Escaping Christmas. Charlotte Ashwood

building. The cool air in the café was a welcome relief from the hot sun outside. Even though it was only 10:00 a.m. the heat was almost unbearable. It was the first time she had ventured outside her apartment in three days. She had spent the time writing, thinking about her life and trying not to think about her brown-eyed neighbor. She had not seen him again, but he’d made his presence known. A container of ice cream had been delivered to her door with an A scrawled in a rough man-script on a tiny card.

      It was a small gesture, yet it had had a profound effect on her. She couldn’t remember the last time someone had done something nice for her. Well, apart from Elizabeth, her mother-in-law, but she had a guilty conscience to assuage.

      “What can I get you, ma’am?”

      She blinked at the smiling barista and her mind went blank. After a few seconds of scanning the menu, she went with the first thing that caught her eye. “Hi, I’ll have a caramel latte.”

      Now why on earth had she ordered that, she wondered to herself. She didn’t even like lattes, for crying out loud…and caramel? She knew who she had to blame for that choice.

      With a small smile, she paid for her coffee and took a table by the window. She gazed out onto the street with unseeing eyes. Sitting there, staring out the window on a sunny morning in a quiet area of Kuala Lumpur, she finally felt a semblance of peace. The past year had been hell, and she didn’t know how to put the broken pieces of her life back together again, but at that moment it didn’t seem to matter so much that she had nowhere to call home, or that she was unemployed and an emotional wreck. For the first time in a year, she was just glad to be alive.

      Angie was lost in thought when she suddenly got the feeling she was being watched. She turned her head, and right there, sitting within her direct line of vision at the other side of the café, was her caramel-eyed neighbor. He was staring at her with such intensity that she felt her face fill with color, much to her annoyance.

      Angie stared back for a few seconds, which stretched into a full minute. The surrounding noise faded into the background as they looked at each other across the room. There was a pull in his eyes that drew her in so far she felt like she was drowning. Her pulse picked up speed. She told herself that she needed to look away, but she couldn’t seem to break the gaze.

      Just then someone waved a hand in front of Alex, and he looked away. That was when Angie noticed that he had a companion with him—a beautiful woman with large brown eyes framed by long, dark lashes and thick waves of dark brown hair spilling down past her shoulders. She was looking at Angie with amusement.

      Angie averted her eyes. She was not disappointed because he had a girlfriend. She was just annoyed that even though he was involved with such a beautiful woman, he had flirted with her by the elevator. What was it with men, anyway? Was it so impossible to find a faithful one?

      She took a sip from her latte and grimaced. It wasn’t so bad; it just wasn’t her thing. As she absently brought the mug back to her mouth, she casually glanced at the table where Alex had been sitting with his companion and found it empty.

      “Looking for someone?”

      Angie’s head snapped up, and there he was, standing beside her table, looking annoyingly sexy in a blue-and-white-striped work shirt tucked into black slacks. The sleeves were rolled up, exposing his forearms.

      “Hi.”

      “Hey.” His eyes smiled at her and she felt her pulse speed up. “Mind if I have this seat?”

      She shrugged, and he sat down elegantly in the chair opposite her.

      “Where’s your friend?” Angie asked.

      “My sister decided she did not like my inattention and went shopping.” His eyes sparkled with amusement.

      The ghost of a smile appeared on her lips. “I would choose shopping, too.”

      “She’s my baby sister and incredibly spoiled. Some inattention is good for her.”

      Angie heard the affection for his sister in his voice and felt a pang of regret. She’d often wondered what it would be like to have a brother or a sister. It had always been just her and her mom. Her dad hadn’t even stuck around long enough to get to know her, and his family had refused to acknowledge her altogether. She shrugged off the feeling. She’d done well for herself, and her life had been great, until recently. She missed her mom terribly.

      “What’s going on behind those beautiful eyes?”

      She raised an eyebrow. “Are you flirting with me?”

      “Would you like me to flirt with you?” he asked.

      Angie shrugged, which just made him chuckle.

      “Why aren’t you at work on a Monday morning?” she asked.

      “I’d rather spend the time flirting with you.”

      “Oh, please, spare me. Do those doe eyes actually work on any real human women?”

      He blinked once then laughed. “You have a way with words, did you know that?”

      “Thanks, but that doesn’t answer the question.”

      “Hmm, you must not have been in Malaysia long if you don’t know about makan.”

      “Makan?” Angie was intrigued.

      Alex smiled, his eyes glittering with mischief.

      “Well, literally it means food or a meal. You interfere with makan at your peril. However, I like to think of it as a philosophy.”

      “How can food be a philosophy?”

      “It’s more than just a question of food. Makanis when families get together during the day and friends sit down and catch up with each other. Makan also means to party or to feast. Anyway, lunch break is a serious event here.”

      Angie was impressed. She was surprised to find such depth beneath his stereotypical good looks. Then again, maybe it was a fluke, or maybe he’d studied anthropology in college. Besides, she knew firsthand that depth of knowledge did not always translate to depth of feeling.

      Alex watched her drift off again, lost in her thoughts. It would have been a blow to his ego to see her attention wander if he was not so fascinated by watching her. She was a beautiful woman, and she was getting more than a few looks from the male patrons of the café. But it was more than her beauty that drew him to her. The first thing he’d noticed about her was the haunted look in her eyes, like she’d been very badly hurt. Watching her, he wanted to gather her in his arms and make her sadness disappear.

      He felt his mouth curve into a rueful smile at this thought. His cousin Hussein would say his Sir Galahad complex was showing.

      “You’re staring,” she said.

      “It’s hard not to. You went off somewhere inside your head, and I didn’t want to interrupt.”

      She frowned slightly and turned to look at him. “Interrupt what?”

      “I don’t know.” He shrugged. “What were you thinking about?”

      She picked up her mug and absently took a sip, then made a face and placed the mug back on the table.

      “I was just wondering why on earth I decided to experiment with a caramel latte of all things.”

      “I can show you where to get real coffee, not this fancy stuff. There’s this place I can take you to…. What are you doing this evening?”

      She hesitated, and then shook her head. “I’m busy tonight. I’m sorry.”

      “That’s okay. Maybe another time?”

      She smiled that small half smile that barely reached her eyes. “Sure.”

      He glanced at the clock on the wall in front of him and realized it was time to head back to the office.

      “I need to get going. It was nice meeting