Page 24 of SEAL Mates

Derek

I had been thinking about my interview. I dunno but seeing Blake excited about his made me think that maybe I should be seeing Paula too.

My pain.

My life.

Blake told me that there was no need to make an appointment, that I should just show up, but the guy wasn’t the most subtle and as great as we got on together, I knew one thing for sure he was far from a gentleman not like Alec. Which was why although they were twins, they were fraternal twins and acted completely different as well as looked different.

Whenever they told anyone, they would be like…Are you guys sure?

Alec was the tall, hazel eye guy that most women flocked to especially in his uniform which he loved to wear on and off duty whereas Blake was a mechanic and never seemed to stop smelling or looking like he was rolled up in grease all day. It was crazy cause I couldn’t stand the smell of it, at all.

I arrived at the coffee shop, StarFranks, his idea of a joke. It was quite funny, he did everything exactly the same as Starbucks and everyone loved it. Frank even claimed it was better than the original, I must admit I did agree with him. Everything was home-made apart from the coffee, which he said in time he would even think about growing his own beans.

It was silly, because I didn’t know how to dress for the occasion, I had to dress for my role on set, but a part from that and the Navy nothing else.

“Sorry, I’m late,”Paula said as she bumped into the back of me.

How did she know what I looked like?

She seemed flustered as her eyes darted across the busy coffee shop in a black fur coat and matching boots. She stuck out like a sore thumb. It was clear that she wasn’t from around here. She had a matching hat too.

“No worries. What’s your poison?”

She shook her head, “No. I’ll get them. We just need somewhere to sit. I should have organized myself better and got here before you and made sure that there was space.”

I smiled. “It’s fine. I spoke to Frank and he saved us a spot at the back. Now, what are you drinking?”

She stared at me for a second, so I broke the silence as we stood near the entrance and we were clearly blocking people coming and out of the shop.

“I’ve worked with loads of writers in Hollywood. I know what you think. Seriously, its’ not big deal.”

It may have sounded arrogant, but that was never my intention.

“I’ll have a cappuccino and a chocolate muffin, if that’s alright?”

“Perfect. I’m surrounded by women who never eat. So, if you like, I’ll get you two?”

I winked at her, but didn’t give her a chance to answer as I pointed to the point where Frank was waving for her to sit. He called it his VIP suite. All the chairs in the corner were from Bernadette Livingston Furniture. I’d never heard of them, and one time out of curiosity I looked up the price of the leather chair and realized why he always put them down as reserved and why I’d never heard of them.

Each chair cost on average six mil, I would never spend that much on a sofa let alone a chair.

“Hey Derek. Frank said I should bring your order over. That it was in the house.”

I smiled as Bridget, Frank’s wife smiled, ate, and told me about my VIP service today.

She was pretty, a former model and even at sixty five she still kept in shape by only baking the muffins and not eating them.

“That’s too generous.”

She waved her hand to dismiss what I said, and her blue eyes shone as she took my order. Once I gave it to her, a wave of butterflies started to occur in my stomach. I didn’t realize how nervous I was about today until now.

As I reached the corner, away from the crowd, there were two columns which stopped everyone seeing what occurred in the corner. Paula had set up her notebook and had a pen in her hand. Her phone was to the side of the notebook. She had hung up her hat, coat and even taken off her boots. It was as if she was at home.

“I could get used to doing all the interviews here. It’s really cozy.”

Seeing her so relaxed and talking to me as if I was an old friend set me at ease.

---