Chances

"Here's your change, and we'll have your drink right out for you!" the barista told him with a smile.

Michael returned the smile and said thank you, shoving his change into his pocket and going to stand over at the wall to wait for his drink to be called. Being that it was still early in the season, he had taken it upon himself to explore the city as much as he could during his off days. With a city as beautiful as Vancouver, Michael knew that there would be a lot to do and see, but decided to make his first stop the local Starbucks before setting out on his explorations.

He observed the few people sitting around the coffee shop: a group of college students huddled over their laptops working on a project, a nurse on her lunch break, and a young mom with her baby. But, he was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard, what he believed to be, someone speaking Italian.

"Non dammi un dannato, ho messo l'ordine due settimane fa! Avrei dovuto ricevere ormai!"

Michael turned to see a girl standing a few feet away from him talking on the phone with her free hand gesturing a bit wildly. She was by no means yelling, but she was talking a bit emphatically, and her tone seemed upset.

He could only see her side profile, but from what he could tell, she stood at chest height to him. She was dressed casually in a flowing floral tank top and dark wash jeans, and he watched as she ran her hand through her long brown locks a few times. He wanted nothing more than for her to turn around fully so he could get a good look at her.

Plus, the rapid fire Italian she was speaking really turned him on.

"Caffe Americano for Amelia!!"

The mystery girl turned and walked towards the counter, and that's when Michael caught on to a pair of ice blue eyes. They were mesmerizing, and really brought out her beauty. Her eyes met Michael's, and she offered him a smile as she picked up her drink. He smiled back, and she turned to the barista and mouthed a thank you before heading towards the door.

'If the women in Vancouver are as beautiful as her, living here is gonna be amazing.' he thought to himself.

"Ice coffee with almond milk for Michael!"

He moved over to the counter to grab his coffee and thanked the barista. But as he headed towards the door, a small brown wallet caught his eye on one of the near by tables. He looked around, thinking he might notice someone looking for it, but everyone seemed engrossed in their own business. He flipped the wallet over, and noticed an I.D. sticking out of one of the slots, so he slid it out to find the owner.

'Amelia Tarentino' Michael read. Realizing that she had only walked out of the Starbucks maybe a minute prior, he quickly grabbed the wallet and headed out the door, hoping to catch her.

His eyes scanned over the street and he caught sight of her about half a block ahead of him. Jogging slightly, he made his way down the sidewalk, muttering a few 'I'm sorry's and 'excuses me's' as he weaved through people in order to catch up to her. As he got close, he reached out a hand to grab her attention.

"Excuse me miss! You forgot your wal-" but before he could complete the sentence, Amelia stopped suddenly, causing Michael to crash into her and his coffee to burst and spill all over his shirt.

"Oh fuck!" he exclaimed, feeling the ice coffee seep through his shirt and onto his skin. Wrong day to wear a white t-shirt DZ he thought.

"Oh my god, Tara lemme call you back." Amelia said into her phone and quickly hung up the call. She turned to Michael, eyes wide in concern. "I'm so incredibly sorry!! Are you okay?"

He looked down at her, and found himself mesmerized again by her eyes. He smiled at her and grabbed the bottom of his shirt and began to shake it a bit, to avoid the wetness being in direct contact on his skin.

"Not how I wanted to have my morning coffee, but hey this was definitely a wake up." he replied, and she giggled a bit. He held up her wallet and watched her eyes go wide again. "You left your wallet at Starbucks."

"Holy shit thank you!" she exclaimed, reaching out to take it from his outstretched hand. "You're a life saver!" She paused to glance at the growing coffee stain on his white shirt, and tried not to stare at his abs. "I feel bad about ruining your shirt though, let me make it up to you."

"Oh hey come on, it's just a t-shirt, it's no big deal." Michael told her, but she shook her head in refusal.

"Look I own the boutique around the corner and we just got a big shipment in, let me at least get you a new shirt so you don't have to go back home wet and coffee stained." Amelia said.

"I promise it's not a big deal, I don't live too far from here so I'm just gonna head home and get changed." He reassured her.

"I'm not letting you out of my sight until you agree." She told him with a smirk. He smiled down at her, enjoying the slight feistiness in her tone.

"So I really have no say in this?" he asked her.

"Nope! Now follow me." she replied, turning to lead the way. Michael watched her for a moment, taking notice of how her hips swayed as she walked and how her jeans stretched nicely over her ass. He jogged a few steps to catch up to her, and fell into stride as they walked around the block.

"I'm Michael by the way." he turned to her, holding out a hand. She smiled and shook his hand. "Amelia! Nice to meet you. Sorry it had to be under these circumstances"

He chuckled and told her, "It's totally okay. Might consider a coffee shower every now and again if I really need a wake up."

She giggled as she led him through the doors of a shop called ATJ boutique. It was a fairly large store, with various racks of men and women's clothing strategically placed around the floor, along with various items hanging on the wall.

"Cool place you've got here." He told her as he followed her though the shop and towards the back door labeled 'Employees only'.

She turned back and smiled at him. "Thank you! We've been here for a few years, and me and my best friend co-own the place." She led him though the door and down the hall towards a few doors, two of which were offices, and one a storage room.

"Tara??" Amelia called out as she led them into what Michael assumed was her office. A small blonde with glasses perched on her nose appeared a few moments later at the doorway.

"Hey what the hell happened when we were on the phone, you sounded totally freaked out about-" Tara began but stopped and went wide eyed as she spotted Michael.

"Holy shit you're Michael Del Zotto!" she exclaimed. Michael laughed and Amelia turned to stare at her best friend. "You guy's know each other?" she asked.

"Milly, he plays for the Canucks!!" Tara told her, and then turned back to Michael. "Sorry, I'm just a big fan of the team."

"Don't be sorry! It's always nice to meet fans!" Michael smiled at her, and she blushed.

Amelia smirked at her best friend's sudden shyness, but continued to ask "Hey can you grab a couple of those new mens shirts we got from that shipment from Italy? I accidentally knocked into Michael and spilled his coffee all over him." Tara nodded and was back in a flash with four shirts in hand. Amelia took them from her and observed them for a minute before holding up a white short sleeve button up with black polka dots to Michael's torso.

"Try this on, I'm pretty sure it'll fit, and I think it'll look good on you!" She smiled and held it out to him. "We'll be across the hall in Tara's office, pop in when you're done."

"Thank you ladies." he smiled back, and Amelia pushed Tara out of her office and into Tara's.

As Michael got changed, he couldn't help but overhear the two of them not so subtly whispering.

'Milly oh my god he's so hot! I can't believe you met him'

'That's the new hockey player for the Canucks that you were telling me about?'

'Yes you dumbass I can't believe you didn't recognize him!'

'Well I'm sorry for not paying closer attention to hockey like you do... but yeah I gotta admit I think he's smokin' hot'

Michael chuckled as he heard Amelia's last comment. Feeling's mutual he thought to himself as he buttoned the shirt up.

'You have to ask him out'

'What? Tara I can't do that, are you psycho?'

'You have to! He's gorgeous and he was totally giving you the eyes. He thinks you're hot too!'

'You truly are nuts Tara I swear to God'

Michael smiled, and walked out of Amelia's office and into Tara's, where both ladies immediately went quiet. "What do you guy's think?" he asked.

"I love it! You look great." Amelia smiled and Tara nodded.

"Well as much as I really do appreciate it, will you at least let me pay for this?" Michael asked, looking to Amelia.

"No I promise it's my treat, it's the least I could do." She replied.

"Well... at least lemme take you out sometime? I would love to get to know you better." He said, giving her a small smile.

Before Amelia had a chance to reply, Tara jumped in, "She accepts! Pick her up this friday at 8!"

Amelia let out a breath and Michael chuckled at Tara's sudden outburst. She turned to Michael and smiled.

"What she said"