Who: Dean & Tammi What: first meeting Where: Java Jive Cafe, Deck Fourteen (The Onyx Deck) When: Monday, early evening
For Dean, it was the same old thing every day. Get up in the morning, kiss Dylan goodbye if they'd spent the night together, shower, put on his ridiculous uniform, argue with a bunch of nineteen year olds, eat lunch, yell at a bunch of nineteen year olds, possibly make love to Dylan, change his clothes, and go to sleep. Wake up, wash, rinse, repeat. It got old. So occasionally Dean treated himself to something outside of his routine, something to lift his spirits a bit and help him unwind. Tonight, that something was an iced coffee from Java Jive.
He ordered it, then discarded the plastic lid that came with it, refusing to drink out of a straw. He couldn't stand the sound of liquid being sucked through the small plastic tube, and therefore always chose to sip his coffee. He had been to the library as well, so his other arm was laden down with enormous books, full of Tom Stoppard's plays, Sara Teasdale's poems, and the collected works of Flannery O'Connor. He wasn't entirely convinced that he could balance the coffee and the books and still walk out the door, but he took that chance, wandering over toward the doorway and reaching out to grab the handle. Unfortunately, at that moment, the center book in his pile shifted suddenly and he lost his balance, dropping the books and sending the coffee flying into the air. He could only watch in horror as his special treat, something he had been anticipating eagerly all day, came down in a shower, landing on a woman standing nearby, a woman he did not yet know as Tammi.
"Pardon me," he told the stranger apologetically. "Allow me to find you something to clean yourself up with." Even in an embarrassing situation such as this, Dean still found it hard to be emotional. He felt terrible, but his demeanor was always detached and curt. He went to the napkin holder and retrieved a large pile of napkins, returning to hand them to Tammi.