The Stranger

Note: Proof that I don't just write slash, so ha! ...Although, this isn't finished, and I probably won't finish it. Wrote it back in...November-ish or something like that.

The Stranger

She had met him online, weeks ago. They seemed to have a lot in common, and seemed to get along well. It was like it was only a matter of time until they agreed to meet in person –being not to far from one another, and both having a free Saturday. It was only to be expected that they meet for coffee at the local college hang out –the closest thing for her to get to, since she didn’t have a car. And so they did, one blustery December afternoon.
Sharon pulled her hat off, brushing the snow out of her hair, looking around. Was he here yet? Would she recognize him? She had only seen pictures…She kicked herself for not printing one and bringing it along with her. What if he was sitting right in front of her, and she was just not seeing him?
“Sharon?” A hand touched her shoulder, and she wiped around. Face-to-face with the guy she had been talking to over the instant messenger almost every night for a month.
“Ian.” She smiled. “Did you, uh, just get here?”
He laughed, “Yea, I saw you up ahead of me, but I thought it would be weird if I yelled out… Should we, uh, sit down?” He took her elbow, ushering her towards a booth.
“Yeah.” She nodded, sliding onto the left side, while he took the right. “So, uh…your pictures don’t do you justice at all.”
“I thought you said I was cute.”
“For being fourty some.” She smiled.
Ian shrugged, “I can’t help that… At least I’m not fat and balding, right?”
“Oh, if you had been fat and balding would have told you I was a newly converted lesbian.”
Ian laughed again, “Would you really?”
“Oh yeah, I’ve done it a couple of times. I actually had my friend Rachel take some pictures of the two of us for ‘proof’ so this one guy would leave me alone.”
“Hmm…I think I’d like to see those pictures sometime.” Ian raised an eyebrow.
Sharon laughed, “I never pegged you for a perv.” She looked up at the waitress who popped her gum loudly at them, “Oh…uh, can I get three espressos?”
“Sure…and for you Grandpa?” The waitress rolled her eyes towards Ian.
“Just coffee, thanks.”
The waitress scribbled down the order, “They’ll be up in a minute.”
“I can’t believe she just called you Grandpa…” Sharon whispered. “I’m so sorry… I should have warned you the barista’s here are kind of rude.”
“It’s okay.” Ian smiled. “It was kind of cute, the way she did it all half-heartedly and everything.”
“I’m also sorry this is such a crappy campus –there is absolutely nothing to do in this town, I swear.”
“That’s okay. I went to college here too, I know how boring it can be.”
“So, uh…what do you want to do today?”
“Well, we could catch a movie after our coffee, and maybe after that…you’d like to come back to my place? Completely up to you –no pressure.”
Sharon thought for a second. Ian was a lot older then her 18 years, at 43. She hadn’t been sure, when she first saw his age on his profile, how she felt about it. After talking to him though, he had seemed like a really nice guy. He was cute –not disgusting like most of the 30 pluses out there on the net.
“We’ll see how the movie goes.” She shrugged.
“Okay, cool.” Ian nodded. “I just bought a new game for my X-Box 360 I thought you might like to help me break in.”
“Oh god, Ian! I’m no good at video games!” Sharon moved back from the table as the waitress brought over their drinks, lining up her espressos like shots, and then plunking Ian’s coffee in front of him –without spilling a drop.
“You never know until you try –holy crap, are you seriously gonna drink all of those?”
“Uh huh. You do ‘em fast like tequila… not that I drink, but I’ve heard.” She nodded, tipping back the first one. “Whoo…”
“Have you done this before?”
“Err…how would a loose yes do?”
Ian rolled his eyes, drinking his coffee, “You’re gonna be so hyped up. You sure you don’t wanna skip the movie and go straight to my place?”
“Talk to me after the last one.” The second one was emptied, and she placed it upside down on the saucer, “Damn, that’s good…”
“You’re adorable.”
“Hopefully you mean that in a sexy way, not a ‘aw, you’re young enough to be my daughter’ way.”
“I wouldn’t say ‘sexy’, but I certainly didn’t mean it in the other way.”
“Oh good.” She nodded, steadying her hand for the third espresso, “Last one.”
“And then you’re going to drink water, right?”
She laughed, downing it, placing it upside down, “Whooo-doggies.”
“Okay Jeb.” Ian nodded, drinking his coffee. “You should have spaced those out –I’ve still got an entire cup of coffee to drink.”
“Sorry. Maybe I can work out some of the jitters…” Sharon’s knee started bouncing. “That was actually all a cover up –I’m kind of a leg bouncer. I didn’t want to tell you.”
Ian laughed. “I can deal with a little leg bouncing.”
“Fantastic.” She grinned. “Is your coffee good?”
“You want to help me drink it faster don’t you?”
“…No. I think coffee is gross.”
Ian laughed again, “Why’s that?”
“I don’t know…I just don’t think it has a very good taste –very bland and watery. I love the smell of it though. When I walk in here, I wanna just bottle the smell and take it with me.”
“I’m glad –I smell like coffee all of the time.”
“Ooh, you’re a keeper! Good dresser, good attitude, smells nice without cologne…”
“Why bother with cologne, when you can woo girls with that fresh coffee scent for pennies a day?” Ian raised an eyebrow.
“And woo you do, I suppose? Seriously, how many girls have you dated?”
Ian laughed, “I’m not actually a big dater…” He leaned in to whisper, “I’ll be honest, this is actually the first time I’ve talked to someone I’ve met over the internet. Is that weird?”
“No…not really. I’ve never met anyone over the net either –in real life I mean.”
“Then I feel a little better.”
“But you’re so cute. How can you not already be married with kids?”
“I’ve got a lot of personal baggage, I guess. My Mom puts off a lot of girls… Oh great, Ian. Bring up your Mom on your first date.” He smacked his forehead.
Sharon laughed, “No, it’s OK. Tell me about your Mom.”
“My Dad died when I was five. She’s always had this plan for me, I guess, and…sometimes I veer from her plan. She doesn’t want me being tied down to a girl –she’s worried I’d die on her like my Dad, I guess. I keep telling her that, that isn’t how it works, you know. But she’s getting older… I think she’d like you.”
“Oh, really?”
“Well, she’d either love you because you’re the prettiest girl I ever brought to meet her, or hate you for the exact same reason…”
Sharon laughed again, “Oh jeez!”
“Well…I can’t lie to you, Sharon. My Mom’s pretty picky when it comes to girls who date her son.”
“Hmm…then lets wait awhile before we make that introduction.”
“Agreed.” Ian nodded.
“Are you almost done with that coffee, Ian?”
“No…”
“What movie do you want to see? The budget theatre is showing…”

--
“Well, I’m glad to see you calmed down after your three espressos.” Ian had his hand around Sharon’s waist, as they walked towards his car, parked at the curb. “I think I like you better subdued.”
Sharon smiled, “Sorry…I guess I can get really hyper active when I meet new people.”
“Understandable. So, uh…should we go back to my place, or…do you want me to take you home?”
“Um…why don’t we go to my place? It’s close, and my roommate isn’t there…”
“Sure.” Ian nodded.
“Okay.” Sharon waited for the locks to pop up before sliding into Ian’s car, giving him directions back towards her dorm.
“Hey, what are you doing?” He asked, moving around the car after he had parked at the meter.
“I’m putting money in so you don’t get a ticket, duh.”
“I can get it.”
“No…you’re visiting me –I’ll pay for the meter. You paid for everything else. Is an hour and a half long enough?”
“We can always run down and put more in, if we did to.”
“Good point –come on.” She grabbed his hand, pulling him across the road and up the ramp towards the front door of her dorm. “This way.”
“What…floor do you live on?”
“Fourth. Sorry, I should have warned you.”
“Well, I guess I don’t have to go to the gym this week….” Ian climbed the stairs close behind her, relieved and slightly out of breath once they had reached the top.
“Hey, Sharon.” One of the girls called, as the passed by, “Hey, this your uncle or something?”
“Err…no.” Sharon shook her head. “This is Ian –that guy I told you about. Ian,. This is Rae.” She introduced them.
“Oh…Hi, Ian. Nice to meet you… I thought you’d be…”
“Younger?” Ian inserted.
“Err, shorter.”
Ian nodded, and Sharon rolled her eyes, “See you later Rae.”
“Bye…”
“Sorry about her. She’s kind of a ditz –this is my room.” Sharon pulled him around the corner, yanking her keys out of her pocket, to unlock the door, pushing it open. “And…here we are.”
“Wow. It’s very neat. Disturbingly so, actually.”
Sharon laughed, “Yeah…We’re neat people.”
“Now I’m kind of glad we didn’t go to my place.”
“Why? Would my OCD have flared up?”
“Quite possibly…although, I’ve been meaning to clean my bathroom for awhile now…”
Sharon laughed, falling back onto her bed, as Ian made himself comfortable on the edge of her roommates bed, “So, um, what do you want to do? I’ve got a few games, if you want to play something…or we could watch TV…”
“Sure.” Ian nodded.
Sharon leaned over the side of the bed, picking up her remote, tossing it to him, “Here you go. I automatically veto all sports, and anything to do with engines.”
“…What does that leave?”
“More then you’d think, actually…” Sharon assured him.
Ian nodded, “Um…before I turn this on…” He waved the remote for a second, “Can I…er…”
“Yeah? Language, Ian. It makes the world go-round.”
“Can I kiss you? I mean, this is all really cool, but I think we both know why we’re here…and if I’ve got totally the wrong idea, then just tell me, and I’ll make my way out.”
Sharon pursed her lips for a second, before getting up from the bed, crossing the short distance between them, taking Ian’s face in her hands, kissing him. When she had finished, Ian’s hands had gone to hers, and he had stood up, bring her hands to his shoulders, his arms snaking around her waist, lifting her up slightly.
“Why didn’t you just do it earlier? I thought we went to see that stupid movie so we could make out, Ian.” Sharon rolled her eyes. “That’s just what you do during romantic comedies. You don’t actually go to watch them, you know.”
“Is that what all of those other people were doing there? Silly me…” Ian couldn’t resist picking her up, hoisting her legs up around his hips, moving blindly towards the door, to push it shut before pushing her up against it.
“Damn…” She held on to his shoulders, “You just picked me up like a rag doll…”
“I’m not as old as I look huh?”
“Stronger then you look would be a better term.” She smiled.