The Return of Coffee Bean Guy
So I finally dragged my butt out of bed early enough to grab Coffee Bean before I went to work this morning. My radio alarm went off to NPR as usual, except today, it came on with Dubya in mid-sentence saying, “–Iraqis. Pull out…and withdraw.” I started cracking up. First of all…aren’t pull out and withdraw kind of the same concept? And second of all, well…you can probably figure out the second of all.
As I parked my car, I noticed Coffee Bean Guy’s car in the lot and got kind of excited. I mean, I haven’t seen this guy in months ever since I finally got my own parking spot in our office building and didn’t have to park in CB’s lot across the street. I did get stopped at a light in front of the place last month and he saw me, smiled and waved.
So I walk in and he’s talking to someone but he does a double take when he sees me. As is our relationship, I got too shy to make eye contact so I hurried to the counter and ordered my cappuccino. I went straight to the coffee accessories area and intently grabbed napkins, Splenda, etc. so he walks up and throws away a napkin, trying to get my attention. I’m too shy to look up so he says really loudly, “BYE JOHNNY” to this guy across the room. I can feel him trying to get my attention so finally I glance over and smile but quickly look away. I look back and see him leaving. He pauses at the door and looks at me and we both quickly look away.
What is it about this interaction that makes me so damn giddy? Okay, I know he works at the drug rehab house across the street. Possibly is a former resident there? I don’t know. Smokes and drinks coffee like a fiend so that’s usually the sign that he’s replacing some sort of addiction. He’s probably 10-12 years older than me, and acts a bit bizarre in that he’s always trying to get my attention and say hi, but he’s crazy awkward about it and he never actually comes up and has a conversation with me. I do have to admit though, that he’s a damn good dresser, and it’s kind of sexy. He was wearing a blue button-down today that’s probably my favorite shirt of his, because it brings out his eyes. Anyway, so I was disappointed that yet again, he tried to get my attention but didn’t cowboy up and just talk to me.
My order finally came up and I walked out, in time to meet him on the sidewalk as he was heading back into the building. I smile and say, “Hi!” He smiles and says, “Hi” but then mumbles “How are you” into the ground in front of him. But I’ve already walked past him at this point and am not stopping.
Maybe this sounds egotistical but personally, I don’t think he really needed to go back to the Coffee Bean. Because he had said goodbye to people already, yet was headed back in. But after running into me outside, he turned around and walked back to his car instead of going inside. And we’ve played this game before.
What is it about the mysterious, slightly dangerous men that even smart women fall for?