Rachel
So many things, Rachel thought, as she waited for Brad to bring their coffee to the table. There were so many things that were bizarre about the morning so far. First, she’d woken up late, almost not making it in time for class. Then of course the whole horrible incident of her knocking everything over. And then there was Brad in her class, of all places, looking hot as hell. Ready for yoga, he had been wearing a pair of black knee length fitted shorts and a black ribbed shirt. In so little clothes, it was easy to see that he was a very fit man, with small but well shaped muscles that were sure to make any woman swoon. Especially the blonde haired lady who had given her the death stare.
What was worse…or was it better? Was that not only did Brad turn her down, but then asked her to go get coffee with him right in front of the scorned woman. It was as they were walking away from the huffing blonde that Rachel had realized that it hadn’t even dawned on Brad that it was a pickup gone wrong. Now she was with him, in a cute little coffee shop filled with books and antique coffee machines. They’d picked the table by the window, which was actually more like a reading nook with all kinds of large, fluffy pillows scattered around, and the rain had commenced once again.
“Here you go,” Brad said, coming back with two large steaming cups of black coffee.
“Thanks,” she said, using the cup to warm her hands. As he passed the mug to her their fingers brushed against another, making her jump.
They sat in comfortable silence for a moment as they blew on the surface of their coffees before taking the first tentative sip.
“So,” Brad said, breaking the silence. “What made you decide to do yoga?”
Rachel laughed, and hugged the warm mug closer to her chest. “You, actually,” she admitted.
Brad looked surprised. “You knew I did yoga?” He asked.
Rachel shook her head no. “Didn’t have a clue. But I figured that now that I had a new chance at work that I should try to a little um…a little calmer. I thought yoga might help with that.”
Brad nodded his head in agreement, and for the first time she noticed how well defined his jaw line was. Had he always had such a cute Adam’s apple?
“It really does,” he told her. “Keeps the stress way down. You’ll like the studio too. Everyone there is really nice.”
Rachel let out a bark of a laugh, and rolled her eyes. “To you maybe.”
“What do you mean?” Brad asked, his eyebrow doing that sexy arch thing again.
“I mean that soccer mom that nearly body checked me. She’s got a thing for you.”
“Summer? No. She’s married,” Brad said simply, taking a sip of his coffee. “Talks about him all the time.”
Rachel felt a softness for him start to grow in her heart. Was he really that unaware of such blatant flirting? Oh well. If he was, she wasn’t going to ruin it for him.
“I bet she does,” was all she said before taking another sip of her coffee. She switched the subject to yoga poses, and the two fell easily into conversation. Eventually they refilled their cups of coffee, and then went on to split a scrumptious looking bear claw that could have easily fed four people. She was enjoying herself so much that she had completely forgot to keep track of the time. It wasn’t until she glanced out the window and saw that it was still raining. With the gloomy skies there was no sun to watch or tell of any kind of the passing hours. Pulling out her phone, she saw that she had been sitting there with Brad for nearly three hours!
“Crap,” she murmured, checking the nine waiting text messages, all from the Bellas.
“What’s wrong?” Brad asked. He too must have stopped keeping track of time.
“The girls. Indoor veg fest and movie day. I was supposed to go to yoga, pick up the DVD’s and food, and be back like two hours ago.” She got up and grabbed her small gym bag. She looked out the window again for any signs of a cab, but couldn’t see any. For once, the streets of New York looked like a ghost town. “I have to go. Do you have a number of a cab company?”
“No,” he said, picking up his bag. “But I can drive you.”
Rachel laughed, thinking he was only trying to be nice. “That’s okay. I have like three stops to make before even getting home. I’ll see if the barista has a list.”
Brad reached out, touching her shoulder again. It was a becoming a habit she liked, she realized. “I don’t mind at all,” he said. “Where’s the first stop?”
~
Bella pulled the cork out of the bottle of two dollar red wine with a satisfactory pop. Yes it was only three o’ clock, but it was rainy, it was Saturday, and Rachel was late. She called out to Isabella to see if she wanted some and proceeded to pour two glasses. When she walked into living room she saw a puzzling image of Isabella, with her head out of the window and her bum up high in the air.
“What are you doing?” She asked.
Isabella jumped backwards and squeaked, narrowly missing hitting her head on the windowsill. She plopped back down onto the recliner, pulling her long, heavy sweater over her red and white Christmas themed leggings. An odd choice for April, but that was Isabella for you.
“Rachel’s down there!” Isabella whispered.
“Finally!” Bella sighed. “I’m starving. Why are you whispering?”
“Because she’s down there with Brad!”
“What?” Bella asked, moving towards the window and poked her head out into the rainy street. Sure enough, there was Rachel and Brad, standing together under an umbrella. They looked like they were arguing who was going to take all of the bags upstairs, and there were plenty.
“Hey!” Bella shouted down, giving herself away. “I don’t care who carries the bags up, just get them here! I’m hungry!”
The two looked up at her suddenly, and she gave them a sugary sweet smile. They shared a glance at one another before shrugging their shoulders, and they both moved towards the entrance of the building.
“Hey Brad,” Bella said coolly as he and Rachel walked into their apartment a few minutes later.
Brad sat the bags down on the coffee table, and looked back up to smile at the Bella’s. “Hello ladies. How’s it going?”
“Not bad. Ran into Rachel here at yoga and we got held up. Sorry she’s late. It’s my fault.” Brad said, defending Rachel.
“Thanks for helping me,” Rachel said suddenly, putting on a smile. Her eyes silently begged him to leave, and she winked at him when he picked up her hint.
“Not a problem,” he replied. “I’ll see you all on Monday.”
Bella tried to get him to stay, but to Rachel’s relief he made excuses to leave. She was thankful that he could read her signals and not got offended. It wasn’t that she didn’t want him to stay. In fact, hanging out with him had been a lot of fun. She just didn’t want to have to do it around the Bella’s, who were sure to make the situation as awkward as possible.