Three-Second Kisses

“Hey sweetheart,” Mrs Jameson smiled at the tall, very familiar boy that had entered the café.

Luke Schenn had, along with his younger brother, been a constant present at the café as they were growing up together with her daughter.

Looking up at the woman that knew him about as good as his own mother did, Luke returned the smile and looked around, easily spotting Noelle behind the counter as she was talking to one of the early costumers. Not wanting to interrupt, he walked over to where Mrs Jameson was sitting at a table, working through some bills and he sank down on the bench opposite of her and sighed slightly.

“You okay?” she asked, putting away the water bill she had been looking at.

“I need to talk to Noelle about something,” he said uncertain.

Nodding slightly, Mrs Jameson followed his gaze to the daughter of hers with dark-blonde haired he was talking about. “Well, wait a few seconds until she finishes with Jack over there,” she suggested.

“He’s a regular?” he asked curiously, looking back at the woman before him.

Laughing slightly she nodded. “Regular and most difficult morning-customer this business has ever known,” she joked.

“What does he do?” he frowned concerned.

“He gives her the toughest hour on the job,” she chuckled. “Go talk to them if you like. He doesn't bite,” she assured him.

Taking her advice, he practically jumped up and walked over, taking a seat next to the older man who apparently had been giving Noelle a hard time. He looked up at her and smiled, “Hey.”

“Luke, help,” Noelle whispered softly, catching her mother’s amused look over his shoulder. “My mother is evil. Leave and never come back!”

“What’s going on?” he laughed at her.

“No, I’ll take a flavoured coffee. Do you have this here, miss? Vanilla and Hazelnut. Oh, I love mint. Can you add some mint?”

Noelle leaned her head backwards and sighed. “Jack, for the thousandth time, would you please take a look at the menu and pick something from it? It’ll be faster for both of us.”

“And miss an opportunity to have a conversation with the prettiest woman I’ve ever met? Sorry, dear. Do you have a green tea?”

“Why don’t I order you scrambled eggs and a black coffee,” she said as she wrote them down on the notepad in her hand. “The same thing you end up ordering every Saturday morning anyway.”

The man smiled and threw his hands into the air. “She knows me too well.”

Noelle rolled her eyes and gave the order to the chef in the back. Jack finally excused himself and walked further back in the cafe to find a quiet place where he could read his newspaper in peace.

“I wasn't kidding when I begged for help, you know,” Noelle slapped her friend in the shoulder.

He grinned at her, not even flinching and glanced at Jack as he was settling down with his newspaper. “I’ve never seen him here before,” he commented.

“That’s because this is the first time I’ve ever seen you awake this early on a Saturday morning,” she smiled cheekily at him. “What’s the occasion anyway?” she asked. “It’s your vacation.”

Leaning a cross the counter he had a mischievous smile across his lips, one that caused her to raise an eyebrow at him and carefully study him. No go ever came from that expression. “What is it?” she asked carefully.

“The second of July, Elle.”

“Okay...” she said slowly.

“1998.”

“I know I'm supposed to be the smart one of us,” she teased him. “But you really have to help me here or my mom will have my ass for not doing my job.”

Luke nodded. “That day you had those pink shorts you were so proud of wearing. Bright pink, if I recall correctly.”

Thinking for a moment, a frown on her face, Noelle gasped. “No! Are you serious? I knew you’d never let me live that down!”

“C’mon, Elle,” Luke smiled. “Everyone needs to remember their first kiss.”

“Of course, when you're not the one who made a complete and total fool out of yourself,” she complained.

“You brought me to under that tree down at the park,” he smiled at her.

Noelle buried her face in her hands, blushing brightly but laughing slightly. “I can’t believe I had the guts to do that.”

“You said you had a big secret to tell me,” he went on, enjoying her reactions. “Of course you never got around to saying it. You were too busy kissing me.”

Listening to him, Noelle practically burst out laughing. “Hey now, don’t exaggerate! It was a three-second kiss, period.”

“Period it was,” Luke nodded and leaned back in the tall chair. “You took off the second we broke apart.”

She blushed a soft shade of pink again. “It wasn't what I wanted to do. It just...happened.”

“Yeah, you never did come around telling me that big secret,” he whispered, his eyes sparkling mischievously.

“I was ten years old,” she rolled her eyes at him. “All I wanted to do, I guess, was to tell you about the crush. I don’t know, I guess I got all nervous and...”

“Crush?” he asked interestedly, his eyebrows raised.

She paled considerably. “I said that out loud?”

“Elaborate,” he instructed her smiling.

“Eh, my mom is sending me that glare again,” she tried to dodge. “There’s work that needs to be done...”

“I can deal with her later,” he stopped her. “Tell me about the crush, Elle. You had a crush on me? And you never told me?”

“Well, I did tell you,” she pointed out. “Just in a physical way.”

“In a three-second, physical way,” he corrected her. “And the running afterwards. Should I be offended? Was I a bad kisser when I was nine?”

Noelle laughed and shook her head. “I can’t believe you're making me talk about this.”

“Was I?” he pressed.

“Were you what? A bad kisser?” she raised her eyebrows, which only caused Luke to nod simply, not taking his eyes off of her.

She sighed embarrassed. “You were okay.”

“Okay?” he asked, sounding almost offended.

“Like you said,” she smiled. “It was our first kiss. I had never been kissed or kissed someone before that...” her voice trailed off in a whisper as she noticed the different look he had in his eyes as he kept looking at her. Frowning slightly, she looked around the space around them. “What? What did I say?”

“I never saw it that way.”

“What are you talking about?” she asked confused.

“Our first kiss,” he said simply.

“Luke, you're starting to worry me,” she admitted. Had she said something she shouldn’t have? Then again, the whole conversation was one of the weirdest they had ever shared and that included drunken talk when they weren’t yet legal to drink anywhere and things that should never be repeated ever again.

“I always saw it as my first kiss. And your first kiss,” he explained. “The whole ‘our first kiss’ never actually crossed my mind,” he chuckled.

Watching him she had no idea what to say to that. Was it a good thing or a bad thing?

“I didn't mean...”

“It’s nice actually,” he interrupted her.

“All I meant was...” she tried again.

“Our first kiss,” he repeated.

“This is weird,” she breathed. “It was just a three-second kiss, Luke,” she pointed out. “I mean, I don’t even remember how it all started. Every kid does it.”

He laughed slightly and stood up from the chair. “You’re right,” he nodded. “It was just a three-second kiss.”

She smiled relieved as she looked up at him, he had always been taller than her.

“So you couldn’t really determine whether I was a good or a bad kisser,” he continued unfazed.

“What can I possibly do for you to drop this subject right about this moment?” she asked seriously, tilting her head slightly to the side.

“How about a three-minute kiss for a change?” he announced.

“A what...?” she frowned.

Smiling at her, Luke leaned across the counter and captured her lips before she could even finish the sentence. It was a weird and new, but very nice experience. Really nice.

One that ended long before three minutes, Noelle realized as they broke apart. If only the counter could have disappeared...

“Uh...” was all that she could come up with.

He smiled widely and leaned across the counter once more. “Now, how would you rate me?” he asked, practically brushing his lips against hers.

“For a ten-second kiss?” she questioned, leaning back slightly, fighting against what ever cell in her body told her to do, which was lean forward and close the gap to his lips.

“Maybe we should try this again,” he agreed, nodding slightly, causing her to smile slightly.

“In another ten years,” he shrugged before turning around and heading towards the door.

Shocked, Noelle didn't move before he reached the door, but regaining the use of her legs again, she darted around the counter and caught up with him before he could even get the door half open. She grabbed his arm and got him to turn around to face her.

“Not in a million years,” she breathed before hooking her finger in the neck of his polo-shirt and pulling him down to her, kissing him again.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he breathed against her lips, gently running his fingers through her smooth hair before deepening the kiss.