Though she hesitated for a moment, she very lightly rested a couple fingers on her elbow so she could be seen, then bid her remember as she ordered. Her hand returned to her lap.

"Other than all of them?" she said mirthfully, a thoughtful look on her face. "Well, I did especially like the one that you showed me before--the one with the knight and the witch's daughter during the War of the Roses? Another one, umm...I can't remember what it's called, but it was set in Regency England; the main character's a young lady from this high-class family that's secretly in debt because of her father's gambling problems, but she catches the eye of this noble who gives her father a ton of money for the right to woo her. She almost immediately hates him from the moment they meet, but she slowly starts to fall in love with him--until she finds out that he basically bought her, and then everything's crazy."

"That one made me cry. Any story that can make me cry is automatically good."

"Well, I still have to choose myself for them to remember me," she said, for some reason feeling a bit bashful when it came to talking about her abilities. "I didn't want her thinking you were crazy."

Claudia once again couldn't help but grin at the strange sound of his laugh. "Studying? Other than you?" Alright, Claudia, that one was just bad. She laughed a bit at herself and said, "I'm majoring in Biology, actually, and minoring in German and French. I almost picked up nursing too, but I didn't in the end. I can't remember why. Maybe it was some huge schedule conflict or something."

Claudia wrapped her chilly fingers around her Americano and lifted it to her lips to coolly take a sip. She sputtered and sent several drops of coffee flying as she completely ruined her contrived air of composure. "Oh my God--!" she said, half mortified and half unable to stop herself from cackling with laughter. "I-I'm so sorry!"

Claudia didn't know how she could face him now. She'd forever be known as the kid who spat coffee at a good-looking teacher. Reflexively, she'd been using her sleeve to wipe the spattered liquid from her face as she choked down her laughter, but she switched to using the napkin he offered instead. "I didn't expect it to taste so bad," she murmured to herself, not expecting an answer; "I've never actually had coffee before. ..Thanks for not getting mad."

"Um, well, I was planning on opening a flower shop on the island once I got the money to do so, so I got a job a few days ago to help. Maybe I should get a second one, though..." She stared down at her coffee, wondering if she should drink it anyways so she didn't waste anything. Her pinky finger traced the edge of the handle. "Something to do with plants is what I had most in mind. Maybe...forensic science if plants don't work out. I just want a job that doesn't make me regret my life, you know?"

Claudia twirled a lock of hair around her finger, a thoughtful look on her face. Her eyes returned to his despite her still-mortified reluctance. "What do you think, Clement? Would you rather have a well-paying job that you absolutely hated, or would you rather take a chance to find a job that you like but might not be able to support yourself with?"