by Olivia Quint
A Sip of Serendipity
Passion Projects Series, Volume 1
Olivia Quint
Published by Olivia Quint, 2020.
Copyright © 2020 Olivia Quint
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
All characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictitious, and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the author, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
We could all do with some more romance in our lives...
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Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Epilogue
About the Author
Chapter One
Joseph
Standing at the window by my desk, I could see Chris ushering his clients into a cab and then running straight back into the building. The sounds of rushing wind and booming thunderclaps filled the New York evening sky. Whenever I tried timing how long it would take him to climb the stairs, something or someone would always steal my trusted partner away and throw my predictions off.
To my surprise, Chris made it back in record time. “So? What do you think?” he asked, stepping into our shared office and closing the door behind him.
He was referring to the couple who left just a few minutes ago. They were interested in leasing a house, so Chris had shown them some he thought they could afford. It turned out they were looking for something quite a bit larger. They even had the money for it, too.
“I don’t know... I loved that one house more than all the rest,” I replied.
The house at Davenport was nothing short of a masterpiece. Apart from its serene neighborhood, the architectural design mimicked that of an ancient Athenian palace. Now, it was just an inheritance waiting to be leased off.
Chris just gave a short laugh and walked briskly to his desk. He started making a racket opening and closing a series of drawers, feeding them the files on his desk until there were none left. When he finished, he turned his attention back to me.
“All right, Joe, pack it up. We’re going out for a drink!” Chris declared, as though trying to prove my previous point.
“Why the sudden rush? And where exactly are we going?” I asked.
“My God!” he exclaimed in mock disbelief. “Since when is it written in the Constitution that one must have a reason to go out for a drink? To answer your question, though, there’s this new bar that just opened on the east side of town. The guys working down the hall for that IT start-up told me about it, and I was thinking of scoping it out.”
“Will they also be going there tonight?” I asked as I arranged the files on my own desk.
Chris shrugged. “I don’t know... Maybe? Who cares?!” He picked up his coat and flung it over his shoulders. “The bottom line is, we go there, have a few drinks, share a few laughs, and hope that maybe this time you’ll actually take one of the girls home with you,” Chris added with a wink.
“Mhm, fat chance! You know I’ll be busy with work for most of tonight after we leave anyway. I doubt I’ll have any time left for her, whoever she might be,” I replied, laughing off Chris’ hundredth attempt at hooking me up.
“I have to keep trying, man, I have to,” Chris replied, feigning defeat.
But I knew him better. Chris Moreland would not stop hammering at something until it either gave way or went his way. And that was the reason he was my partner, and we were the best realtors in NYC.
“What are we going to do about the rain?” I asked as we headed toward the elevator.
“Oh, don’t you worry about it. It won’t last long. I have a feeling we’ll manage to get there without getting ourselves drenched,” Chris replied as he scrolled through the apps on his phone.
I made a mental note to remind him about this last statement should his own predictions fail.
Evelyn
I positioned myself across from the bar, resting my glass of martini on the table in front of me. Between small sips, I watched Emily ask the bartender some questions about the establishment’s owner. At one moment, she turned around to wave at me, and I smiled back at her. She had to basically drag me all the way out here.
“Come on, babe, it’ll be great. You’ll have a good time, I promise!” she kept insisting.
“I’m telling you now, I’m setting the alarm for when we have to leave. I really have some work to do, Em,” I replied begrudgingly.
“All right, as you wish...” Emily conceded with a sigh.
She and I had first met as roommates in college. After our first year of living together, we decided to open up a coffee shop – Eve’s – that we would both manage in our spare time. We took out a joint loan to get things going, and once we were done with school, we decided to keep our little coffee shop going as full-time managers. Over the years we’ve been open, we’ve had customers who just kept coming back, day after day. After a while, they became like family to us.
Unfortunately, as a business, Eve’s was actually turning out minimal profits month to month. I always knew the bank would start hounding us for their loan sooner rather than later. Now that the dreaded day had finally arrived, I still hadn’t opened the file they sent us through the mail.
“Hellooo?” Emily cooed very closely to my ears, pulling me out of my thoughts. “Planet Earth to Evelyn, do you copy?”
“Yes, loud and clear,” I replied, laughing. Sneaking up and startling one another was a tactic we’d been using ever since college. “Hey, it’s your fault for bringing me out here in the first place! You know I have stuff on my mind. I’m sorry, but I just don’t feel like I should be out here, Em...”
Emily studied me with pitying eyes. “You’ve always worked your ass off trying to keep things together, Evie. I think the world can manage for a while without you looking out for it. Come on, just one night?” she asked.
I shrugged in resignation, and Emily literally launched herself at me, squishing me in a tight embrace.
“Easy now, or you’ll chase away the men, Em,” I advised, pushing her gently off of me. She eased away reluctantly, then snatched my drink from where I had left it unattended and brought it to her lips.
“Mmm, I think they love this kind of deal, actually. You know, buy one, get one free?” she chortled. “Anyway, what men are you even talking about?”
Emily turned her head slowly, eyes darting around the bar for the guys that had caught my attention. I scanned the place from my angle again, and once I spotted them, I nodded subtly in their direction. They had arrived just a few moments ago and were moseying around, probably searching for some empty seats. One was blond, while the other’s hair was dark and silky. I presumed the silkiness was actually due to them being more than a bit wet.
“Is it raining again?” I asked, peeping through the nearest window. Sure enough, the downpour had already started outside. Now Emily and I will be trapped at the bar until the rain is over. I just knew she would be glad if it never stopped, and we had to stay there longer than we should. Then she could say it was all an elaborate act of God.
“Ugh, now we’re going to be stuck here...” I said to Emily as she turned h
er face back toward me.
“Nevermind that, I’m heading over there now!” she suddenly declared with an impish grin.
“Wait, what?!” I blurted, suddenly alert. “You mean, right now?”
She nodded, looking straight at me, her mischievous smirk growing wider on her lips. I could see the excitement building up in her eyes.
“Oh yeah, I’m going,” Emily replied with conviction. “I’ll start a conversation with the blond one. You can have the other guy,” and with that, she was already up.
I couldn’t help but laugh nervously as she made her move. I never doubted Emily, especially when she acted so confidently like that. All I could do was marvel at her determination.
I helped myself to some more martini encouragement, doing my best to steady my pulse. When I checked back on Emily, she was already seated cross-legged at the bar, chatting up her unsuspecting victim. I had to admit, this was one of those moments I felt really envious of her boldness.
To be frank, it had been quite some time since I had been engaged in an intimate relationship. The last one I can remember was way back in college...
After watching Emily and Goldilocks go at it for a while, I decided to steal a glance at his friend, just for the fun of it. What I quickly discovered, though, was that he had apparently been eyeing me for quite some time!
I flinched in my seat, more than a bit startled, but he didn’t move a muscle. I could feel my heart beating hard against my chest as he winked and gave me a little wave. He had a chiseled face and a roguish charm that made him look like something out of a Greek legend. His dark eyes were firm and unwavering. And when he smiled, I felt something shift deep within my belly.
I involuntarily brought my head down, pretending to be more interested in my soon-to-be-empty glass of martini. I wanted more of him, though. I slowly raised my head again, this time purposefully avoiding Legend-of-Olympus-Guy’s direction. I tried to get the bartender’s attention instead, but he was attending to someone else at the time.
Instead, what my frantic squirming did manage was to get Mr. Modern Hercules to notice me even more! I spotted him out of the corner of my eye as he got up all of a sudden and started making his way toward my spot. At this point, I knew there was nothing I could do to stop my heart from going off to the races.
As he steadily approached me, I looked back at him and could discern his features a little bit better. He was actually taller than I had initially surmised. Having done away with his wet jacket, I could just about see his chest printed on his fitted, light blue office shirt. I noticed how his broad shoulders and muscular arms pressed against it. These new discoveries did nothing to improve my situation!
His dark beard was short and neatly trimmed, and I could trace how it started from his chin and then enveloped his confident smile. I couldn’t remember the last time a man had made me feel that way before having even said a word. I tried imagining what his voice would sound like, but actually hearing him address me for the first time sent shivers down my spine.
“Is this seat taken?” he asked confidently.
I just shook my head, being too flustered to speak.
“May I then?” he retorted with a grin.
Somehow, I managed a weak Yes and watched him occupy the seat across from me that Emily had vacated. I struggled to control my breath, forcing myself to concentrate on merely keeping my composure in check.
“I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help noticing that your companion stole my friend. I just thought it would be right to return the favor,” he said, smiling.
“I don’t quite understand,” I managed, finally finding my voice.
Of course, I understand! But feigning a bit of ignorance seemed a far better card to play than giving in straight off the bat. At least, that’s the explanation I wanted to believe just then.
“Okay, then what I mean is that I would like to be your date for the night. If that’s all right with you?” he pressed on.
“What if I end up boring you?” I replied with a boldness that surprised even myself.
“Let me be the judge of that...” he mused.
“Are you always so persistent? You haven’t even told me your name yet,” I asked. I’m on a roll here!
“Oh, do excuse my manners. It completely slipped my mind once I noticed you,” he interjected. “I’m Joseph and my friend over there is Chris. We...”
Just as I was admiring his yummy lips while he was talking, the Emily-it’s-late-let’s-go-home-already alarm I had set earlier went off with a supremely annoying tone. My hand immediately darted under the table in an attempt at muting my phone. My cheeks were positively aglow with heat.
“Is something the matter?” Joseph asked. I could see genuine concern written on his face, and I honestly wished I didn’t need to leave.
“I’m sorry,” I replied hurriedly. “I have an important document that I need to submit very soon. And I’m already running behind on my planned schedule, so...”
I grabbed my bag, craning my neck to look around for Emily. She gave me a knowing nod from the bar and understood immediately. She must have felt the same disappointment as I did, but I couldn’t afford to dwell on that. A few short moments later, we had both said our goodbyes to Chris and Joseph and went out the door into the rain-slick night.
As we waited for our ride home, I couldn’t quite shake the niggling feeling of regret that had found itself a charming little home deep inside my chest.
Chapter Two
Joseph
That particular Monday morning wasn’t as busy as we were used to.
We started off answering a lot of calls from our clients, but toward lunchtime, Chris and I found ourselves with not much else to do. At one point, he started texting one of our oldest college friends, Mason, who had majored in Finance and was then working at a bank. To keep myself busy, I began reevaluating the estates we had acquired over the last few months. That’s when Chris called me over and informed me of a property that Mason needed help evaluating. I was all rearing to go by then.
“Are you sure you can handle it alone, Joe?” Chris asked.
“Yeah, of course. Who do you think you’re talking to?” I retorted, feigning annoyance.
“Oh, silly me... I do apologize, Mr. Anderson the Great!” Chris exclaimed, and then we both burst out with laughter. “Go fetch a cab, I’ll text you the street address in just a bit,” he added.
I gave him a double thumbs-up as I backed through our office door, then made my way toward the elevator. Stepping out on the pavement at street level, I began searching for a car and clearing my mind of all distractions in preparation for the task at hand.
The information I got from Chris’ text identified the property as a coffee shop that was late paying its share of the loan its owners had taken out. The issuing bank had been receiving monthly audit reports from the business and wanted to propose a few options that could help them get back on their feet. At the same time, they needed an expert to evaluate the underlying real estate. The bank wanted to know how much the coffee shop could sell for if worse came to worst, and they had to ultimately seize it.
From what I could tell, the shop was located in a great part of the city. It was a safe area, with a good number of successful enterprises around it... All in all, its business should have been flourishing. The owners were probably doing something wrong about it, which was why Mason needed to send one of us over to help.
I held out my hand and motioned for a taxi to stop. After a couple of minutes, one of them swerved toward me. I gave the driver the address and then sat back, mulling over the ideas Mason had sent us. Lost in thought, I didn’t even realize when the car pulled to a stop just outside the place. I thanked the man and tipped him generously.
“You have a wonderful day, sir,” he replied before rejoining the dense city traffic.
Just like I thought, the coffee shop had been wisely established in a good part of town. Through the large front windows, I could see a lot of people seate
d inside. From the outside, it looked spruced up quite proficiently, too. So, what’s your problem then?
As I approached the entrance, the sun was shining brightly, making me squint as I tried reading the stylized name written overhead – Eve’s.
I wondered why it was called that as I pressed down on the door handle. The little bell atop the door frame jingled as I walked in, and I couldn’t help but smile at the cozy ambiance inside. I found my way to the counter and saw teenaged baristas operating the espresso machines.
“Good morning, sir. What can I get for you today?” a girl asked me with a shy smile.
“I’d like to speak with your boss if that’s okay,” I replied. The young barista’s smile wavered just a little. Was something wrong?
“Is that not okay, then?” I asked quickly. Her eyes darted quickly to the side, and her cheeks turned red as she ducked her head.
“Uhm, no, it’s totally fine! I’ll go get her right now,” she said and scurried timidly away. The other two teenagers behind the counter were suddenly whispering amongst themselves, and I couldn’t figure out if they were talking about their flustered colleague or me.
As I waited, I turned around and studied the Eve’s interior. All of the customers were visibly enjoying themselves, either talking animatedly or listening intently, sipping on their steamy drinks. Being a coffee drinker myself, I thought the entire room smelled absolutely delicious. I closed my eyes, taking in the rich fragrance of freshly ground coffee beans. Utterly intoxicating, in the best sense of the word!
“Hi there,” I heard someone say behind me. Pulled out of my reverie – I mean, professional property appraisal – I turned around quickly. My jaw went immediately slack, and I could barely find my words. The woman’s eyes went wide too, her mouth pursed as recognition struck her as well.
It was her! The one I sat with at that bar the night before. The curvy little minx... she left before I even had a chance to know her name.