Cafe Amara

Chapter Three

Over the next few days Scarlett found ways to keep herself busy, but the thoughts of the encounter still raced through her mind. Who was that man? How was he there so fast to diffuse the situation? What if he hadn’t been there? She looked down at her bruised arm from where he had grabbed her so tightly.

“Girl, are you good?” Her thoughts were interrupted by her coworker Denise’s worried voice.

“I am fine. Just a little bit out of it I guess.” She answered back. Denise raised her thick brow at her with crossed arms. She could sense the bullshit in her tone. The cafe had been unusually slow today, so it was possibly more noticeable that Scarlett had been a bit out of it.

“Well, something sort of weird happened the other night and it has been on my mind.” She explained, without Denise having to ask her again. Her look was enough to get her talking.

“What happened?” She looked concerned.

“Hazel and I went out to this party at a club downtown Saturday night. It was great until this guy approached me and was being very pushy and aggressive. I tried getting around him but he grabbed my arm and pinned me against a wall. Out of nowhere another guy came over and pushed him on to-” Scarlett stopped mid sentence as she heard the door chime. It was him. Standing in the doorway was the same man from Saturday night who protected her. Tall, same muscular yet lean build, dark skin like honey and coffee, mixed with gorgeous green eyes and beautiful full lips. Lips that were smiling at her. It had to be him.

“Pushed him onto what?!” Denise asked, confused until she saw Scarlett gawking at the man in the doorway making his way to the counter. She was stunned, and words couldn’t seem to come out of her mouth. Did he recognize her? Scarlett wasn’t the type of woman to gawk at a man.

He walked right up to her, keeping his eyes on hers.

“Hello. You look better without the mask.” He teased her. She blushed at him, still not exactly knowing what to say. His eyes slowly made their way down to her arm. The arm that man grabbed Saturday, the one that had a giant purple and red bruise on it. His eyes flashed with anger. She slid her hand over the bruise, surprised by the look in his eyes.

“What can I get you?” She asked coyly, still blushing.

“I’m just here for that favor you owe me.” He smirked.

“What?” Her eyes widened. “Favor? What favor?”

“You said that you owed me one last Saturday. Remember?” He answered back, still smirking devilishly. Scarlett just stared at him wide eyed.

“I will happily buy you a coffee if that’s what you’re here for, I really appreciate what you did. I don’t know much else I have to offer you though.” She said, confused. Denise might as well have had a bucket of popcorn as she was watching them interact.

“I am not here for coffee today.” He said.

“Then what do you want?” She was almost a bit annoyed. Her shy demeanor seemed to vanish with her growing temper.

“I want to take you out.” He said, leaning his weight onto the counter. All that she could do was look at him. That wasn’t what she expected him to say. “I want to take you out at 7pm tonight. Please bring a coat and I will meet you in front of this cafe.” He smiled and started walking towards the door without her answer.

“Wait a minute! What if I don’t show?” She said back, loud enough so he could hear her as he walked towards the exit. He turned slightly and looked back at Scarlet.

“I have faith that you are a woman of your word.” With that he winked at her and walked out the door.