Cold Coffee and Cigarettes

The day we met wasn’t some earth shattering moment; time didn’t stop, I didn’t feel like we were the only two people in the room, it wasn’t love at first sight. The day we met was just like any other day, but it was only later that I realised it was the day that changed everything.

It was at a typical Arizona house party that I first saw him. He was standing only a few feet away from me, his pale jade eyes shone in the dim light. He was leaning against the brick wall outside, a cigarette hanging from his lips and a beer gripped in his hand. A crinkled white V-neck was fitted loosely around his slim frame with faded denim jeans to complete his outfit.

His name was John O’Callaghan. I didn’t know it in that moment, but everything was about to change because of him.

“Indiana Evans!” the shout of my name caused John to turn his attention to the owner of the obnoxious shout. I turned to see my friend Sam stumbling in our direction, a wide grin plastered on her face. We’d only been here just over an hour and already she was close to being drunk. She wrapped her arms around me and then looked at John.

“What is the infamous John O’Callaghan doing outside all by himself?”

He took one final puff from the cigarette and dropped it to the ground, the heel of his boot diminishing its flame as it was crushed in the soft grass. “Who said I was alone? Your lovely friend Indiana here was keeping me company”

“Indie” I quickly corrected him, with almost a bitter tone that surprised even me. I hated the name Indiana.

“My apologies” He said solemnly, but a small smirk appeared on his face.

“Well in that case I’ll leave you guys alone” Sam drunkenly turned around in the direction she’d came, something that proved to be quite difficult whilst wearing six inch heels. “Make sure you guys use protection” And with that she disappeared inside.

Silence fell upon us as I leaned against the wall next to him, the only sound coming from the party and its drunken guests inside. It was a comfortable silence, one that seemed to not bother either of us.

“Want a smoke?” John asked, holding up the white stick in between of his fingers. I nodded my head and took the cigarette from him, placing it between my lips as he pulled out his lighter. His eyes looked into mine as he lit the end of it. I let a puff before exhaling.

“My new year’s resolution was to quit” He looked at me curiously, and then smiled.

“So was mine”

I laughed lightly. “Aren't we a sad pair then”.

We stayed like that for what seemed like hours. The conversation just flowing from our lips as though we’d known each other our whole lives. I’d never experienced this with someone, an instant connection with a person who was more or less a stranger not that long ago.

“The cops are coming!” Someone shouted from inside. From our spot outside, we could hear everyone being sent into an immediate frenzy, no doubt already beginning to flee the premises. No one wanted to be caught for underage drinking.

“Come on” John entwined our fingers together “My car is not far from here”

We scaled the back fence, John gently grabbing my waist and helping me down, just as the first few drops of rain hit our skin. Once onto the street, we ran as fast as our feet would take us, rain now poured down on us as we hid between the night shadows trying to conceal our laughter and not get caught. The police sirens got louder and we could see the blue and red flashing lights out of the corner of our eyes. We ducked into a dark alley way between two apartment blocks. My body was pressed up against John’s as a police car drove past, searching for those who still remained from the party.

It was then did we both become aware of our close proximity. I could feel John’s racing heartbeat against my chest, the adrenaline still pumping through our veins. John looked down at me, our eyes meeting and then little thought was put into our actions that came after. John crashed his lips against mine. It wasn’t one of those kisses were you could feel sparks, but it was still powerful. I was quickly spun around and my back collided with the hard wall. I moaned into his lips as the kiss deepened. His lips left mine as the begun to trail softly down my neck, causing me to toss my head back in pleasure; no doubt he was leaving his mark. As I tangled my fingers in his sandy hair, his hangs ran up and down my body, causing me to shiver and not just because of the rain.

John wasted no time in hitching my soaking wet black dress higher up my thighs. He lifted me up, my back still against the wall, as I wrapped my legs around his lean torso. Our bodies melted into each other, the euphoria radiating through my body, as the rain continued to pour around us.

It over just as quickly as it had began. Both of us were leaning against each other for support, our breathing shallow and dragged as we came down from the high. I pulled down the hem of my dress as he did up the zip of his jeans.

“We should take this back to my place”

Still lost on cloud nine, I agreed. He wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him, and led me to his car. We had sex three more times that night, but from the white washed walls of John’s bedroom our relationship really began, we just didn’t quite know it yet.

The next morning we talked for hours, until our coffee grew cold. It was amazing how after only one night together we had already developed into something more.

I’d never met anyone quite like John O’Callaghan. With him, it's like I'm thirteen again and he's my crush. All I'm aware of in this entire roomful of people is him. Where he is, what he's doing, who he's talking to.

It started out as lust, but then quickly developed into love.

From that day on wards it was just me, him and the cold coffee and cigarettes.