She was sitting by the window in a small coffee house, stirring her coffee, black and strong, just like her thoughts were. She wished they would be just as shallow as this small cup of espresso, and not so dangerously deep and consuming. Her book remained closed and was looking at her from the table with some rebuke.
He has been watching her for a while, taken in by her soft charm and curious what was it, exactly, that caught his attention. She was not some extraordinary beauty, but maybe it was the amber shining in her hair, when the sun was touching it... or the way her hand was laying on that book, her fingers drawing something unconsciously on the cover... or her capturing eyes, deemed with something that was on her mind... And, of course, her curves. Come on, he was still a man, after all.
She finally took her eyes off the cup and looked at the table. Smiled sadly to her book, ran the fingers along the cover and thought: "Sorry, Paris, not today". She loved to wander along the streets of that city with Ernest, walking by his side, seeing it with his eyes, smelling with his nose, feeling with his hands, lips, tongue... every line, every page making her sense, making her feel. It usually helped to travel so far away from all the troubles that she could barely find the way back. But today was not the day, obviously. She sighed and took the first sip of her coffee, looking out the window, then her eyes travelled slowly around the room.
He could not believe a simple act of drinking can be so sexual. Her fingers wrapping the cup firmly. Her lips embracing the white edge, slowly diving into a hot depth. Her eyes closing with this bitter pleasure. The tip of her tongue licking the drops left on her lips... He swallowed and tried to calm down, but his imagination was already giving him mental pictures of those lips touching his instead of that cup. He suddenly felt the overwhelming itch to draw. Had not felt it in more than a year... His hand reached for his backpack, but stopped halfway, as her eyes finally met his.
She was trapped. Her soul captured by this dark abyss of his eyes. Their depth seemed endless and somehow, she felt that his gaze burnt a sign on her heart. She did not remember anyone to look at her like that, with a hidden fire. These flames were dancing deep inside, almost invisible, and only the play of shadows on the background of those eyes was the hint of their presence. And stories. Oh, there were so many stories those eyes could tell the one who could read. And God knows, she could. She has been a reader her whole life.