Searching

Our farewell was bittersweet when he left my art gallery that day. Though I still managed to have him meet my grandfather, and he was the biggest gentleman about it. The twinkle in my grandfather’s eyes happened to grow more when he was speaking to his her, and that made me smile to see that he was an even happier old man. I always wanted the best for my grandpa, and this was the biggest present. Steve was also kind enough to take a picture with him, shake hands, and just talk for twenty minutes until Stark pulled him away because they had something else to attend to.

I was nervous for him to leave, afraid that I would not be able to see him again after this. It was out of pure luck that he walked into my art gallery. That was when Stark gave me his number, saying that he was mostly always with Steve. Just call whenever I wanted to see my hero. It made me blush when he said that, and he passed me his business card because I did not have my cell phone on me.

My farewell with Steve had me in a bundle of nerves. I did not know what to say, or what to do. Perhaps he was nervous too, the way that he seemed to stutter over his words and fidget a little as he stood in front of me. It made me laugh, so it broke the awkward tension and he hesitantly laughed as well. He was interesting with the way he was so shy in person, but on the battlefield he had the confidence. Then again, that was needed when you are leading troops into battle. In all truth, he seemed to be a big softy at heart.

We gave each other a hug, and I breathed in his fresh scent, not wanting to let him go. Reluctantly I had to, but I smiled at him nonetheless. He gave me a smile back, offering me a salute. A grin appeared on my face as I saluted back to him before he had turned and walked out with Stark that had been holding a piece of my artwork (I still couldn’t believe that he bought it for a thousand).

When I looked at my grandfather, he had the biggest smile on his face. “I do hope that he comes around often,” he told me, and my eyebrow rose, “He makes you happy, I can tell. Your eyes lit up more than they did when you paint, and that is saying something.”

A blush appeared on my cheeks, making me quickly look away from him. “It’s true though,” I whispered, and my grandfather chuckled.

“It’s a sign,” he told me, patting me gently on the shoulder. “A year of searching and you got him right where you want him. Now you have to do what your heart tells you to do.”

I looked at him again, nodding my head. “I will. Thank you,” I told him before looking at the other browsers of the gallery.

Perhaps I would see Steve again if I worked up the courage to call him.

---

It had been two days since my gallery, and two days since I saw him. A lot of my pieces were sold off to many different buyers. Overall, it was a success unlike my other one. This I did not mind because it showed me what type of art I should do. Tributes were always my biggest showcases, but I did little of them because of my certain time schedule.

When I was sitting in my home, I stared at my telephone screen and let out a sigh. What happens if I call and he wasn’t there? What if he was there and I did not know what to say to him? Different questions ran through my head as I went through the worst scenarios possible. This made my nerves bundle, causing me to set my cell phone on my coffee table. This was hard for me.

I was so close, but yet so far away. Why did I have to be shy now? Usually I was not this shy when it came to men. Maybe because he was different. He was the one who did save my life after all. “Damn it,” I grumbled, running my hand through my hair and then picked up my cell phone again. I needed to stop being this way or I was never going to speak to Steve ever again.

The business card was now in my hand, and I dialed the number carefully. Checking it twice, I finally started to call. My heart was beating fast, while my stomachs had been doing flips as the phone rang. It rang a total of four times until I heard someone answer the phone, it was a woman who answered. “Hi, this is Pepper. Tony can’t make it to the phone right now, but do you want to leave a message?” she asked. My heart dropped a little.

“Oh, yeah, can you tell him that Krissy Bensworth from the art gallery called?” I questioned, a little sad. I wanted to speak to Tony so I can be able to talk to Steve. This was not the day, I suppose.

“Oh, Krissy? Steve was talking about you the other day,” the woman cheerfully said. “I can give him the phone, if you want to talk to him?”

I bit my bottom lip, shaking my head. I knew that she could not see me, but I did it anyway. Talking on the phone seemed so distant. “Can you just tell Steve to meet me at Linda’s Coffee House at,” I glanced at my clock, seeing that it was only noon now, “2 o’clock?”

“Sure, I will give him the message,” Pepper told me. “Is there anything else?”

“No, that is all. Thank you, Pepper,” I replied, smiling slightly. We said our goodbyes and then hung up the phone. A sigh of relief escaped my lips and I did a small victory dance. Sure, I didn’t speak to him on the phone, but I had a feeling that the woman on the phone would give him the message. Perhaps it gave me an air of mystery, but I knew that I would probably stutter out my words if she did hand over the phone to Steve.

It made me happy that he was talking about me to other people, but it was still strange how he didn’t know me. Hell, I spoke about him to my friends when I had the chance to get together with them. So, I guess, it wasn’t that weird if we spoke about each other. A small laugh escaped my lips as I got up from the couch to start getting ready for this little gathering. Was it a date? No, not in my mind. If I asked personally, then that would be a date. It was just a simple meeting of two people, alone. That is all.

Well, damn. I was still nervous about it though.

---

I sipped on my coffee and looked down at my phone I was waited for the man to show up in all of his glory. It was only 1:50, and I wanted to get to the coffee place early to get a good seat, plus my coffee. When I was reading a text message, I felt a presence by me and I looked up. A smile was brought to my face as I stood up, placing my things on the table before I did stand. Without saying anything, I embraced him into a hug.

A chuckle came from him as he hugged me back. “Good afternoon, Krissy,” he spoke as we pulled away from each other.

“Please, sit,” I said, motioning to a chair. I sat down in mine and he sat across from me. “We are actually hanging out with only just the two of us, and I am not going to lie, I am pretty nervous right now, so sorry if I start mumbling about something. That happens when I am nervous.”

“You don’t have to be nervous around me,” he told me, “I am just only human.”

“And a hero,” I told him, winking at him before taking a sip of my coffee. He had a light blush, and I laughed softly. God, he was too handsome for his own good. “I am sure that you have women flocking you.”

“I don’t,” he replied, shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t go out as much, since everything is different to me still. You know, waking up in this time period was really strange to me.”

“Of course it was,” I said, putting my cell phone in my pocket to keep it from distracting me. He looked at me with a raised brow. “I mean, it would be weird if I woke up years off into the future. I would probably be scared for my life.”

He chuckled, “Yes, that is how I was. I am getting used to it now, so it is not as bad as before.”

We spoke more, and we laughed more. It seemed like we were good friends, or even a couple. We spoke for hours on end, and I got a total of four cups of coffee. The sweetest thing was that he paid for my coffee without me asking. He had walked behind me and reached over to hand the cashier money before I could even take out my wallet. I swooned when he smiled at me, and he held my cup of coffee as we walked back to our table.

Also, he placed his jacket around my shoulders when he noticed that I was getting cold. What an absolute gentleman. The all American boy that I dreamed of. He was here right in front of me, and I knew damn well that he was going to be quite the catch.