It started at the bookstore.

[AnonynousRendezvous]

It started at the bookstore. (CLOSED)

Jack came to this same spot every Saturday. He came to write, to browse the internet and maybe even send dirty messages to strangers he had met online. It was his chance to escape the monotony of his life; wife, children, job. Here, he was anonymous. Here, it was just him and his computer and shelf after shelf of books. The women who frequented the bookstore had always fascinated Jack. Old women, young women, married women and single women. They usually came by themselves. They usually dragged curious fingers over the spines of books, their eyes wide and their lips slightly open in anticipation of a good story. Jack often wondered if they gave that sort of attention to the men (or women) who they took to bed every night.

This particular day, the bookstore was exceedingly quiet. Snow dropped out of the sky outside in dime sized snowflakes and covered everything. Jack sat in the corner, his laptop open in front of him, idly playing with the collar of his white button up shirt. His black coat fell over the back of his chair.

The baristas and booksellers knew Jack. They had given him a bit of a reputation, especially after seeing him come and go with a bevy of women of all varieties.

Jack wondered if anyone would come in to the bookstore today. He twisted the gold wedding band on his left hand all the way around and took a sip of his lukewarm coffee. It would be time for a refill soon.

 

[grdybiwife]

Ofeelya shook out her coat as she stomped out her boots. It was just her luck that it snow on her first day in town. She needed to get some work done and didn't feel like unpacking her office just yet so she decided to try her hand a bookstore writing. She'd seen them, the people who set up shop on wobbly tables with overpriced gourmet coffee. Today she'd be one of those people and left her husband home to sort out that last of their things. That was his deal anyway, sorting their reality so she may delve deeper into her fantasies.

She had been working on an idea that had been eating at her and set out that mornig with intention of finishing it.

As she came to the counter to place her order she surveyed the few patrons arrayed around the store. There was only one guy, well dressed and married clicking away on his laptop. Otherwise the tables were empty. She took on on the other side of the cafe area and set up

 

[AnonynousRendezvous]

Jack didn't look up when he heard the bell clang and someone walk into the bookstore. Instead, he simply listened. He heard the woman shake the snow off of her coat and boots. He listened as she ordered (although her voice wasn't loud enough to place exactly what it was she ordered), he listened as she set up at a small table on the other side of the little bookstore cafe.

He only looked up after a few minutes, once the chill had settled from the freshly opened door. She was working, that much he knew to be true. But what could she be working on? Was she a student, here to finish some last minute project before the end of the semester? The bag that lay at her feet seemed too small for books, too grown up. Was she a successful business woman answering emails? She didn't carry herself that way. No, Jack saw in the new woman a spark of vitality and creativity. She was something like an artist or...

A writer!

Jack smiled and sipped the last of his coffee. It was cold by now. He tried to glimpse the woman's hand to see if she wore a ring, but her hands were obscured by the laptop on her table.

 

[grdybiwife]

She sipped her coffee and occasionally let her eyes wonder around the room as she mulled over her topic. She needed inspiration but the stuff she worked on at the moment wasn't exactly safe for public viewing. She looked around again and caught the guy looking in her direction. It wasn't the first time she felt his attention but it was the first time their eyes met. She smiled at him and went back to thinking before she gave in.

She got up to get another coffee but when she came back to her sit she shifted around so that her monitor was facing the wall. After another look around she opened her browser to her favorite message boards and took a browse through the picture threads.

 

[AnonynousRendezvous]

Intriguing, thought Jack.

She's hiding something.

He stood up and slowly made his way to the counter, ordering a refill from the life-weary barista. He glanced at the stranger, sitting in her oh so private corner, and made up his mind.

The coffee in his freshly filled porcelain mug steamed as he made his way over to where she sat. He pulled a chair back--so presumptuous!--and sat down across from her, setting his coffee on this side of her laptop.

"I can spot a wordsmith from a mile away."

 

[grdybiwife]

She nearly jump from the table when she heard his voice and slammed her laptop shut. Trying not to look to guilty she smiled and picked up her mug to take a sip.

"That obvious huh?" she asked with a nervous laugh, wondering just what he might have seen. She decided to feel him out. Conversation with an interesting stranger might be just the inspiration she needed. "Ofeelya but everybody calls me O."

She reached across the table offering her hand.

 

[AnonynousRendezvous]

Jack helped himself to the stranger's hand. His own were still warm from holding his coffee mug.

"Ofeelya, hmmm?" He grinned. "Like Hamlet's tragically betrothed?" His large hand held onto hers for a little while longer. "I'm Jack. And it's lovely to meet you Ofeelya."

He wasn't about to slip into the casual language of everyone else in this woman's life. He met her eyes with his own. His eyes were large and brown, with a whiff of menace behind them.

"What are you writing, Ofeelya?"

 

[grdybiwife]

She noticed immediately how he didn't call her by her nickname and that intrigued her. "My mother could be a bit dramatic." She smiled at him as she tried to pull her hand away and got a little nervous when he didn't release her right away. "It's nice to meet you Jack."

But for some reason she knew that wasn't exactly true. Judging by the look in his eye, Jack might be hiding a little trouble.