It was late in the afternoon and the little hole in the wall cafe was bustling with the activity of a normal day in New York City. Fresh coffee was being brewed while soups and sandwiches were being made at a remarkable pace. Everyone shuffled around trying to get to where they were going on time. I was sitting in my chair deep in thought, trying to block out the noise of the cafe as I read over an article off of some online site that had leaked information about the murders that had happened.
This past month has seen several tragedies unfold as five of young girls have been kidnapped and murdered. The killer, known only as “Death's Doctor,” has been taking girls right out of their own bedrooms at night. However, this is no ordinary killer. For whatever reason, “Death's Doctor” has only been taking blonde females. Once abducted from their bedroom, the girls are missing for a week before turning up dead. There are never signs of sexual assault on these girls, but their bodies appear to have been dissected and sewn back together. Authorities are...
“Can you believe this asshole!? Like, the nerve of this prick!”
I sighed and put the article down as I tried to contain my frustration. I looked up at my friend Sasha with an evil glare.
“You should stop with that face you look constipated.” She smirked and took a sip of her coffee. “Anyways, more important matters than your moronic faces. My wonderful ex just texted me and told me that he has a new girlfriend and that she's prettier than me.”
“This is seriously what you interrupted my reading for?”
“What,” She shrugged, “It's important.”
“Not as important as a serial killer.”
Sasha snorted, “Whatever you say.”
She got up and went across the cafe to get a refill on her coffee. I stared at her, wondering if she fit the killers type. She had wheat colored blonde hair, one of the key preferences of the killer. She had the looks of a model and (contrary to popular belief) the brain of Einstein, I could easily see the killer taking someone like her. Out of nowhere my phone vibrated with a new text, distracting me from the gruesome thoughts of Sasha getting taken by a killer. I took out my phone and saw that Anderson had text me. Try to be home before dark. You can never be too careful with a killer on the loose. I smiled as I read the message; of course he’s going to be a worrywart about this, that’s just typical Anderson. Anderson was a freelance journalist that adopted me six years ago. He was a friend of the family for as long as I could remember, and when my father started getting abusive after my mom died he stepped into the picture and took me in. Ever since then he had been more of a father to me than my real one and I loved him more than anything.
“Who texted you?” I heard Sasha say as she sat back down at the table.
“Anderson did. He wanted to make sure I was home before dark. He’s concerned about me getting murdered.”
Out of nowhere Sasha burst out laughing. “Seriously? He’s really being that much of a worrier? What’re the odds of that even happening!?” She covered her face with her hands as she continued laughing.
“I really don’t think it’s that big of a deal.” I mumbled as I sipped my coffee. “He’s just concerned about my safety.”
“Elizabeth Alexandra Rose, 20 year old senior at NYU, top of her class, graduated valedictorian in high school and had two and a half years of college done by the time she graduated. 4.0 GPA and a long list of achievements and will be valedictorian again when she graduates with her Psychology degree. But somehow despite these awards and accomplishments, little Elli still has a curfew.”
When Sasha put it that way it did seem pretty funny. I tried to hide my smile from her but it didn’t work. We both ended up laughing a little to hard over the ridiculousness of my curfew.
Suddenly Sasha stopped laughing and regained her composure immediately.
“Elli!” She hissed at me. “Shut your mouth and look over there! Over to the left!”
I gained control of my laughter as I glanced over my left shoulder and what I saw left me speechless. During our hysterical laughing moment, in had walked God's gracious gift to our humble world. And that's not even exaggerating, actually I would think that's not even enough of a description of the perfect man that had just walked in. He looked to be a little over six foot and had jet-black luscious hair on top of his perfectly sculpted head. And that face, never before had I seen someone with such strong and bold facial features, and his eyes were so beautiful and deep. They were a dark milky brown, not so dark that you couldn't see his pupils, but dark enough so that it gave him a mysterious look. You could so easily get lost in his eyes, the eyes that looked like they had seen too much, but not enough. He seemed like he could look right into you and know every secret you've ever had, all while concealing his deepest secrets behind that all knowing gaze. His perfectly defined head and face sat atop a set of broad muscular shoulders. They weren't the over worked gym beef-cake kind of shoulders, but the kind that were broad enough that they seemed like he could carry the weight of all the sins in the world and still walk upright. His waist was slim but it seemed muscular, which fit perfectly with those beautiful shoulders. His legs were long, but not lanky. No, they seemed muscular too. It looked like he could walk for miles without exhaustion, taking long strides that would easily cover whatever lay in his path. He carried with him an air of superiority that demanded the attention of everyone, but in a subtle way. He wasn't cocky or rude, but calm and confident in his ways. He was a man who knew what he wanted and how he was going to get it. But he carried himself in a way that a gentleman would. He was perfection. God's handy-work at it's finest. Not only were this mans features perfect, but he also had a wonderful taste in clothing. He had on black dress pants that fit him perfectly, and not the cheap kind you got at Sears. They were high quality and were probably tailored specifically for him. They were paired with a form-fitting white collared shirt and a black vest that helped show off his figure perfectly.
“Down tiger, you're about to start drooling.” Sasha whispered into my ear.
I gave Sasha one of those I'm-going-to-punch-you-later looks and I continued to stare at the gorgeous being that had walked in. I heard Sasha groan and could tell that she was probably rolling her eyes at me. I was about to say something to her when Mr. Perfection turned and looked my way. I freaked out and looked away, worrying that he had caught me staring.
“S*** did he notice me?”
“Oh yeah he did. He has a cute little smirk right now.” Sasha took a sip of her coffee and continued to give me the run down. “He's definitely eye-balling you. Oh wait now he's back to ordering his coffee.”
“He probably thinks I'm a freak or something.” I groaned as I slouched in my seat. Wonderful first impression you, moron, I thought.
“Oh I know what'll make you feel better. Check your 8 o'clock.”
I immediately knew what she was talking about and glanced over my left shoulder at the entrance of the cafe. I snapped my head back around to her and mouthed 'no way in hell'. Our old Anatomy professor from freshman year had walked into the cafe and was staring at us. Normally, we didn't have a problem with seeing teachers outside of school, but this was different. Mr. Grahm was weird. Plain and simple. When you think of someone that's a creep, someone who makes you uncomfortable with just a glance, that's Mr. Grahm. He was tall and lanky with mousy brown hair and scraggly, uneven facial hair. His face was un-proportioned and his shifty eyes seem to look straight into you. He was fired from the college three years ago after several instances where he got to hands on with girls in his office when he tried to 'tutor' them. Sasha and I just happened to be two of the girls that he tried to tutor. He tried to show us the anatomy of our chest in a more hands on kind of way. I shuddered at the thought of being alone in his office again.
Sasha's eyes widened in panic, “He's walking our way. S*** do something so he won't bother us.”
“Um, you go to the bathroom and I'll go get more coffee!”
“Deal.” Sasha got out of her chair and started getting her stuff together to make a dash to the bathroom. I stood up and grabbed my still full coffee as I spun around and tried to scramble to the coffee counter. As I turned to rush over there, I ran right into the rock solid chest of a man. My coffee went all over his extremely expensive looking suit. And of course it just happened to be the extremely gorgeous man I had seen earlier. S***. Just my luck. I panicked and grabbed a huge wad of napkins and slapped them against his chest. “I'm so sorry, so sorry!” I said as I furiously dabbed at the horrid brown stain on his chest. No no no! This cannot just have happened I can't even...Wow... his chest is so firm… mm... Stop it! He probably thinks you're an idiot now. I continuously kept smashing the napkins on his chest in some crazy fevered way until he grabbed my hand and made me stop. I swallowed and tried not to panic as I looked up at him. Instead of being infuriated, he looked completely entertained. A smile crept across his face as he held my hand firmly. I found it hard to think or even function. He smelled amazing, like a mixture of manly and perfect, and his hands were incredibly soft. Being near him was intoxicating.
“I um...I...I... I'm so sorry... I didn't… I was just...” I couldn't control my mouth or what I was saying. I stammered incoherently while trying to come to terms with the fact that Mr. Perfect was holding my hand after I dumped coffee on his chest.
He laughed. “Sweetheart it's fine. Accidents happen and this isn't even one of my good suits. But I'm pretty sure you are going to bruise me if you continue to attack my chest with napkins.”
His voice was perfect, smooth as honey and incredibly deep. There was a hint of an accent. German? Danish? I have no idea but it's amazing. He smiled and revealed perfectly straight, white teeth. My knees felt weak, this man got more perfect by the moment. He let go of my hand as he grabbed the nasty sop of coffee covered napkins and the now-empty coffee cup and threw everything away. I stood in complete shock. I had ruined this mans suit and it didn't even phase him. In fact, he found it funny. I wasn't sure if I should be relieved or concerned. Maybe he doesn't care because he does think I'm an idiot.
“No way in hell you did that!” I heard Sasha's shocked voice and turned to find her standing by the table. Her eyes widened as she saw the ugly brown stain on the man's chest. She controlled herself for a whole five seconds before she burst out in another hysterical laughing fit. She sat in her chair with her head in her hands as she cackled away.
I felt my face turn red and I looked at the floor.
“Shut up it's not funny.” I mumbled, but she ignored me and kept laughing.
I felt someone’s hand brush mine and turned around to see my coffee covered man standing next to me.
“John.” He extended his hand out to me. “Dr. John Alexander. And before you get excited, I'm a doctor of Psychology. Not a medical doctor. People always jump to that conclusion so I thought I would go ahead and elaborate.” He winked at me and I almost melted.
I tried to keep myself from shaking with excitement as I shook his hand. “Elizabeth Rose, but everyone calls me Elli.”
He smiled as he raised my hand to his lips and gently kissed it. “Well it was a pleasure meeting you my dear. I wish I could stay and chat but I'm late for a meeting and I need to go change.”
“I'm so sorry I didn't...” I started ramble again but John stopped me.
“Trust me, it was worth it.” He winked at me again as he turned and walked out the door.
I stood in shock at everything that had just happened, still trying to take it in.
“Well,” Sasha stood next to me and exclaimed, “At least Mr. Grahm is gone!”