He stood outside the Krispy Kreme, looking in, pale and slender. I'd say, pale, slender and beautiful, but when I first saw him, his face was pressed up against the glass of the storefront and I was approaching from the parking lot.
An uncomfortable stirring began in my stomach, not for the coffee and doughnuts for sale in side, but for the touch of the young man standing between me and the doorway. I walked around him and entered. Mid-afternoon, mid-week, Krispy Kreme's devoted followers were at work, at school or at play. The lobby stood empty.
As I approached the counter, the friendly old black woman called out, "welcome to Krispy Kreme, darlin', can I take your order?"
"Well, thanks so much," I retorted, "I'm nearly falling asleep on my feet, so I'd love a large coffee, black." Then, after pausing for a mere moment, "and two regular glazed doughnuts."
"Give me a minute and I'll have a fresh brewed pot of coffee for you, sweetheart," the attendant replied.
I stood, actually, I leaned against the glass counter and waited.
In just a couple minutes, the friendly cashier was approaching with my large coffee and a small bag containing my two doughnuts. I noticed she glanced over to the window. Reminded by her glance that a cute angel had distracted me as I approached the store, I took the opportunity to turn and see if I could get a peek at his face.
OH.
MY.
GOD.
Peering still through the window, and apparently oblivious to the examination he was getting from customer and cashier, he really was BEAUTIFUL.
I turned back to the cashier. She said, "He's been looking in the window for 20 minutes, I think he's waiting for the fresh ones."
He's the fresh one, I thought to myself.
"I wonder if he just doesn't have the money for a snack," I suggested to her. With that, I pulled a five dollar bill from my wallet and asked her if she would give him whatever doughnuts or drinks he might want, and wave for him to come into the store after I walked out.
"That's so thoughtful of you," she beamed back at me, "I'll take good care of him."
Thanking her for her part in my little kindness conspiracy, I walked out and went to a picnic table in front of the Krispy Kreme.
Just after I sat down, I noticed that the young man pulled away from the store front window and walked into the doughnut shop. After watching him enter the store, I went back to my coffee and checked emails on my phone.
Distracted, I didn't realize that the handsome young man had left the store and was walking toward me until I heard him saying, "Hey man, thanks a lot for that!"
He was standing on the other side of the concrete picnic table, a cold drink and a Krispy Kreme bag in hand. "Mind if I sit down?" he asked.
My stomach was now in serious churn. You have to understand, this guy was intensely beautiful, and captivating, and now he was asking to sit with me. "Not at all," I croaked a reply.
"I'm Sam," he introduced himself, offering a hand to shake mine.
"Kyle," I replied, "nice to meet you!"
"Well, I hope you don't think I was, like, begging or something," he continued, "I've loved Krispy Kremes forever, and I just didn't have my wallet with me."
From the looks of him, there was no evidence on his frame of a serious doughnut addiction, he was very fine, and very slender, and very, well, fine.
"Nah, man, truth is, the cashier said you were probably waiting for the fresh doughnut run, so I just wanted to pay forward a kindness someone had done for me," I explained.
"Thanks, Kyle, I appreciate it."
"So Sam, is that short for Samuel, or, maybe Samson?"
He chortled a bit.
"Well, let's see," he added with a bit of a snide tone, "do I even look like I could be a Sampson?"
"Honestly?"
I set my coffee cup down and openly accepted what he may not have realized he had just offered me: an opportunity to openly examine his appearance.
"I think it's at least possible that you have the build of a young Samson, still lithe, but maybe sinewy muscles beginning to grow. Of course, I really haven't seen enough of you to know." I paused. "If I were going to pick a name for you, I suppose I would have chosen 'Addy.'"
"Addy?" he replied. "What the fuck kind of name is Addy?"
"It's a nickname," I answered him, "it's short for Adonis."
He blushed brightly. He knew, obviously, either mythology, or art, or when a guy was coming on to him.
"Do you really think I'm an Adonis?"
"Sam, you have no idea, do you, just how very handsome you are?"
"Kyle," he chuckled, "you must need glasses."
"Actually, I do," I explained, "but only for driving. When I am up close to a young god like you, there's no eye problem that keeps me from seeing just how handsome he is, or you are."
He blushed again.
"It's sweet of you to say that," he nearly whispered.