By request (I’m honored that folks want to read it!), I offer my short story entry, Chai & Cologne …

Kris took a steaming mug of chai tea from the barista with a smile and dropped a handful of change into the glass tip jar on the counter. She turned and scanned the café; it was amazing how the place stayed crowded, even at this wee morning hour. When she agreed to meet Jeff for coffee to discuss a seminar they were collaborating on for work, Kris suggested an hour before they needed to be at the office in hopes that they could have a quiet conversation.

Aspiring writers and students tapped away on laptop keyboards at every table near an outlet. Business professionals in tailored suits huddled over hand-held devices with tunnel vision expressions, oblivious to anyone or anything around them. A bleary-eyed construction worker with a bass voice ordered black coffee and an onion bagel at the drive-thru window. A woman with too-red lipstick gabbed too loudly on her hands-free mobile phone earpiece near the door.

Kris needed to escape the crowd, so she stepped outside to the patio and sat at a bistro style table for two. The sun was just peeking above the horizon, and the cars buzzing by on the highway still had headlights shining. A sudden breeze carried a slight chill, but it was a welcome relief for an August morning in Texas. She turned the chair so that she could see when he approached, careful to keep her knees together and cross her ankles femininely. She tested the hot, spiced tea and took a sip, then chuckled at herself for feeling nervous. Who was she kidding? Jeff was her colleague. They’d known each other going on two years, but he was just her colleague. Nothing more. Why, then, did this morning feel like something more than just a meeting over coffee?

Granted, if Jeff had arrived at the café before her, he would have insisted on buying her drink – but only out of gentlemanly courtesy and not as a date. He was Southern to the core – a gentleman above all else. A date, ha! Her mind was reeling now, and she had to rein it in quickly. How long had it been since Kris had gone on a real date? She grimaced at the thought and sipped the hot tea to disguise the facial expression that threatened to give away her emotions in public.

She felt a bit self-conscious sitting alone with nothing to do, so she pulled a well worn paperback novel from her handbag and thumbed the pages until she found where she had left off the night before. Ah, yes, Edmond had just been arrested; The Count of Monte Cristo never got old, no matter how many times she read it. Kris became quickly re-absorbed in the tale and forgot to keep an eye out for Jeff.

His “Mornin’!” nearly startled her out of her chair. She sloshed her tea, which, thankfully, was about half empty by then. She quickly composed herself, looked up and answered him in kind as he rounded the table with a folio tucked under his arm and large cinnamon latte in hand. He patted her shoulder politely as he passed and took his seat.

The instant after the cinnamon coffee blend wafted to her nose, the smell of his cologne caught her senses off-guard. It was earthy and fresh – and, like many men’s colognes, it had a hint of musk, but it was also somehow different. It was so … inviting. She’d heard of pheromones before but had written them off as psychobabble, for the most part. But this scent – it was intoxicating, disarming. Kris had never smelled anything quite like it. She was overwhelmed by feelings that were completely unexpected and very disconcerting. She brought her mug of chai tea to her lips and deeply inhaled the potent aroma of cardamom and ginger, futilely trying to drown out the completely inappropriate sparks that his cologne triggered inside of her.

Utterly ignorant of his effect on her, Jeff casually opened his folio took out a pen. “Sorry I’m late. So, did you have a chance to check out at that PowerPoint I sent you yesterday afternoon? What did you think of the three slides I added after Section Two?”

Kris blinked and tried to collect her thoughts. She set the mug on the table and ran her other hand absentmindedly through her hair. “Yes, I took at look at it last night. The slides look fine. I’m going to make one more pass through and be sure there aren’t any typos, check the formatting for consistency and whatnot.”

Jeff reached across the table and patted her arm with a friendly wink. “Madam Grammarian! You’re a lifesaver, Kris. I don’t know how we could’ve pulled this off if it weren’t for your input. I’ll be so glad when Thursday has come and gone.”

Kris tried to ignore the electric shiver that coursed through her veins at his touch. “Happy to do it,” she said with a forced smile.

“You know, Kris,” Jeff said, “We’ve had enough early morning planning meetings over coffee for this darn seminar; I think we should celebrate when it’s over and go do something after-hours. What do you say? There’s a new wine bar in the ‘burbs that I’ve been wanting to try, but it’s not exactly the kind of place a guy would normally go to alone. Know what I mean? Do you want to go?”

Kris tried not to choke on her tea in mid-swallow. “Vineyard & Blues?” she asked, this time with a genuine smile across her face. “Sure, I’d love to go.” Her brain felt like mush at the sudden change in plans, but she tried to stay level-headed. This sounded very much like a date.

Jeff raised his latte and tapped the rim of her cup with a spontaneous toast: “To us, and to a great seminar!”

Kris laughed and said, “Cheers!” before downing the last few swigs of her tea. To us, indeed.