I hated the fact that I was a few minutes late, this city was so hard to navigate.

But then I saw Paul sitting in front of the window, smiling at a stray cat. He was waiting for me and I still couldn't believe it.

I rushed inside and got two coffees, even though I knew he already had one. I pretended to be surprised that he was already there.

"What did you get me?" he asked, inviting me to sit at the small round table.

"I figured you for a no bullshit tall Americano with an extra shot," I said, handing him the cup.

"Holy shit, how did you know?!" he said, staring at me in surprise.

"It's my special talent. I'm a coffee whisperer," I said, pleased at how easy the conversation was flowing.

He leaned in and said, "Don't tell anyone... but on the inside, I'm just a fluffy non fat cappuccino."

It was not lost on me that his finger "accidentally" brushed against the side of my hand. Why was my natural urge to pull away?

"So, coffee whisperer. Why don't you tell me a bit about... you," he said, leaning his chin on both palms.

His eyes sparkled as I told my story.

Nobody had ever looked at me like that before. At first, the undivided attention made me uneasy but I quickly started to crave more of it.

Neither of us realized that we were already half an hour late for class, when our coffees were finished and my origin story was told.

"This was nice," I said. "Can we do it again sometime?"

"No," he replied, again with a straight face.

I still wasn't comfortable enough to assume that he was kidding, so I waited for him to say it.

"I'd like to take you out..." he said with a wicked grin. "...of your comfort zone, that is."