1 To Marry the First One You Meet.

The morning of a good day should start with good coffee. That's right. Well, with a double americano, to be exact. Emily was fortunate that the best coffee in town was made across the street from her house. All she needed was to leave the house, run some fifteen or twenty meters - and here it was, her beloved "Nefertiti".

This cafe was not crowded with visitors in the early hours. Nice atmosphere, friendly staff - everything created a feeling of coziness and warmth and set you in a positive mood.

And this day would have started just as great if Emily's favorite place had not been taken. She was already mentally accustomed to consider the far table by the window her personal territory, but today some couple took a fancy to it.

They did not look like the locals, and they looked rather rumpled, but even the Siamese twins would envy with what persistence the couple clung to each other.

Emily sighed. So be it, let the doves coo, but you will need to ask the manager to make some piece of paper warning that the table is reserved. For this, she is even ready to pay an extra couple of bucks, which, frankly, she wouldn't consider as spare money. But what can't you do for your own comfort, right?

"As usual," she smiled at the barista, who responded with an even more benevolent smile.

"Sorry, they've been sitting here for over an hour. I thought they would leave before you come here," the guy added in a guilty voice, pressed a button on the coffee machine, and a tart divine smell began to spread in the air. Emily's mood rose up to several points.

"That's all right. After all, that table is not signed with my name," the girl joked, already anticipating how she would compensate for a small nuisance with a large portion of her favorite coffee. But the morning, apparently, decided to present the girl with a run of bad luck.

From Emily's bag, the sound of a violin began to sound with increasing force. Vivaldi's "Winter" would be wonderful if it did not remind of who was calling. The girl took out her phone and stared painfully at the display. Grandma.

As much as Emily loved her grandmother, that love did not extend to calls at eight in the morning. Because in case of something important, her grandmother called her only once a day, strictly at three o'clock after her lunch. At other times, the calls were "just to talk," and for a whole year already the topic of these conversations was the same.

The girl closed her eyes and mentally counted to three. Does she really need to answer? I will say that I was in the shower and did not hear the call, she thought. However, if she does not answer now, then she can say goodbye to the opportunity to enjoy her coffee. When it came to such a trait as perseverance it was certain that Emily's grandmother was a Jedi. And Emily more and more often wanted to join the dark side but was restrained by the fear of offending the old woman. [1]

"Yes, granny," she answered with a sigh.

"My dear, why did you leave so early yesterday? Kevin was upset." The old lady began, not caring about the morning greetings.

Emily rolled her eyes. Kevin was the grandson of her grandmother's friend. These two wonderful women, out of nothing to do, decided to set her and the guy up on a date, and already discussed what names their common children would have. To Emily, it was like the desire of the breeders of a rare breed of dogs to mate two innocent individual pets.

Kevin adapted to the situation and did not particularly resist. And, as Emily realized, she didn't interest him much. But her grandmother's apple pies, on the other hand, caused a great interest in him.

Yesterday there was another meeting of "future newlyweds", and Emily, referring to urgent matters, ran away at the first opportunity. She was sure that Kevin was not upset with this outcome of the evening. In the end, he got less of her and more of the pie.

Something had to be done about it.

"Grandma, please, no more dinners with Kevin," Emily tried to speak softly and subtly so as not to frighten the old lady, "And no more pies either. So much baking is bad for your body shape." She hoped the last argument was valid.

"Well, I'm sorry, dear," the woman answered in a "special" tone, and Emily knew that the morning would be completely ruined. "I have no other eligible free men at hand. And you, by the way, will soon be thirty! There won't pass much time to blink an eye when you will be thirty-five!"

"I'm twenty-seven."

"It is today! And what will happen tomorrow?! Maybe Kevin is your last chance not to end up an old maid! I care about you!"

Deep breath. "Grandma, I'm not old. And certainly not a maid," Emily began to boil. She really wanted to say that she was far from being a maiden, but the old woman would have used this information at her own discretion. It was not worth giving extra arguments to the opponent in the dispute. "If you are so worried about my fate, then ok, I will make it up for you, and right now I will marry the first person I come across! So you can calm yourself down!"

Emily hung up and muted the phone. The barista served coffee, the girl grabbed a cup and turned around. Perhaps quicker than needed. Because she ran into someone right away. The man was in full dress as if he was going straight out of bed to a party, and his face glowed like "look-how-good-looking-I-am."

"I agree!" The stranger declared with a joyous smile.

"What do you agree to?" She did not understand.

"Well, what do you mean, what? If I understood everything correctly, you just promised your grandma that you would marry the first person you meet. And it kinda turns that this person is me. So I agree. We can set a date. Although... why do we need a date? I agree to marry you right now!"

Emily blinked, having lost touch with reality for a moment. She held her gaze on the man. If he had appeared in front of her at some other moment, then she might have found him attractive. This guy clearly did not suffer from the lack of attention of the opposite sex, confidence was coming right through from him. Or overconfidence. But now his wonderful mood did not resonate with hers which was not at all nice.

"But I don't," Emily grunted, walked around the obstacle that had arisen, and went to a table in the opposite corner of the cafe.

"Why are you acting like this, it's not good to lie to your grandma!" She heard behind her. "Besides, I'm definitely better than Kevin!"

Huh, joker. The girl ignored the last comment and pretended that it didn't concern her at all.

It seems that the morning was turning from bad to disgusting. A favorite seat was taken, conversation with grandmother initially did not promise anything pleasant. Also, the customer was late in paying for the work, and at the end of the week she had to pay rent.

Ok, breath in, breath out, count to three, take the first sip of your favorite coffee. Paradise... Here it is, her everyday salvation from the everyday gray life!

"Best coffee in town," a male voice sounded over her ear, "It takes almost an hour to get here every morning, but it's worth it." The satisfied first-person-one-meets sat down at Emily's table without permission and was now looking at her with curiosity, clearly trying to start a conversation.

"There are a lot of vacant tables here, I didn't invite you," the girl replied gloomily and adjusted her glasses on the bridge of her nose.

"How come you didn't invite me? And what about the getting married thing? Oh, I get it now! So she promised God knows what, and now she is giving up?" the no name stand-up comedian did not calm down, "My mother told me - do not trust beautiful women. They are wolves in sheep's clothing!"

Boy, are you sure this wasn't about you? Who you shouldn't trust here is such a... Such a hot... Emily turned away, as she realized that she began to take a closer look at the stranger. And he was worth looking at. He also noticed her attention.

"The day has just begun, and my beautiful bride has already abandoned me," the guy lamented.

Demonstrating humor didn't work, flattery didn't work either. Emily put the coffee aside and stood up. 

"Enjoy your stay, my dear fiance." Emily hissed through her teeth and left the cafe.

The morning was ruined. But for fate it was not enough.