He glanced over at Nancy, then back at me, still looking confused as he said, “Okay…”
“Well…she’s not entirely right about me. Just because someone chooses to live responsibly the majority of the time, that doesn’t mean they aren’t capable of having fun.” I was totally rambling and needed to get to the point. “Anyway, she got me to agree to a blind bet, where I would basically agree in advance to do whatever she directed me to—to prove my spontaneity. That’s why I’m here.”
“She told you to go up to a stranger and start babbling…”
I cringed. “Not exactly.”
“What then?”
“I’m supposed to…kiss you.”
He didn’t respond aside from narrowing his eyes.
Great.
Laughing nervously, I said, “I told you it was crazy.”
He finally spoke. “What do you get for kissing me?”
“Nothing. I just get to prove that I’m…adventurous.”
Silence lingered in the air for a few seconds before he suddenly got up.
Lovely. I’ve scared him off.
“Where are you going?”
“If we’re going to kiss, I should at least buy you a coffee. What do you drink?”
Oh. Oh. My heart sped up. This is going to happen, then?
“I already had a latte, but thank you.”
He continued to the counter anyway, and after a few minutes returned with the most hideous green drink I’d ever laid eyes on. It was in a gigantic cup with a candy cane straw and had what looked like red sparkles immersed throughout. Pretty sure I got a cavity, or diabetes, from just looking at it.
“What is that?”
“It’s their iced Christmas tree-ccino. Bought it for my nephew last season. Kept him on a sugar high for three days.” He handed it to me. “Tell you what, if you can drink all of this down, we can kiss.”
“What’s the point of making me drink this first?”
“Well, it’s going to take you a while because it’s so sweet. That will give us enough time to at least get to know each other properly before I’m supposed to apparently shove my tongue down your throat. But mostly, it will amuse me to watch you drink it. B
onus?” He looked over in Nancy’s direction. “Your friend looks really confused right about now. Serves her right, if you ask me.”
“That is sort of a bonus,” I said, looking back at her and smiling. “Alright. It’s a deal.”
Taking the first sip, I tried to down it fast without really tasting it. Unexpectedly, I got brain freeze and had to stop. “Ugh!” I rubbed my forehead.
He chuckled. “You okay?”
Coughing, I said, “Yup.” I slid the cup toward him. “Want a sip? It tastes like Juniper—like a Christmas tree. Maybe a little hint of sap.”
“I’m good.” He held out his palm. “So…” he said. “What do you do for fun when you’re not propositioning strangers in coffeehouses, Margo?”
“I….” Sadly, I couldn’t remember the last fun thing I’d done. My shoulder’s slumped realizing Nancy was absolutely right—I had no life anymore. “I work a lot. I’m pretty much married to the job.”
“Job is a lucky man.” There was a hint of a glimmer in his eyes. It was the first time I realized that maybe he wasn’t totally turned off by my ludicrous request for a kiss.