Page 23 of Beautiful Beginning

“So, what do you think?” Her hand rested on my shoulder.

“I’ll have…” I said before the man in front of me finished paying. “Two iced mochas.”

The guy taking my order smirked when he looked up from the register. “One of those for Journey?”

I nodded but could feel ol’ girl a little too close behind me. “Sure is.” I said, “I’m taking it to her.”

“Ah, and you ended up winning SGA president.” His words echoed as the girl behind me still had her hand on my damn shoulder.

I pulled my wallet from my pocket but couldn’t slide the card from the slot.

“Congrats on that win, man.”

“Thanks, did you vote for me?” I was that guy. The one always talking about the election. I didn’t want to be that guy. But I also wanted to avoid any conversation with the chick behind me.

He shook his head and had a blank stare on his face when he said, “I missed the voting window because I wasn’t on campus.”

As I tugged on my card, I said, “That’s one thing I hope to change. Voting windows for students should vary more. Especially for those who don’t stay on campus. You know there’s a similar problem in regional, state, and national elections too. Voters get overlooked because of their inability to get to the polls.” The card flung from my wallet, and I handed it to him.

He laughed and said, “You already won, man. But sounds like a good plan. I could imagine there are people who would benefit from us not being able to vote.”

I reached for my card and said, “Exactly.”

The girl behind me cleared her throat, and I stepped aside to wait for my drink. Hoping like hell they could pour those coffees with super speed.

The wide glass windows, wooden tables, and matching chairs gave the space a nice natural feel. One I wouldn’t have noticed had I not been trying to focus on anything besides the woman now standing beside me.

“You up for a lesson?” Her voice was soft.

“Lesson?” I narrowed my eyes. “I think I’m good. But thanks for the offer.”Did I say that?I cringed as I heard my name shouted. “Thank God,” I mumbled, grabbing the cups and making my way outside.

Journey wasn’t at her usual bench across the courtyard. My head swung around searching for her until I saw her headed my direction.

A wide smile on her face as she neared. “It’s such a beautiful day today, isn’t it?” There was a glow on her face. I would like to think I knew how it got there but I didn’t want to be too confident in my abilities.

“As beautiful as you are.” I handed her the cup. Carefully making sure it was secure in her hands before I said, “You seem to be in an extra good mood today. Wonder what that’s all about.” I leaned down into her ear and asked, “Would it happen to have anything to do with the celebration last night?”

She giggled, then stood back. “It’s possible.”

I led us to a nearby bench and said, “You’re a numbers person. Statistics are all numbers. So how do we get that possible to an absolute?”

We sat side-by-side, and her grin didn’t fade. If it wasn’t for the other meeting I had that day, I would have taken her back to my apartment to give her a few more data points.

“Hmm… we can run a few statistical analyses to determine the outcome.” Her lip tugged between her teeth.

“If only I didn’t have this meeting coming up, I’d say we could get started on thatnow.” I rested my hand on her thigh.

“What meeting?” Her leg bounced.

I had to look away from her thighs to answer. “One for SGA. Getting me up to speed.” Then I remembered the guy in the coffee shop. “I’m thinking I need to discuss the plan to get students to the polls. Since I’ve been here there hasn’t been a huge initiative to do that.”

Journey sipped her mocha and nodded. “Good idea. Will you tell them about it in the meeting?”

“I think so.” I wasn’t sure how receptive everyone else was to listen to my ideas. Voting for me was one thing, applying my plans was something different.

Journey twisted her body to face mine. “You know what else is important?”

Licking her from the base of her foot to the crux between her legs.“No, what?”

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