She went to Starbucks that morning. Why? She felt like it. Abeline was on a pretty tight budget - as were most young girls in their twenties living in New York. A budget that didn’t include Starbucks. She didn’t need $6 coffees keeping her from paying rent on her 200 square foot studio apartment. That morning, however, she need something - anything - to keep her from bursting into tears on the subway. Abeline had gone through many days in her life when she struggled to get out of bed, walk to the bathroom to brush her teeth, and get on with her day. Many days when her eyes were so puffy she had to soak metal spoons in ice water before placing them on her eyes so people couldn’t tell she had been crying for hours the previous night, not that anyone would ever ask.

Today wasn’t any different than one of those hundred. The only thing that could separate today from the next time was that she had allowed herself a $6 coffee. Actually - it wasn’t a coffee. It was a Strawberry Açaí Refresher. She knew it was cliche, but she couldn’t care less. It was her guilty pleasure. It reminded her of when she used to visit her mom working in New York as a little girl. So when the barista asked for her order she gave it to her: “Strawberry Açaí Refresher.”

She waited the usual ten minute wait after ordering - it was 7:15 on a Monday morning in the heart of New York City, after all. She looked at her phone, scrolled through social media for the first time that morning, and tried not to think about what was weighing her heart down so heavily.

“Abby?” the barista called. Without thinking twice, Abeline saw the refresher and got up to grab it.

As she was walking out a tall, handsome young man bumped into her. “I’m so sorry!” He said. Abeline was stunned. He was the most gorgeous thing she had ever seen in her entire life.

“It’s… it’s okay,” she managed to stutter as he held onto her arm to make sure she was okay.

His eyes glistened as he said, “Typical Monday morning in a NYC Starbucks, huh?” 

“Yeah,” Abeline blushed.

“I’ve never seen you here before.”

“It’s New York, of course you haven’t seen me here before,” Abeline laughed.

“I know, but I’m a Monday morning regular. I’ve seen lots of the people in here before… like her,” he pointed to an older woman in the corner reading a book, “she’s got a different book every week. And he’s always wearing the same suit.” Abeline turned her head to see a man typing away furiously on a computer. “But you… I know I’ve never seen you before. I would have remembered.”

“Michael?”

“That’s me,” the young man said. “Wait, before I go, can I have your number? It’s not every day you might meet the love of your life in a coffee shop.”

Abeline was stunned. She had never been more charmed. She typed her number into his phone when he handed it to her.

“I’ll call you… Abby?” He said as he read the name off of her Strawberry Açaí.

He walked away before Abeline could tell him that Abby wasn’t her real name. She like that though. It added to the mystery of where this spur-of-the-moment Monday morning Starbucks run would take her in life.

•  •  •

He called that night. Abeline felt like she had just barely made it through the day, when as she collapsed onto her pull-out couch, that also happened to be her bed, her phone rang. “Hello?”

“Hi… Abby? It’s Michael!”

“Oh! Hi!” Abeline immediately sat up, anxiously awaiting what this mysterious man would say next.

“How are you doing?”

Abeline obviously wasn’t going to answer that question honestly, not in their first real conversation. So instead, she said, “I’m pretty good, how about you?”

“I’m great!” he said.

She could practically hear his smile through the phone. She didn’t even know him, but she could already tell he was a walking ball of sunshine. She found herself wondering how he found the energy to be so upbeat and positive, and if she could ever be that way again.

“Listen, I was wondering if I could take you out on a date sometime. For something nicer than coffee maybe?”

Wow. He was straight forward. It was nice, though. Refreshing. Abeline couldn’t remember the last time, if ever, a man didn’t stumble over his words to barely get out a “do you wanna hang?”

“I would love that.”

“2 Columbus Cir. 8:00. Tomorrow. I can’t wait, Abby.”

He hung up before she could say anything, let alone tell him her name wasn’t really Abby, and nobody called her that except baristas. But for the first time in what felt like forever, Abeline felt her heart flutter, and the edges of her lips turn up into a smile.

She stayed up for hours that night, her studio apartment now transformed into her bedroom, with the pull-out couch down and her closet doors swung open. Sirens blared in the distance, and taxis honked. The room was only lit by one small lamp and the lights of the city out her window. Clothes were now spread all over her room as she was stressing about what to wear on her date with Michael, trying on one outfit after another until she got sleepy enough to be done. She turned off her lamp and got under her covers.

•  •  •

The next morning, Abeline’s morning followed its usual frantic routine. She got startled awake by her blaring alarm, and hit snooze a couple times before actually getting up so that she wouldn’t have enough time to eat breakfast. She played music, specifically Bruno Mars, through her chintzy pineapple speaker that her best friend had given her as a gag gift last Christmas as she showered and got ready. After doing her skincare and makeup, she pulled on the first professional clothes she could find to piece together a decent outfit that her boss wouldn’t hate. Abeline slipped on her tennis shoes and was out the door at 7:06. Only six minutes late.

Since she didn’t have time for breakfast, she walked straight past her go-to deli that served the best bagels for under $2.00 if she just got one plain, with nothing on it, which she normally did. She walked her two mile route to work, winding through the city. Abeline loved this part of her day. It was time all to herself where she could think and just listen to the city she loved so much hustle and bustle all around her. She relished in it even more this morning since she had skipped walking yesterday morning, and took the subway instead to get Starbucks. It was sunny and people seemed to be smiling more than usual. Or maybe she was only today noticing them. Ever since she was a little girl visiting her mom in New York City, she had always thought that people here were so much friendlier and nicer than they were given credit for. Maybe it had just been what she had seen as a kid, looking through those magical lenses that seemed to cover her eyes as she looked out on this city, but she still liked to believe it was true, and the people were good.

When she got to her office, she swiped her card to let her onto the elevator, then again at the door of her company’s floor. Once she was at her desk, Abeline took off her sneakers and slipped on her flats that she had carried in her purse. She logged into her computer and got to work.

•  •  •

As soon as the clock on her desk hit 5:00, she darted out of there as fast as she could without looking unprofessional. She was ready to drop after her walk back to her apartment, but she didn’t even let herself sit down on her unmade-up couch/bed before hopping in the shower to get the sweat of the day off of her for her date later this evening.

Once again playing music from her pineapple speaker, she spent the next hour primping herself up. It felt good to put this much time and effort into herself. She hadn’t in a while. After she was dressed and ready in the baby blue dress she had picked out last night that came to her knees, and flowed perfectly over her subtle curves, she was out the door once again.

She walked to the restaurant. It wasn’t far enough to take the subway, and she wasn’t about to pay for a taxi.

Opening the doors of the building, she was surprised at just how fancy it was. This was the type of place she could admire from the outside and only dream of one day being successful enough to eat inside of it. This obviously meant that Michael was already successful enough to eat inside, and bring a plus one to join him.

She had wanted to get there early, to make sure she could find the place, but now she felt awkward standing inside the doors. She didn’t know where to stand and felt like she was in the way everywhere she tried.

Just as she was about to escape to the bathroom, Michael walked in. Suddenly, her mind started to spin. Was it embarrassing that she was here before him? Uh oh, too late to change anything, she was already inside the door waiting, and he had spotted her.

“Abby!” The excitement in his voice practically radiated through the room.

“Hi, Michael.”

He embraced her in a gentle hug, his hands scarcely brushing against her back, but enough for it to feel warm and comforting, although this was only their second time meeting.

“I’m so glad you made it here alright. It seems like you know the city pretty well,” he said with a smile that almost looked like a smirk, but in the sweetest way possible. “Shall we?” The hostess lead Abeline and Michael up the stairs next to them, to a small table for two on the top floor, right against a giant, spotless glass window overlooking the city.

“Wow,” was all that Abeline could manage to muster.

“Beautiful, right?” Michael chimed in as he pulled out Abeline’s chair for her.

“Oh my god, its stunning. This is the best view of the city I think I’ve ever had.”

“Lucky me, I get two beautiful things to look at tonight.”

Abeline’s heart nearly did a somersault. And she thought he was flattering before. Plus, between his sweet smile that he couldn’t seem to contain and the way his perfectly ironed suit rested exactly how it was supposed to over his flawless muscles, she quite didn’t have a bad view sitting across from her, either.

She wasn’t sure how to start a conversation, or what to talk about, so she opened up the menu sitting in front of her.

“I recommend the steak. It’s Japanese Kobe Beef flown directly from Japan.” He broke the silence, which hadn’t even been long enough to become awkward. “I wouldn’t know about the wine though, I don’t drink”

Abeline didn’t know what to dissect first from the array of impressive information he had just said. She found it stoic that he didn’t drink, and she didn’t mind one bit, but was it rude for her to drink if he wasn’t going to? “I’ll definitely try that! It sounds like you know your way around this menu, do you come here often?”

“Enough to know that the steak is by far the best option on that menu,” he joked.

When the waitress came by the first time Michael ordered water, and in a moment of panic, Abeline did too.

“You can order a drink,” he smiled as he said it. “I just prefer not to drink because my dad was an alcoholic until his young death, but it doesn’t bother me one bit if you would like something stronger than water.”

“I’ll have the Sauvignon Blanc,” she told the waitress.

Abeline definitely didn’t know what to say now, after he had shared that personal story about his father, but once again Michael was the one to break the silence, “I don’t mean to be a bummer,” he said. “I just want to give you an honest explanation as to why I don’t drink. It’s so uncommon these days.”

“I appreciate you sharing,” Abeline started. “I just recently lost my mother, too, and its been very hard for me. I respect what you are doing.”

“I’m sorry to hear that about your mother. My father died a long time ago, when I was still a little kid, but I still like to pay tribute to him in this way.”

The waitress came around again for their orders, and broke up their conversation that was starting to turn pretty depressing.

“I’ll have the steak,” Abeline said.

“I would like the chicken, please.”

The waitress left and Abeline said, “Chicken? I thought you said the steak was the best thing on the menu!”

“It is, but the chicken is a close second.” He winked. “I got it so we can share if you would like.”

The rest of the night went by fast. Abeline felt like she truly bonded with Michael. She had the best time thanks to Michael getting her out of the house. It was exactly the medicine she had needed, and he hadn’t even known it. He had just thought she was pretty.

They talked about happy things like how Michael loved to sing and dance when he was alone in his apartment, and go to the basketball court in his complex to shoot hoops when he was bored. They touched on the boring topics such as Abeline’s job as a secretary at a fancy publishing company. Even the sad things came up again, as they confided in each other about the deaths of their respective parents. There was clearly a found level of trust each had in the other, no matter that they were just getting to know each other.

After Michael had graciously taken check, they walked out of the restaurant together.

“Where do you live?” Michael asked her. “I’d love to walk you home.”

For about the millionth time this evening, his words practically made Abeline glow as she responded, “West 4th Street.”

They walked along together at their own pace, not paying attention to the cars honking around them or the tourist bikes dodging them every which way. They talked and talked the whole way back to Abeline’s apartment. Their hands brushed up against each other as they walked, and Michael took Adeline’s hand in his for the rest of the walk.

When they got to the door of her complex Abeline thought that she would have been embarrassed, after all her complex was tiny and nothing even close to the fancy place Michael described as his own complex. Oddly enough though, she wasn’t embarrassed at all. She didn’t even think about it know that they were there. Michael did not act any better than her, or differently towards her, and he but her at ease. She felt completely relaxed around him.

“I will let you go here, I don’t want to impose,” Michael said, once again saving Abeline from having to decide what to say next. She didn’t know if she should invite him up to her studio. She certainly hadn’t been planning on it.

“I had a wonderful time with you tonight. I hope you did too, and we can do something together again soon?” He sounded so hopeful, as if he genuinely was nervous and didn’t know what to expect from Abeline’s answer. She thought it was cute. She obviously knew hew answer.

“I’d really love that.”

He smiled the biggest she had seen all night, which she didn’t think was humanly possible. “I’ll see you soon then, Abby.”

She smiled as he walked away.