Wow! Thank you for all the great votes and all the views on my first attempt at a story! Holy-Moly, I feel like a writer...
Chapter 2
Natalie sat down at the kitchen table with her dinner. Dressed in an old pair of sweat pants and a tank top, she pushed her food around her plate. "I'm never this picky," she told Jingles. Jingles meowed obnoxiously and licked his lips. "Oh alright, you can have it. It's not like I was going to eat it anyways." Rolling her eyes, Natalie put the plate of chicken pie on the kitchen floor so Jingles could attack it. "You must be the only cat on earth who loves pie," she sighed as the cat jumped from the chair and started eating the pie, whipping his tail contentedly.
"I should probably give Nadine call. What do you think Jingles?" She asked the cat sarcastically. The cat looked up from the pie, giving Natalie a meaningful glare before getting back to his dinner. "Oh alright I promise I'll tell her about the Starbucks guy. Are you happy now?" Natalie raised an eyebrow in Jingles' direction. The cat didn't look up from the meal but started to purr quite loudly.
Natalie picked up the phone and dialed her sister's number. Once she started hearing the monotone ringing coming from the other end, she let herself drift away. When her sister picked up the phone after the sixth ring, she was quite startled, and flushed. She was thinking about that guy almost constantly now.
"Hello?" Nadine asked curtly. It was a little late for anybody to be calling, and she was in the middle of brushing her teeth. Her golden brown hair hung loosely from an elastic down her back and she was wearing a men's tank top and pink pyjama bottoms. Her boyfriend Vic had one arm around her waist and was also brushing his teeth.
"Hey Nadine, I'm sorry for bothering you. It's Natalie. I know it's late over there." She said in a reluctant voice. Deep down Natalie did want to confide in her older sister, but on another level she wanted to keep the guy at the Starbucks to herself.
"I don't even know his name,"she thought.
"Hey Nat! How are you? I haven't heard anything from mum and dad so I was assuming that you were all settled in. I have missed you though. Hey I finally convinced Vic to move in with me! I'm sorry I didn't call you before, but I've been so busy lately. I'm going to be finished my bachelors in May. Can you believe it? We are going to have a doctor in the family!.."
Natalie heaved a sigh and listened to her sister's end of the conversation with sisterly affection. She always knew her sister loved to talk. It was why Natalie thought she was a born pediatrician. Working with sick kids demanded a cheerful outlook. She knew that the most burnt out doctors in their first year came from the pediatric branch.
After a few more minutes of listening to her sitter chatter, Natalie thought she should get to the point. "Hey sis listen, I was just calling to let you know how everything is here. My semester went well and my professor thinks I have a lot of talent. Besides that, I've been studying hard and one of the small local galleries might buy some of my work in the summer..."
"Natalie that's wonderful!" Her sister gushed. "I hope you've found someone to celebrate with," she continued suggestively. Nadine's mood was infectious, and soon she had her sister giggling until Natalie couldn't help herself and broke down. She told her all about her strange encounter with the guy at the Starbucks.
After all the catching up was over, Nadine had one question. "Are you going to go see him again?" She asked.
Natalie bit her lower lip. "I don't know. He was really handsome but what if he turns out to be a creep or a stalker or something even worse..."
Nadine cut her off, "Don't be silly. You obviously think he's hot and from the sound of it he likes you too. Besides, you said he was about your age right? Maybe he even goes to university with you. I mean, you said he was familiar looking."
"Ya, I guess you're right. I'll sleep on it. If I do go back I promise to call you about it okay?" She said with a small yawn.
"Of course. You need your sleep though. Rest up and I'll catch you later. Good night sis."
"Good night Nadine."
*****
Jacob stepped out of the shower in the tiny bathroom completely naked, soaking wet, and frustrated. He had forgotten that his towels were in the dryer on the main floor of the dorm. "No doubt they are festooning the walls of the lounge by now," He rolled his eyes as her took a hand towel from the counter and started drying his hair. "I just can't seem to focus on anything but that girl though." He sighed as he draped the towel beside the sink to dry. He looked at himself in the mirror. Longish brown hair curled at his ears and the nape of his neck. Pale skin reflected brightly in the fluorescent lighting of the bathroom. He looked into his own pale green eyes in the mirror, then took in the rest of his face. Angular cheek bones and jaw were a gift from his mother, along with the light dusting of freckles across the bridge of his nose. The nose itself was his father's though, straight and chiseled with a slightly rounded tip. He appraised rest of his body with distaste. Always thin and slightly gangly all through his teenage years, Jacob had never really fit any description. Now that he was twenty-two and had filled out a little, he was merely lean, and very tall. "I'm so... I'm so, ordinary," Jacob scrunched his nose at himself in the mirror. "She would never even be able to pick me out of a room," He thought glumly.
Turning to walk into his small bedroom, he noticed the hall clock reading one thirty A.M. "If only I didn't have to work again tomorrow." Jacob gave an exasperated sigh and turned off the light in his room. "Then maybe I could start looking for her." He thought as he felt his way to the bed. Half dry, Jacob sunk down onto the mattress and pulled the covers over his head. As he was drifting off to sleep, he heard a voice far away in the back of his head saying, "Maybe it won't be so bad. Maybe she will come in again tomorrow."
