The coffee shop was only a block and a half away, and it was a nice day so they decided to walk down there.

“So, have you been to this coffee shop before?”  she asked, she was desperately trying to find things to talk about. This had to be the hardest thing she had ever done, and she had gotten her master's degree and did the required theseus.

“Jims place? yeah  Dad used to send me down to the shop to pick him up a cup,”  his steps halted slightly for a split second before he laughed. “I used to go down there and he had these, these, I don't know they were like honey sticks,”  he smiled with nostalgia, “He used to slip me one everytime had me running to get dad his coffee every morning.”

She smiled at the thought of a small Dan running down these streets to retrieve a coffee and a honey stick.

“Jims’ good people.”  he nodded to himself. “So what did you want to talk about?”

“I uh- I ehheheh,” she let out a nervous laugh. Why was this so hard? “I just came to check on how you were doing, it had to be hard all the things you have been going through these past two months or so.”

“It was rough, but then I met Amani, made things better.”  he said, looking straight ahead with a soft smile on his lips.

“About that I was wondering what is- AHHH” She started before her sandals caught on a piece of the concrete that was slightly elevated above the others.  As she started to fall Dan reached out and placed an arm around her midriff preventing her from falling onto the concrete.

It was warm, here in his arms.

She blushed slightly as he helped her back onto her feet. “You gotta watch out for that one, we used to call that the bloodletting slab, many kids and unwary adults anointed it with there blood.”  He laughed.

Was that a hiss she just heard?

Dan opened the shop door for her and she went in.  it was dark in here, cool compared to the outside world.  “Dan!” an old man roared as he walked out from behind the counter of the bar and over to Dan.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Good to see you Jim,”  Dan said laughing as he gave the old man a hug.

“It's good to see you, I am glad you have that old shop up and running again, did they ever catch that asshole?”

“Unfortunately not, it would seem that whoever did this had some experience, they didn't find a trace of anything that could give them a clue.”

“Damn shame,”  Jim shook his head. “So, what brings you to the shop?” he asked, his eyes twinkled and he looked over at Sara with a slight smile.

Truth be told he already knew what was going on, seeing as Sara was just in here not thirty minutes ago, sampling the coffee as she waited for Dan’s store to open.  

And while she was in here she had chatted with the shopkeep.  During her conversation with Jim she had said she needed a place to go and talk to a boy she liked, but had yet to tell him.  Jim being the hopeless romantic he was just had to offer to have the two of them come here.

But he never would have guessed that the guy she was talking about was Dan.

“Well, I was hoping to get some coffee, apparently we have some things to discuss.” Dan said with a laugh.  But his nerves were on edge,  what was with this atmosphere, the only place he had felt an atmosphere like this one was on a date, but that can't be right, could it?

He was over thinking this wasn't he?

“Right this way, right this way.” Jim said and he led them into a small two person booth tucked back in the corner of the room. “So, I will start you out, with some Café au lait.”

“Wo,wo wo, I just want coffee, don't be bringing me this expensive stuff are you trying to bankrupt me old man?”  Dan laughed.

“It is on the house,” Jim said with a smile, “And I will start you with some Café au lait.”  he emphasized the word Café au lait.

No way, Dan now was sure, he was now 100% aware that she was trying to ask him out, this was Jim’s notorious or legendary, depending on who you asked, coffee date.

A trip around the world in coffee.

So he hadn't just been imagining it.

Jim brought out the first cup, it was a white cup of coffee with a golden milky texture to the drink found inside the small porcelain cups.  It had a rich aroma that spread through the air, but Dan was too busy thinking about how to let her down softly to really smell it.

“So, how are things going in the shop?” she asked as she softly sipped her cup.

“Good, good we just reopened.”  what was he supposed to do now? And also wasn't she his teacher? And older than him?

“I heard about that, terrible that someone would do something like that to a small shop like yours.”  Dan nodded, still lost deep in thought a he ran all the probable outcomes of this conversation through his head.

“And after your dad, that must have hit you hard.”  she said, even as his words just a few minutes ago echoed through her head.

It was rough, but then I met Amani, made things better.

She had to ask, she had to know, opening her mouth she felt like the words were trapped hi her throat, they needed to be out, they wanted to claw their way out. She had been holding them back for so long, all through his last year in college, she had known, but could never say.

There was always some issue, some reason or excuse that her mind came up with to stop her from saying them, but there was no going back now, she had to.

And so she said them.

“Dan, I love you.”