Chicago City Lights

Ben played with his half empty coffee mug, as he sat in the small sandwich shop, apparently located halfway between his apartment and the girl’s who had his wallet. He laughed at himself for still not knowing her name. She hadn’t signed the note she had slipped under his door and that made him smile. She, no doubt, had done it on purpose.

The sound of the bell over the door ringing brought his attention to the petite girl, who was scanning the restaurant. She smiled upon seeing him and slid into the booth across from him.

“I believe this is yours, Mr. Eager,” She teased, pulling out his wallet from her purse.

“I don’t think it’s fair when you know my address, my height and weight, and I don’t know your name.”

She smiled, “Well, Mr. Six foot three, two hundred twenty five pounds, I don’t leave my wallet containing personal information lying around.”

“I was tired,” He defended, rolling his blue eyes.

“Mhm,” She nodded, as the waitress who brought Ben his coffee came to their table.

“Can I get you cuties something?” The elderly woman asked.

Evelyn ordered a coffee and a croissant, while Ben ordered a large turkey sandwich, soup, and a salad. Shaking her head and laughing, she pulled out her laptop. Ben shook his head and closed the screen as soon as she opened it.

“Nope,” He told her, smiling at her, as their waitress brought Evelyn her coffee. “No laptop. This is no time for work. It’s ten o’clock; time to relax.”

Evelyn shook her head, “Relax? What’s that?”

“It’s when you do something for yourself, something that you enjoy. You don’t worry about school or work… or any of the other stresses in your life.”

“Sounds like you’ve warmed up to the city,” She remarked, thinking of how distressed he looked that morning.

“Well, I had a good day…” He trailed off.

“Evelyn,” She finally answered him.

“Evelyn,” He repeated, staring into her brown eyes. “That’s pretty. You don’t hear that name often anymore.”

”It’s old fashioned, like me, I guess. My great aunt was named Evelyn.”

“It’s simple. It suits you.”

“So,” She started, as their food came. “You had a good day at work?”

“Yeah,” He said. “First day on the job and I did pretty good.”

Evelyn smiled at him, not pressing the fact that she knew of his hockey career. If he wasn’t going to say anything, then neither was she. They two of them ate in quiet, Evelyn slowly eating her late night snack, while Ben devoured his late night dinner.

By the time they were both done, it was going on eleven. Ben smiled at her, as she couldn’t contain a yawn. She blushed and smiled, as he winked at her.

“We should get you home,” He told her, standing to go pay the bill.

Ben pushed Evelyn’s hand away, as she tried to give him money for her coffee and croissant.

“Let me pay for you. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t even have this money back in my possession.”

Evelyn grinned and stood aside as he gave their waitress the money to cover the bill and her tip.

“You two are so cute together, have a good night, now.”

Ben winked at Evelyn again, both of them slightly blushing, as he put an arm over her shoulders and led her from the diner. The cold wind whipped around them, as they looked at the street around them. Evelyn smiled at the Christmas decorations that had been hung up in honor of the holiday that was only six days away.

“Where are you parked?” Ben asked, pulling her out of her reverie.

“Oh, uhm, I walked here. I’ll just head back home…”

Evelyn began to walk away from him, but Ben stopped her.

“I’m not letting you walk home alone at this time, come on,” He told her, grabbing her hand and pulling her toward his car.

“Nice…” She mumbled, as she got in the 2007 Cadillac.

“It’s a rental. My Navigator is on its way from Philly,” He told her, grinning.

Evelyn laughed. Men sure were proud of their cars. There was no doubt about it. She thought back to her times growing up on her family’s ranch just outside of Phoenix, her father and brother constantly working on cars in their large garage.

Evelyn instructed Ben on where to go, and when he pulled in front of the old fashioned brick building, he smiled.

“It suits you,” He told her.

“I fell in love with its charm. Brick walls, visible piping, and the loft feel…”

As Evelyn thanked him and went to get out of his car, he stopped her again. For a while, he stayed silent and Evelyn couldn’t help but look into his eyes. The blue was a color she hadn’t ever seen on anyone else, and she couldn’t look away.

“Look, thanks for everything…” Evelyn tried to interrupt him, but he kept talking.

“Like I said, I just moved here, and I don’t really know anyone yet…”

Lie; he had twenty one other guys on his team that he knew and could hang out with.

He scratched his head, continuing, “I was wondering if I could call you again, maybe you know, be friends?”

Evelyn stayed quiet and Ben was nervous that he had scared her off, but when she grinned, he knew he hadn’t.

“I’d love to; don’t be a stranger,” She said, climbing out of his car and practically skipping into her building, leaving Ben laughing and shaking his head as he drove away.