Kelly Burch sat the cup of coffee down in front of the handsome young man and tried not to linger too long. The guy was so ridiculously good looking that she was having trouble focusing on not spilling the scalding hot coffee all over him. She had become overly aware of every single movement she was making. It really felt like she was on display and one wrong move was going to publicly shame her for life so that she would never be allowed to show her face in public ever again. Not that she was being overly dramatic about the whole thing, but she had always had an impending sense of doom whenever she was around a hot guy. The nerves kicked into overload and the only thing that ever seemed to cure this was a few cups of Bailey’s on the rocks. Yes sir, after a few cups of sweet Bailey’s she was ready to perform the dance scene from “Flash dance” at the drop of a hat.

Although, she wasn’t sure why she was nervous. It wasn’t like a guy like that would ever be interested in her. Bigger girls did not get noticed by sexy, athletic looking guys. He had barely looked up at her the entire time she had been waiting on him. He was probably just hoping that she wouldn’t open her mouth to try to make enticing conversation. The man seemed intensely focused on his phone. She had wanted to be nosy without making it obvious and she had glanced at his screen. He was reading news from the UFC website. The guy liked fighting. Well, she knew nothing about cage fighting. She had watched it a few times in passing on late night television, but other than the fact that they were hot, sweaty guys she didn’t really stomach the violence all that well. She just couldn’t see what was so entertaining about two guys beating the hell out of each other. Kelly had always been a bit passive and she couldn’t tolerate the sight of blood. One small glance at blood and she felt shaky.

This was the third day in a row that he had come into the diner for breakfast and he had ordered the same thing each time. By now she knew his diet by heart. Especially since he had also come in for lunch and dinner the past two days as well and he ordered the same thing for those meals, respectively.

Breakfast was six eggs, over medium, four slices of wheat toast, a bowl of oatmeal with fruit, and an order of home fries. Lunch was six ounces of chicken breast, a baked potato with butter and sour cream, and an order of asparagus. Dinner was the same thing except he would order sirloin steak instead of chicken. Seemed like a pretty bland diet to her, but again maybe that was why she constantly struggled with her weight. She just didn’t have the discipline to stick to anything that restrictive long term.

The man was always dressed the same; he wore a grey muscle shirt, over a pair of sweatpants. He also wore a grey hoody he draped over the chair, thankfully, so Kelly was able to marvel at his exceptional muscle tone. Every time he moved his arm she saw the bulge in his bicep, flexing with implied strength and fitness. She wanted to touch it and squeeze it. And she wanted it to lead to touching and squeezing other things.

Kelly walked back to her station behind the counter and waited for the next order to come up, which looked to be about finished. She let out a big sigh and tried not to make her repeated glances to the man at the table too obvious, but the man was gorgeous. She just could not help herself.

She had fantasized about him ever since she laid eyes on him. Fantasy was about the only thing she had going on nowadays. She had been told she was attractive and she knew she was, but the fact remained that chubby girls were just not hit on that often by guys. She admired the other girls in her friend circle because they were all sexy and shapely. She was the fat friend; the odd one out and she was plain tired of it.

Kelly had tried every diet and she’d had success, but the weight always came back on eventually. It was like a constant tug of war with her own body and she was sick of the whole thing. She had pretty much given up and decided that she didn’t care anymore. But a part of her did care. Every time she saw a man like this that she would die to go out with she felt immensely ashamed of herself, which ironically made her want to eat more.

“So, has the stud asked you out yet?”

Kelly laughed and smiled at her best friend Amy Callahan. She and Amy had become fast friends after Kelly started working at Gus’s café about six months ago. Kelly admired the way Amy was so confident and comfortable in her own skin. Of course, Amy was beautiful and slim. She could have any guy she wanted, but for some reason she stuck with Rich Benson, whom she had dated for the past three months. Rich was a total jerk. Why Amy put up with his garbage was a mystery to Kelly.

“Very funny,” Kelly said.

“Why not just talk to him. Turn on the charm, girl. Some guys need to be pushed to see what’s in front of them,” Amy said.

“I can’t do that. I try, but the words just won’t come out of my mouth.”

“You are over thinking it. There is no rocket science to this; it’s just conversation.”

Kelly grabbed her order off the rack and took it out to her other table. She sat the food down, checked to make sure it was all ok, and left the check. Grabbing the coffee off the counter, she made her way back to the stranger’s table to refresh his cup.

“Go get him, girl,” she heard Amy saying behind her.

Kelly took a deep breath and made sure to carefully plant one foot in front of the other as she slowly made her way to his table. She knew that Amy was right. Even though she was a bigger girl and it definitely made her dating life more difficult, she knew that she put herself down too much. She needed to work on her confidence and at least put herself out there more.

She carefully poured the coffee into his cup, refilling it to the brim. She wanted to say something—anything—but nothing came to mind and no words tumbled out of her mouth.

“You go to Arizona State?”

The man spoke to her. He had actually spoken real words to her. She had stopped mid step and she became aware of how awkward looking her body position was. She slowly and in a very nonchalant manner turned around to look at him. Her brain scrambled for something intelligent to say.

“Excuse me?” That was all she managed.

“You have an Arizona State sweatshirt,” the man said. His voice was deep and hard sounding, but exited his lips in a quiet rasp.

Kelly’s mind went blank. She glanced at her outfit and confirmed what she had thought; she was not wearing her Arizona State sweatshirt right then. She was feeling a bit lost and confused at the moment.

“I’m sorry. I saw you leaving work the other night and you were wearing that sweatshirt.”

A lightbulb went off in Kelly’s head.

“Oh, yea. I do go to Arizona State.”

“They have a great wrestling team. We won all conference when I was there.”

“Oh, wow. That’s great. I don’t know much about wrestling…” Kelly began, wishing she had watched a lot more wrestling.

“I’m Aaron by the way,” the man said. He extended his hand and she reciprocated, feeling his hardened, strong hand gripping hers. It felt like someone had flicked a light switch as a current of attraction and lust loomed throughout her body in one solitary instantaneous flash.

“I’m Kelly,” she said. She felt a bit embarrassed telling him her name since it was clearly marked on her name tag. Was that stupid? Or was she just being polite? She was drowning out here and she needed a life boat. She glanced around nervously, and spotted Amy out of the corner of her eye cheering her on with a thumbs up and a slight little dance.

“It’s nice to meet you Kelly. I figured I should introduce myself since we are going to be seeing a lot of each other.”

“What?”

“Well, I’m in training, so I’m on a pretty specific diet, in case you haven’t noticed. I don’t cook, and I really love the food here. So we will be seeing each other a bit, I suspect.”

“Oh, ok. I did notice you’ve been here every day the past few days. What are you in training for?” Kelly asked about to wet her pants. She was actually engaging him in conversation. Maybe some of Amy’s incessant nagging had started to wear off on her.

“I’m an MMA fighter. Are you familiar with Mixed Martial Arts at all?” Aaron asked. He took a sip of his hot coffee and gulped it satisfyingly. Kelly found herself too focused on his lips.

“I’m not really, just what I’ve glimpsed on TV. It’s all a bit violent for me.”

“It looks that way—I mean it is fighting, after all—but it’s really just like a human Chess game. It is the rawest form of competition. There is no team or anyone helping you. It’s just you and the other guy in the cage. It’s a rush you just can’t imagine.”

“Wow, I’ve never thought of it that way. That’s beautifully put.”

“Thanks. Well, I’ll let you get back to work, but I’d love to talk more. What time do you get off tonight?”

Kelly was suddenly aware of how dry her mouth was. She fought the impulse to lick her lips compulsively as she tried to think of the right answer. She wasn’t aware of how she had just ended up in this position. Was he asking her out? Was he asking her out on a real date? Maybe he just wanted to talk, as friends? She didn’t know and right then she didn’t care. She just wanted to grab him and kiss him all over. Maybe if the date went well enough she would be able to do just that. She realized how insane that sounded, but she was just so overjoyed right now she found herself almost tipping over the coffee pot she was holding. She grabbed it with both hands to steady it and prayed he didn’t notice.

“I get off at nine,” Kelly said, her voice cracking on the last word. God, I suck so bad!

“Great. Would you like to hang out? It’s going to be a nice night. I thought we could have a few drinks and take a walk in the park if you’re up to it.”

“Yes. That would be awesome.”

“Cool. I’ll pick you up here at nine.”

“Sounds great,” Kelly said as she hurriedly walked back to her station. She wanted to grab Amy and scream at the top of her lungs, but somehow she restrained herself.

Amy and she shared a mental link of what happened and they both squealed slightly above a whisper in perfect sync. It was a marvel of how close they had become.

She knew the next few hours were going to drag on. Nine o’clock could not get here fast enough.