Free Hidden Gem Short Story Collection (9781301405985) by India Lee Page B

Sophie’s demeanor as she walked around behind
the counter of the restaurant, busying about the kitchen. She was,
without argument, incredibly beautiful –
but there was that weird little detail about her that made her
different, that perhaps was the same reason Mike hadn’t picked up
on her allure immediately.
    Mike liked his girls “bad,” the way that
Rufus and Moss liked their girls. He liked his girls brazenly sexy,
like the Aubrey Gracielles and Azuras of the world. He had approved
of Tyler’s pick in the smoky Desiree Silver and even in the
heavily-adorned Queen Bee, though less interested in Gemma Hunter
as a person outside of her costume. He liked things out there and
obvious.
    Despite the radiance of her classic beauty,
there was nothing “out there” or “obvious” about Sophie. She had
drifted about the restaurant, refilling people’s drinks and cashing
out checks without causing a blip on the patrons’ radars. She made
things flow and function with a quiet ease. She seemed to shy away
from attention, not even bothering with a goodbye before she had
left the other night. She watched as things moved about her,
seemingly happy as a silent observer, as if her world was just a
movie she was watching, or a book she was reading – just a story
she wanted to see unravel.
    But she had caught Tyler’s eye and perhaps a
little bit more. Sophie seemed to have a bit of a pull on his
heart. In the past year, he had stamped down his feelings the best
he could, cursing himself for being the romantic that he was. He
would scold himself for anything that could be deemed a dramatic
reaction, anything that was perhaps just a little too “passionate”
a thought. He allowed himself the feeling now, as he thought about
the way that Sophie had so nonchalantly made him breakfast, with so
little fanfare. How she had created something so incredible with so
little. How she had known who he was but treated him like anyone
else.
    “ Mike,” Tyler said,
breaking himself from his daydreams.
    “ What’s up.”
    “ We need to turn
around.”
    ~
    Thankfully, Mike was happy to do another
couple of days holed up in the Vermont cabin, snuggled up to his
Xbox. He was also seemingly excited for Tyler and the notion of him
seeing Sophie again. Tyler was pretty sure Mike could sense that
this wasn’t some fleeting crush – after all, Tyler didn’t have many
of those.
    They were halfway to
Manhattan when they turned around, arriving back at the cabin
around the same time that they would have gotten to the pied-à-terre. Tyler
didn’t have Sophie’s number and was just a little bit nervous about
running into her grandfather again, but he calmed his nerves by
taking a quick shower. He was probably being stupid, making his
short exchange with Sophie into something more than it was. He was
probably making a huge mistake, allowing himself to feel for anyone
again, let alone someone he had known for less than twenty-four
hours. Besides, he had also never dated a fan, though it had become
clear that Sophie wasn’t exactly the type of fan that he had come
to known.
    The restaurant closed at
11pm and they had left well past 1am the night before. He had a
couple of hours before the restaurant would close once again and he
wanted to catch Sophie at the perfect moment, so they could do a
little more talking, maybe. Tyler tried not to get too excited,
tried not to make such a big deal about the moment he’d see her,
but his old habits were returning with full force. When he crushed,
he crushed hard. He just couldn’t help himself.
    ~
    Tyler stepped into the restaurant, scanning
the small space for both Sophie and her grandfather. Behind the
counter, her grandfather was cheerily preparing dishes with the
chefs, looking brighter than he had earlier that morning. Jana was
working as well, stomping her tattooed body across the floor of the
restaurant. She glanced at Tyler, once again without recognition,
as she continued on her way.
    And like