*

Mia stirred her latte absentmindedly, with everything else out of focus. So much so that she didn't notice Stella saying something.

"I'm sorry, what?" Mia asks, deciding to stop punishing the latte and actually drink it.

"Where did you head off to?" Stella asks with a tinge of concern on her face.

"Oh, it's nothing . . .nowhere"

"Mia. . ."

"I know I know, I am pathetic"

"Well that you are" Stella smiles but not with a tease but a rare sympathy "You know Xavier deserves to know what you feel for him."

"You know I can't do that." Mia groans

Impatient with Mia's annoying excuses, Stella sips her coffee and says "You mean, You CAN do that but you WON'T do that. You're scared of rejection, honey, and honestly, it is a chicken move – cowardly. You know I can't bear to see you like this. I've had to endure it for fifteen years -"

"Sixteen -"

"My point is -" Stella counters back with a serious face "You can't keep waiting in the wings for things to fall into place. You have to do something. Get up and get what you want"

"I'm not scared of rejection."

"No?"

"I'm not!"

"Mmhmm"

"I'm just waiting for him to show me a sign that he sees me as a woman now, not like a little sister."

Stella exhales, shakes her head, and gets her attention enslaved by a hunk of a man walking into the café.

"Who the devil is that?" Stella says, jaw-dropping.

Mia follows her gaze and sees what she sees and hiccups. The man has the kind of face that stops you in your tracks. Mia guessed he must get used to that, the sudden pause in a person's natural expression when they looked his way followed by overcompensating with a nonchalant gaze and a weak smile. Of course, the blush that accompanied it was a dead give-away. It didn't help that he was so modest with it, it made the girls fall for him all the more.

"Wow." Stella sighs unintentionally as her eyes follow him walk gracefully all the way to the barista behind the counter where he orders a cappuccino. Stella even feels a pang of jealousy at the young brunette sharing a smile with him. Oh if deathly stares could maim.

As the barista goes to the espresso machine to fix his order, he lets his eyes wander the cafe. Unanticipating the inevitable, Stella's eyes brush his and their eyes lock for a moment. In that fleeting moment, the world stands still for Stella. Bad goes worse when he nods and smiles a "hey" at her and her world spins backward.

His golden eyes break their wordless communion as the barista calls his attention to something.

"Go talk to him," Mia says, tearing Stella away from her limbo.

"Why?" Stella finds herself asking.

"Stella, I haven't seen you this smitten ever since Luke"

"Oh God, I look smitten?" Stella makes her signature gross face "I must be hanging out with you more than I should. What have you done to me?"

"You're even red as a scarlet lipstick"

"Oh fuck no!" Stella covers her face with her hands.

"But what does it matter? He seems your type"

"Oh stop talking, Mia"

Mia giggles as Lily comes back to their table with their food.

"Do you remember Xavier used to take us out here?"

"Yeah, I do. His favorite sandwich was the Baloney Sandwich." Stella answers, happy for the change in topic.

Lily places the order on the table and Stella gives Mia a teasing smile. "So. . .you ordered his favorite sandwiches?"

"It's not why I ordered it. I like Baloney Sandwiches"

"Since when?" Stella laughs

"Since forever!"

"You just like whatever Xavier likes."

"Na-uh." Mia almost yells and then checks herself "We just have common likes and dislikes. That's all"

"Same thing."

"No, it's not, you big goofball"

Breakfast goes entirely uneventful as both girls seem engrossed in their phones. Mia raises her eyes from her phone and catches the handsome man staring at her best friend in a not-so-creepy way while having his coffee.

"Don't look now but Mr. Cappuccino keeps checking you out" Mia says

"For real?" Stella asks excitedly and unintentionally turns around to meet his eyes. Damn those golden eyes have torn her defense to shred.

"I said, don't look now, genius"

Stella quickly turns back around to face Mia who can't hide the smug on her face.

"I think he certainly wants to talk to you."

"You're right. OMG! Is he -"

"Oh shit, I think he's coming here" Mia squeals under her voice.

Mr. Cappuccino stands up and makes his way to the girls' table. He has the appearance of one who had learned the look of confidence as a survival skill. Stella feels her palm sweat. A few steps away from their table, Mr. Cappuccino is intercepted by another girl. Who's this unfortunate bitch? The girl even hugs him and leads him back to his table and they sit back down. Stella goes livid.

Mia glances at Stella to see something build on Stella's face, something she might not like. Stella grabs Mia's wrist and heads for his table.

"What are you – oh boy!" Mia hiccups

In a few strides, Stella and Mia are at Mr. Cappuccino's table. Mia can't tell if the expression on Mr. Cappuccino's face is admiration or amusement.

"Hi!" Stella grins at him, totally ignoring the other girl sitting next to him "My friend and I here are collecting some responses from couples for our college project. It's a survey on relationships"

Well played, Stella Mia smiles

"Oh, we are not together. Not anymore anyway. We just bumped into each other after a very long time." Mr. Cappuccino's baritone voice reverberates Stella's and Mia's heartstrings. The girl sitting next to him looks upset and excuses herself from the table.

The awkward silence lasts only microseconds before Mr. Cappuccino breaks it.

"I'm Kevin, by the way. Kevin King" this deep voice of his had a way of igniting Stella's internal engine as if it knew she wanted to ride him and with him before she had a chance to process whatever it is he was saying.

Stella momentarily forgetting how to speak is bailed by Mia.

"Mia," she says "And this is Stella, my best friend."

"A pleasure"

Do you come to Tino's a lot because we pretty much know everyone that comes in here down to their latest sins and we certainly don't know you" Mia chuckled as Kevin laughed, his voice driving in more nails into Stella's coffin.

"Latest sins, huh?"

"It's a small neighborhood" Mia laughed

"No, I just moved into the neighborhood. I have heard some good things about Tino's so I decided to check it out today and I am glad I did" he said that last part looking at Stella

"We are throwing this party tomorrow. Would you like to join us?" Mia asks

"Well, ummm, I have an important meeting lined up. But if my itinerary changes then what the heck . . .I would love to join you guys." he smiled

"Awesome," Mia says grinning and not breaking eye contact with Kevin while pinching Stella, who wakes up from her daydream. 

"Right. Yeah umm save your digits, so I can send you the address of the party." Stella finally says as she hands him her phone and he saves his contact number then gives it back.

"I do have to leave now though. I have work and I only left it for coffee" Kevin says

"Oh sure sure. It's fine, we would be leaving anyway" Stella replies this time

"Okay then, text me?"

"Sure"

Kevin smiles at the girls and leaves the cafe.

"What the hell just happened, Stella?"

Stella keeps staring at the door long after Kevin is gone.

"Is that a man's ass?" Stella says.