Holiday from Hell

Part 2

The cafe was small, home-like in a way. Colin had gotten me a blanket to wrap around myself, mostly because I was still freezing from my meeting with the snowy ground. In front of my was a nice cup of black coffee. The scent of fresh cookies wafted towards me, making my tongue water. I'd never heard of the cafe, and began to wonder why. It seemed like a nice place to just sit and hang out. I was sitting at the table, watching Colin joke and laugh with some girl. He had a nice smile. Kaylin, don't even start. It's Hallmark day, which means any relationship that starts is doomed. I told myself. It was true. Everyone knew that a relationship that blossomed on Valentine’s day wasn't going to work in the long run. I sighed and sipped my coffee.

Colin left the counter and came over to me. He pulled out a chair and slid in, that smile on his face. "Hey, warming up?"

"Yeah, thanks for the blanket."

"No problem."

I leaned back, wrapping my hands around the mug. "So, who here is related to you? You did say your family owned this."

He nodded his head and pointed towards the young girl he'd been laughing with. "That's my cousin. She's sixteen. And over there-" he pointed towards an older man who was making cookies. "is my grandpa. He's a chef. My ma and dad are out, taking a night on the town for your favorite holiday."

I rolled my eyes. "Hardy-har. Laugh it up."

"Hey, have you read your shirt? I'm merely stating an observation."

I smiled, taking another drink of my coffee. A comfortable silence fell around us, and I noticed just how blue his eyes looked under the dim light. His eyes met mine and I instantly realized he probably knew I'd been looking at him. I could feel a blush start to rise and cleared my throat. "So, thanks for inviting me here."

"Like I said, no one should be alone on a holiday. No matter how cliché the holiday is."

"Yeah. I guess."

He smirked. "So, what made you hate Valentine's day?"

I stiffened. "Uh...just a bad experience with a guy. The usual. Guy's a jerk and girl hates Valentine's day after that."

"Well, you can't blame a whole holiday for one man."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Honestly, I don't know. It's easier to do that. To just swear love off."

"You can't run from people forever."

I looked at him, into those beautiful eyes. Why was I telling him things I hadn't even admitted to myself? There was just something about him. . . "I know that." I whispered.

Suddenly he put his hand on my arm and I felt something between. Some. . . weird zap. I didn't pull away, I just kept looking at him. A couple minutes later, he backed away. "Sorry,"

"Don't be."

He arched and eyebrow and smiled. "Warming up to me, are you?"

I laughed. "Maybe." Whoa...Since when do I flirt like that? I bit my lip and glanced down at my mug. That's when something occurred to me. I was happy. I hadn't been truly happy in a while. Colin was somehow able to just. . .make me feel like everything would be alright. I suddenly felt like I'd dived head-first into some cheesy romantic movie. The kind I hated.

"So," he started, clearing the air. "you having fun?"

I grinned and brushed aside all of my thoughts. "Yeah, I am. Thanks for dragging me here."

He laughed, the edges of his eyes crinkling. "Dragged you eh?"

"Yes, I was perfectly content with going home with my ice cream."

"But-" he prompted.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "But, I guess this was more fun than sitting home alone watching Will and Grace. Although, I do love that show."

"Well, I'm glad you're having fun." He told me, his voice serious.

"Yeah. I am too."

A woman came rushing over to us, a big smile plastered on her face. "You must be Kaylin, hello dear! I'm Colin's mother, Greta."

I held out my hand and shook hers. "Nice to meet you ma'am."

"Oh, please, ma'am makes me sound so old. Just Greta."

I laughed and nodded my head. "Alright. Nice to meet you Greta."

She sat down beside us, her face flushed. She had some of the warmest brown eyes I'd seen, that matched the shade of her hair color. "It is freezing out there! I almost slipped on some ice coming in."

Colin chuckled and looked straight at me. I knew what he was thinking. I held up a hand and narrowed my eyes. "Hey, I didn't slip. I fell gracefully." I told him.

Greta laughed. "Oh, I like her. She's much better than the usual girls you date."

I laughed while Colin turned red. It was nice to see his cool facade break. Thank God for mothers. "Oh really?" I arched an eyebrow. "And what kind of girls does Colin here usually go for?"

"Oh, you know the type. Those girls who flirt constantly and bat their eyelashes every five seconds."

I wrinkled my nose and shook my head. "You're right, I'm very different from that."

"Mom, don't you have something to do?" Colin asked.

"Oh, fine. Kick me away. I'll go make sure your father grabbed everything out of the trunk. Goodnight Kaylin."

"Night Greta." She walked away, her hands on her hips. "I like your mom."

"Yeah, well, she's. . . different."

"Nah, she's normal compared to my mother. Trust me." I leaned my elbows on the table and smirked. "So, you went for the bimbos huh?"

He groaned and ran a hand through his hair. He mumbled a couple things that I couldn't quite hear. Although I was certain I'd caught 'stupid mother' in there somewhere. Finally he glanced down at his watch and sighed. "It's getting late. I should get you home. Besides, driving will be a mess."

I stood up and gave him the blanket, which he threw over the counter, telling me he'd take care of it later. The drive home was indeed a mess, and I almost tripped again going inside. Which earned a laugh from Colin. But I smacked his shoulder, so I was even. I stopped outside of my door, my back turned to it. Colin smiled and held out his hand. "What? You want me to shake your hand?" I laughed.

"Well, I didn't think-"

Before he said anything else, I pressed my lips against his in a chaste kiss. When I pulled back, I stared into his eyes. "You were right. I need to stop pushing people away." He grinned, and put my number in his cell phone.

All in all, my night had gone well. That was right; a Valentine hater actually had fun on the dreaded day. I walked over to my couch and plopped down, my Ben and Jerry's in hand. I smiled at the thought of Colin.

Maybe the Hallmark holiday wasn't so bad after all.

A/N: Alright, there's my little short story on Valentine's day. Please excuse any grammatical errors, I'm sick and everything looks fine to me, when in all reality, I probably have a lot of mistakes lol. Review and let me know your thoughts. Thanks for reading!
Faith