On the Phone (Part I)

Rob put down his pen and lit a cigarette. He looked at his green notebook and frowned. Except for the light blue lines, it was empty.

Some writer he was, he thought.

Rob looked at his watch. 4:17 PM it read. He waited until the waitress saw him and lifted his empty cup of cafe latte. The waitress nodded with a smile and headed for the counter. He sipped some water and turned his attention back to his notebook.

If only words magically appeared out of nowhere. He tapped his pen on his forhead and sighed. Like many Saturday afternoons before, this one was turning out to be unfruitful.

"Screeeeech!"

Rob looked up and saw that a girl had pulled on the table in front of him.

"Oops, sorry about that. It might rain any moment kasi." the girl said as she pointed upwards.

Rob looked up and realized that the table wasn't covered by the cafe's umbrella. He smiled at her and gave a quick nod before going back to his notebook. He resumed his forehead tapping just as the waitress brought his drink before heading over the girl's table.

"Hmm… I'll have the Cajun Chicken Sandwich and a Latte." Rob heard her say. The waitress repeated her order and walked back in the cafe.

He watched as she took out a brown Moleskine and a sign pen from her bag. He was pleasantly surprised to see someone else using pen and paper instead of a tablet.She noticed him looking and flashed a smile. He smiled back and said, "I was just thinking how cool you are for still using a notebook."

"Thanks. I love feeling the back of the pages where I've written. They say the harder you hold down your pen to write, the more expressive you are."

Rob looked down at his empty page and laughed. He held up his notebook and showed it to her. She laughed but quickly covered her mouth.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh." she said as seriously as she could. The corners of her lips were twitching, as if trying to contain a smile.

"Nah, it's fine. It's not as if I'm a writer or anything. I just jot down random things like, you know, love, relationships, life, sex, etc. Um, okay, I just didn't say sex now, did I?"

Rob looked down at his notebook to hide the light crimson creeping up his cheeks.

"I'm Dana. Do you mind if I join you?"

Rob looked up and saw her grinning at him.

"Not at all. I'd love the company." he said. Dana picked up her things and transferred them on Rob's table just as the waitress appeared with her order.

"So you write about sex." she said as she took a bite of her sandwich. "Interesting. Anything I've read?"

"I'm Rob, by the way and I highly doubt that." he answered with a laugh. "I never show my work to anyone. Weird, I know. I guess I just like the challenge of creating something, a story or whatever."

Rob noticed a sliver of cream cheese on the side of her lips.

"You, uh, have a little…" he started but finished his sentence by pointing at the exact same spot on his own face. She tried to reach the spot with her tongue but failed. She wiped it with a napkin instead. For the first time, he noticed how pretty she looked. She seemed like the girl you were good buddies with in college, the one you talked hours on the phone with, the one you'd eventually find hot and stare at lustfully when she's not looking…

Okay, that's thinking too far ahead, Rob thought. He closed his eyes shut and shook his head, as if trying to erase that last thought from his mind.

Dana looked at him strangely. He's cute, she said in her head. He's no Tom Cruise but he's cute. She also noticed that he had his rugged look about him, like he hadn't shaved in a week. She wondered what it would feel on her face, on her chest, on her thighs…

"Dana? Dana? Um, you ok?"

"Yeah? Sorry, I just, erm, remembered something." she said as sipped her latte, hoping it didn't look obvious that unclean thoughts had formed in her head.

"No prob. I was just asking if you wanted to read some of my work. I have some saved in my computer. I could email it tonight, if you want me to, that is." he remarked as the waitress brought him his bill.

"I'd love to! I mean, I would love to read them. Here's my address." Dana stuttered as she wrote on his notebook.

As she scribbled her email address, Rob couldn't help but glance at her chest. She was wearing a top that was showing a bit of her cleavage, enough skin for him to wonder if the rest of her body was as white as the parts he was seeing.

"There you go. I wrote down my number as well so you can text me once you send the stuff." she said as she handed back his notebook. Rob opened his wallet and handed her his business card. He then took out some money and gave it to the waitress.

"I guess I'll text you then, maybe even see you around. It was nice to meet you, Dana." he smiled as he stood up, giving him a better view of her bosom.

Dana, for her part, was about a foot away from his crotch and she knew it. Her eyes was fixed on the bulge on his pants as he put his wallet in his back pocket.

"It was nice meeting you too, Rob. I can't wait to read your work." she said, her eyes darting quickly to meet his gaze.

As he was walking away, Rob smiled to himself and wondered what it would feel like to be on top of Dana.

At the table back in the cafe, Dana stared at her sandwich, suddenly not in the mood to eat. Her mind was filled with thoughts of the guy seated in front of him just minutes ago.

She took a sip of water then licked her lips, wondering what it would feel like to be on top of Rob.

***** to be continued *****