Page 2 of Barefoot Chaos
My recent dates had been limp lettuce compared to this brightly colored smorgasbord before me.
The one directly in front of me was a few inches taller than my five foot eight and he was beautifully dark complected. His thick, black hair was cut short in the back, but long on top, making my fingers itch to run through it and mess it up.
It was as I was staring at his hair, that I heard a female voice break through my thoughts with a loud "Ma'am?" Before I could collect my gaze and reroute it appropriately, all five men swiveled their handsome heads in my direction. My cheeks heated as my eyes darted to the shop owner who had a smile on her face, but was obviously waiting for me to respond to a question I never heard.
When stuck between a rock and a hard place, my motto is 'tell the truth'. And so I did.
"I'm sorry, I didn't catch what you said. I was too busy staring. Would you repeat the question?" I willed myself not to look over at the lifeguards. This was humiliating enough, I didn't need to also see pity or amusement on their striking faces. I heard a few chuckles but maybe that was only because my face was taking on a shade of tomato that didn't look healthy.
The woman laughed and shooed the men away from the counter. When they'd stepped aside, taking all available air with them, she winked at me and spoke quietly. "I know what you mean. I just got engaged to one of them and I'm still pinching myself. I'm Esa, by the way. What's your name, girl?"
"It's Hessa. Lovely to meet you. And my sincere congratulations on the engagement."
"Thanks! I know I've seen you here before, so just a heads-up, these boys come here Wednesday nights like clockwork if you'd like to come on by and stake out a table." She winked at me and then continued on as if the whole humiliating scene didn't faze her. "So, what'll it be today, Hessa?"
"Ah...well, I seem to have developed a craving for dark chocolate, so how about your salted dark chocolate with whip, please?" My face was finally cooling down, so I did the side-eye thing and ascertained where the group of men had moved off to. I'd be headed in the opposite direction.
"Excellent choice. That'll be $3.24." Esa gave me my total but before I could get exact change out of my wallet, a hand reached across me and handed a credit card to her. I followed the arm up to a white polo shirt and then up into the most startling greenish-brownish eyes of the lifeguard who'd been in front of me just a few moments ago.
"I didn't think eyes came in that color." Ah, bullocks, I actually said that out loud.
He shrugged off my awkward comment like the crazy lady I was. "Thought we'd pay you back for making you wait so long to place your order. Sorry about that."
I nodded, but didn't speak, having lost the ability when I heard his melodic voice, which was a blessing for us both. I couldn't place the accent, but I wanted him to keep talking so I could bask in its tones.
His friends hollered their goodbyes to Esa and my new obsession returned my nod and then headed out the door with them.
I followed his exit till I couldn't see him any longer and still I stared out the door. Esa interrupted my befuddlement with my steaming cup of dark chocolate decadence. "Wednesday night. Be here..." She gave me a secret smile and turned away to help the next customer.
I rushed out the door, suddenly eager to get back home and break out my song book. That face, that voice, needed to be written about before it faded from my memory. I wrote songs in my spare time, enamored with the creation process. I played the guitar and piano just well enough to piece together the melodies, but my real love was for the lyrics. It was a closely guarded dream of mine to get one of my songs sold and on the radio. I supposed I'd have to send my songs in somewhere in order to sell one, but I figured one day I'd get bold enough, or drunk enough, to actually do it.
The hot chocolate was as good as I remembered it, and it fed my craving, but it also left me wanting more. I was afraid this craving couldn't be bought, nor would it be satisfied by the new song that poured out of me about a gorgeous lifeguard with the mesmerizing eyes.
I had a new visualization of my future when I laid down in my bed that night.
"Okay, listen up class. I've looked through the first batch of proposals and I can tell you that ninety percent of them will be handed back telling you to re-interview your subject. And this time, do it right. This is to graduate, people. Put some actual work into, please?" The bell rang, interrupting my tirade. Just as well. I'm not sure if the students' work ethic gets worse every year or if it was my patience level declining.
Kids rushed to stuff papers in their backpacks and get to their next class before the second bell rang. A new group of kids piled through the door, intent on getting the seats in the last row before they were all claimed. The occasional few eager beavers took the front row seats, all the closer to kiss my ass. I know, that's crass, I really should hold them in higher regard. At least they listened to my lectures and didn't break out their cell phones underneath their desks thinking I couldn't see them.
As they settled in, my eyes snagged on one boy's shirt in the second row. It was lifeguard red with the Jr. Lifeguard emblem on the left breast pocket. My curiosity peaked, I approached him and spoke low so the whole class wouldn't hear.
"Did you do Jr. Lifeguards this year, James?"
"Uh, yeah, I did. I do it every summer." James looked a little nervous, probably wondering where I was going with this line of questioning. I was wondering too.
"Who are your favorite lifeguards?" Maybe if I picked up a few names, I could narrow down who the lifeguards were in Chocolate Dreams the other day.
"Well, we have a quite a few, but my favorites are Kai and Jax." He perked up talking about these guys and I could see the genuine affection.
"You know, we typically have a lot of dares every year that involve the ocean. Do you think Kai or Jax would be interested in working with us?" I was fabricating this line of questioning, but I figured poor James wouldn't question me. Besides, I couldn't seem to stop myself.
"Oh. Yeah, I'm sure they would! They're good guys. You'd have to go through the head guy at the Headquarters building first probably."
"Thanks for the advice. Will do." I meandered back to my desk, wondering if I had the lady balls to take this intel and do something with it. I was guessing no.
"All right, class! Let's talk about Tautology." I addressed the class from the front of the room.
The groans ensued.
