Spencer got a haircut. It was the first thing I noticed when I saw him next. He usually had long hair that stayed in waves around his face. But, now, it was much shorter. It looked really good. It somehow made him even more attractive. With his hair out of his eyes, I could see their full beauty.

I took his books from him and slipped them onto the cart. He gave me a pleasant nod before stepping away. I longed to stay and talk with him. I had so many questions about his life. I wanted to know everything there was to know about him.

We had been talking more lately. He would ask me about my day. I'd tell him about our newest additions to the library. He even asked me for a recommendation once. I was surprised he wasn't more picky about what he read.

I snapped out of my thoughts. I realized that I had been staring at him. I looked away quickly even though I knew that he had caught me. I peeked up. He was in fact looking back at me. He looked like he was holding back an amused grin. Maybe even a light blush.

I was sure I was blushing now. I hid my embarrassment by messing with the returned books. I sorted the cart and calmed down. I needed to just work.

"Grace?" I rose slowly. Spencer was standing on the other side of the counter now. He had a new book in his hands.

"Do you need me to scan that in for you?" He didn't say anything at first. He just looked down at his hands. A bit of fear bubbled inside me. Why wasn't he saying anything?

"Excuse me if this seems a bit forward, I don't usually do this sort of thing, but would you maybe want to get coffee? With me? I enjoy talking to you here and I'd really like to get to know you better." He sort of blurted it out and I had to take it in. Spencer looked back at me with a worried look. His hands were tensed so tight around his book that I thought it might burst into pieces. A smile grew on my features.

"I'd like that a lot, actually." My words must've relieved him because he relaxed. A cute smile appeared on his face. "When would you want to get this coffee?"

"Sooner rather than later works best for me. Maybe we could go on your lunch break?"

"Perfect. That's in about an hour. Can you wait that long?"

"I guess so," he said, a false sadness in his voice. I giggled lightly and looked away. His gaze was melting me away. "I'll leave you to your work. See you in an hour."

The next hour was the longest of my entire life. I found myself glancing at the clock every 5 minutes. I tried to busy myself with restocking and cleaning, but it wasn't enough.

When it finally became 12:30, I could barely keep in my excitement. I hadn't been on a date since a year or two after college. Not that I was immediately assuming that this was a date. Spencer just said that he wanted to get to know me better. I still hadn't really hung out with people too much. I had a few friends from University that I still saw from time to time, but we didn't go out very often. We mostly just watched movies at one of our houses.

Spencer walked up to me with a sheepish smile on his face. His hands were stuffed in his pockets and he was slouching more than usual. I grabbed my jacket off of the counter, putting it on as I talked to him.

"Do you have a specific place in mind that you want to go to?"

"Yeah, I do. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, that's great. You're the one that invited me out. I'm fine anywhere."

"Okay," he said, nodding. He held the door open for me and we started the walk. I stayed close to him since he was leading the way. It was about 65 degrees out, but the breeze made it seem much colder. I zipped up my coat and put my hands deep into my pockets. Spencer wrapped his purple scarf around his neck a few times.

We finally arrived at the coffee shop after an awkwardly silent walk. At least it wasn't too far away. Spencer held the door for me again. I liked that he always seemed to have very nice manners. I had always found that rare in American guys our age.

We fell into the queue and waited. Spencer was tapping his foot. I decided to finally break the silence. It was suffocating me.

"So, what do you usually get to drink?" He seemed almost caught off guard by my voice. As if he was so into his head that he had forgotten I was there. I hoped that wasn't the case.

"Um, I usually get a medium, light roast coffee with a lot of sugar."

"How much sugar is a lot?"

"Enough to worry my coworkers," he said. I cocked a brow and he laughed lightly. It was a refreshing sound. I suddenly felt more comfortable. "What about you?"

"I usually go for a medium, light roast coffee as well but with only a bit of milk and a dash of sugar."

"Just a dash?"

"No more, no less."

When it was our turn, we ordered our drinks. We picked a table to sit at against the wall. As soon as we were seated, he started with the questions. I answered them as best I could. We were at it for about 10 minutes.

"So what did you study in college?" He was done asking the easy, boring questions. I opened my mouth to answer him but something stopped me.

Spencer's phone went off. He shot me an apologetic look as he fished it out of his pocket. His features contorted into a frown. He answered the text before looking back up at me. I knew something had gone wrong. I could feel it in the pit of my stomach.

"Um, that was, Uh, my work. I have to go in. Something unexpected came up and they need me," Spencer sort of mumbled his way through the explanation. He looked so conflicted. I felt like he wasn't telling me everything. I couldn't mask the hurt that went to my face. I'm sure he noticed. "I am truly, very sorry! Could we possibly rain check? I really do want to get to know you and spend more time with you." I blushed and any traces of anger faded. I couldn't be mad at him. It wasn't his fault.

"Sure, I'd like that. I get it. Work is important. I'll see you soon."

He started to gather his things. He slung his satchel over his shoulder and gave me another one of his sheepish smiles before leaving the coffee shop. I let out a rough sigh. I thought that today would finally be the day I learned more about the life of Dr. Reid.

But I was wrong.

I downed the rest of my coffee and left the place. I had to get back to work. Back to my reality and away from my daydream. The dream that I could enjoy a normal time out with a cute guy and forget about the monotony that was my life.