Page 18 of The Omega Archives: Part One

“That’s alright. My name. It’s Cal. Or, Calvin, but I haven’t answered to that in years unless my mother is calling me. Too stuffy, ya know. So it’s just Cal.”

“I’m,” she paused. “I’m Ella.”

“Nice to meet you, Ella. So you like raisins.”

“There is nothing wrong with raisins.”

“They are the sad wrinkly attempt at chocolate chips when in baked goods.”

“You can’t compare a raisin and chocolate chip.”

“So, you agree,” I said.

She shook her head, but I saw a smile as she bit her bottom lip, as if she didn’t want to. But I’d get it out of her.

“Want to sit for a minute before we have to head out?”

“I…” Ella looked like she was going to decline, looking over her shoulders as if in search of some camera crew and I was pranking her.

She was an odd one, wasn’t she?

“Okay,” she agreed. “Just a few minutes though.”

“How did you know that I wanted a bagel,” she asked, opening hers up. She looked at it adoringly.

“I saw you looking at that other person’s when you came in like it was going to solve world hunger.”

“Only mine,” she attempted to joke.

I barked a laugh.

God, she was cute.

I didn’t plan on spending a lot of time at the shop before I headed back home to work late, but now, I took my time opening my wrapped bagel. Lifting it like a sandwich, I took a large bite.

I moaned. Damn, that was good too. Everything was just amazing suddenly.

“Have you ever been here before?” I asked.

Ella raised her eyebrows. I knew how it sounded, but I still wanted to know.

“No. I mean, it’s near where I work but I never stopped in. I wanted to but…” She shrugged. “Have you?”

I nodded. “All the time. Coffee is lifeblood.”

“You said work around here?” Even more wild that I hadn’t seen her until now.

“At the university,” she said quietly.

“That’s awesome,” I said. “Are you a professor? Grad student? I hear there is a real tightwad in the linguistics department right now.”

She shook her head. “I work in the library. Sort of.”

“Sort of?

“I’m just a library assistant.”

I cocked my head. “I have no idea what that means.”

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