Chance Encounters - 2. Ch. 2 ~ Coffee Shop Confessions

Richard allowed his thoughts to wander as he sat at a small table in the coffee shop, his cup of java sitting forgotten in front of him. It had been two weeks since he had saved Simon from the attempted date rape and ever since he had been unable to get the other man out of his mind. Simons scent permeated his nostrils. Whenever he closed his eyes at night, his mind was overwhelmed by dreams of Simon and what his instincts told him they could have together. The only thing he regretted was that he didn't know the color of Simon's eyes. The man in his dreams had black orbs where his eyes should have been. Ever since the dreams had started, Richard had kicked himself for not looking over Simon's license more thoroughly. It was disconcerting enough to be dreaming about it, but it was even more so when he found his dream self staring into glossy black eyes.

"You've got to get him out of your mind," Richard mumbled to himself. He'd had to fight himself not to show up on Simon's doorstep. For all he knew, Simon had no idea he even existed. He was pretty sure that Simon had been passed out before he had even come on the scene that night, and though he had mumbled in his passed out state a couple of times, Richard had left before he'd actually came to.

Richard heard the sound of the bell, signaling that someone else had walked in, but ignored it until a certain smell assaulted his nostrils. Glancing up his breath caught in his throat as the object of his thoughts walked to the counter. Richard's eyes followed Simon as the man bought coffee and then turned to survey his surroundings. Richard watched as Simon's gaze landed on him and saw a perplexed look settled on his face.

***
Simon glanced around as he looked for a place to sit and had to do a double take when he noticed a guy sitting alone at one of the small round tables. Something about the way the guy was looking at him made Simon wonder if he had met him before. He seemed familiar to Simon for some reason but no matter how much he wracked his brain, he couldn't seem to place him. Noticing that there were no other tables free, and many of the people there had companions, Simon decided his best course of action would be to introduce himself to the man sitting by himself.

Decision made, Simon weaved his way through the tables scattered throughout the room. As he approached the table where the man sat he was surprised to see the guy stand up. He quickly took in the guy's appearance as he neared. The jet black hair that curled around the collar of the black button down shirt the guy wore, the full lush mouth that curved up in a slight welcoming smile, and the hands that seemed to clench and release in what Simon could only guess was nervousness. As he got closer he was slightly disconcerted to see that the guy's eyes were an unnatural golden color.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" Simon asked, indicating the chair across from where the guy sat.

"Not at all, have a seat Simon," Richard answered before nearly kicking himself as he realized that he had slipped up by using Simon's name.

"Have we met before?" Simon asked as he sat down. He felt sure that he would have remembered meeting the guy, but despite the feeling that they had in fact met before, Simon couldn't recall anything about him.

"Somewhat," Richard answered evasively. "I'm Richard," he finished, holding out his hand over the table.

"Nice to meet you Richard," Simon answered as he took the proffered hand. He tried his best to ignore the warmth that seemed to encompass his body as their skin came into contact. "So what did you mean by somewhat?" Simon asked as he took a sip of his latte.

"I kind of helped you home one night," Richard answered cautiously. "You were kind of out of it though, so I'm not surprised that you don't remember me."

"When was this?" Simon asked.

"A couple weeks ago," Richard answered as he avoided meeting Simon's gaze. He hadn't planned on reminding Simon of that night two weeks ago, but once he had slipped up and called Simon by name he didn't know any way around it. It never occurred to him to make up something else, in fact, he didn't know enough about Simon to make up anything plausible.

"I wondered how I'd gotten home that night," Simon answered as he contemplated Richard's answer. "I had to go back to the club the next day to retrieve my car. So did I pick you up at the club?" Simon asked.

"Not really," Richard answered, purposely not mentioning exactly what had happened.

"So what did happen?" Simon asked. "I don't remember much from that night. Don't remember when I left the club or how I got home and I only remember having two drinks. I'm not a heavy drinker but that's not enough to cause me to forget."

"I'm not so sure you want to know," Richard answered and was slightly taken aback to see the sparks in Simon's eyes as he rested his elbows earnestly on the table.

"Trust me, I want to know," Simon told him, holding Richard's gaze with his own. "I didn't particularly like waking up and not knowing how I had gotten home. Let alone the fact that I was undressed and my head was pounding like I had drank myself under the table, which I know I didn't do. So, if you know what happened to me, I want to know," Simon finished before leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest and stared Richard down.

"You were drugged," Richard whispered so low that it was almost inaudible and he avoided looking directly at Simon.

"What do you mean I was drugged?" Simon asked disbelievingly. As far as he knew, nobody had gotten even close to either of his drinks. He vaguely remembered bumping into one of the guys who he had been determined to avoid, but that's all he could really remember.

"I didn't see it happen, but when I was on my way into the club I saw you leaving with some big guy, and it was obvious to me that you were drugged. I knocked the guy out and then since I wasn't sure what vehicle was yours I checked your driver's license and took you home in a cab," Richard hurriedly got out before he lost his nerve.

"So let me get this straight. You'd never met me before, had no clue who I was, but you rescued me from some guy who drugged me. Then you dug in pocket, got my wallet out, checked my license, and then took me home?"

"Yeah, that about sums it up," Richard answered, trying to ignore the slight fear that tainted Simon's voice.

"When I woke up I was undressed," Simon whispered as he turned his cup in his hands.

"Yeah, I thought you would be more comfortable," Richard answered.

"So did we...?" Simon started to ask but his voice trailed off as he realized he was afraid of the answer.

"No, we didn't do anything," Richard answered honestly. "I like my partners conscious, thank you very much. I put you to bed and stayed around until I knew that drug had started to wear off."

Richard watched as Simon sat and stared into his latte as he tried to process what he had been told. Richard knew that it couldn't have been easy to hear that he had been drugged and almost raped. As much as he had fantasized about meeting Simon again, he would have preferred much different circumstances.

"So why didn't you hang out until I came out of it?" Simon asked quietly.

"My only concern at the time was making sure that you were okay," Richard answered, his voice rising slightly. "I didn't stay around because I didn't want you to feel like you were beholden to me or anything."

"I see," Simon answered quietly as he thought about everything he had been told. He wasn't really sure what to say and sat in silence as he went through everything in his mind and tried to make sense of it all. He had a hard time understanding why someone he had never met before would come to his aid without wanting something in return. Not knowing what to say, Simon pushed his chair back and stood up, his hands were shaking slightly as he regarded the man sitting across from him.

"Are you okay Simon?" Richard asked, concern etched in his face.

"Not really," Simon answered. "It's not every day that someone hears that they were almost raped," Simon managed to spit out. "I....," Simon muttered and glanced around him as though he was just realizing where he was. "I need to get out of here," he managed before turning and fleeing from the coffee shop.

***
Richard watched in despair as Simon hurried out of the coffee shop and away from him. He wished that he could have found another way to tell him what had happened, but he instinctively knew that Simon wouldn't have appreciated it if he had tried to play down the events of that night. Reaching up he ran his hand through his hair as he struggled with himself not to go after Simon and make sure he was okay. For someone he hadn't known two weeks ago, Simon had effectively gotten under his skin.

Richard had hated the fear that had quickly materialized in Simon's eyes as he had told him about the drugging and near rape. He continued to stare at the door that Simon had disappeared through as the thoughts ran through his head. He couldn't imagine what would have happened if he had been through what Simon had. Shaking his head to clear it he stood up and tossed his cold coffee in the trash before heading out of the coffee shop, his mind consumed with thoughts of Simon.