Routes to Romance Read online

  Edition: 1

  This edition published: 28 November 2017

  © CRAVE PUBLISHING LTD, 2017

  Routes to Romance

  —

  Lucy Lynn

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  One

  —

  Keith and Sarah

  Sarah sat in the lecture hall, eyes flicking from side to side like a metronome as she felt the seconds tick by. She resisted the urge to yawn as her professor rambled on about a tangent no one in the class could possibly care about, their ego even more inflated than the fees they had to pay each year to be enrolled. She let her gaze wander, her suspicions proved correct as others in the room were not subtle in hiding their displeasure, one man in particular standing out among the rest.

  Leaning forwards with his cheek leaning against his hand, fingers slightly hidden by hair just long enough to be considered tousled, but not long enough to be considered messy. A slight scowl on his face as he listened to his time disintegrating into nothing, attention span slowly shutting down and his eyes slowly but surely starting to close.

  The lecturer cleared his throat, irritation plain on his face. "Excuse me? Am I boring you Mr...?"

  The student's eyes shot open, looking around quickly before he realized he was being addressed personally. He ran a hand down his face, trying to make himself as aware as he could. "Keith. Name's Keith."

  "Well, Mr. Keith, I will ask again." The lecturer walked over, hands clasped behind his back and shoulders squared in annoyance. "Am I boring you?"

  Keith raised an eyebrow, the students surrounding him leaning away as he looked the lecturer up and down. "To be honest you're confusing me more than anything."

  "Oh? Is this class perhaps too high level for you?"

  Keith's eye twitched in irritation, but he stamped it down with a very sardonic smirk. "Actually, I was wondering what exactly a fifteen-minute rambling lecture on your last trip to the golf course has to do with Anthropology." He leaned on his hand again, cocking his head. "Unless you plan on telling us that the ancient Mayans golfed at that very same spot?"

  The student next to him shook his head, not leaning away like the other students but not exactly leaping to Keith's defense. "Keith... Shut up..."

  "It actually seems like you're going on about nothing just to hear yourself talk. Which would be fine if this was high school - who really cares about those classes, right?" Keith clicked his tongue. "But it's not, this is a university. Which means that I and every single one of the hundred and fifty students in here paid a lot of money for this course. And given that we came here to learn, it would seem prudent that we have a lecturer that is interested in teaching."

  The room was silent, the lecturer too stunned to reply as Keith began to smile wider, his eyebrow still twitching slightly. "Would you like me to take over the class while you find someone else to teach?"

  Sarah tried to contain herself, she really did. But she couldn't help the quick burst of laughter that forced its way past her lips, the melodic chime of her mirth bouncing off the walls and echoing around the hushed lecture hall. She clapped a hand over her mouth, every pair of eyes in the room now fixed completely on her, including those of the smirking Keith and the red-faced lecturer. "I... I'm so sorry, just ignore me, please!"

  Keith looked as though his head was about to crack open, his grin was so wide, perfect teeth glinting in the light as the lecturer in front of him sighed. "I think we can stop here today, we'll pick up again on Thursday." He looked between the two of them. "May I speak to you two in private?"

  Next to her, Sarah's best friend Maggie patted her shoulder. "Sorry Sarah, this was kind of your own fault."

  "Thank you, Maggie, I never would have realized that."

  She chuckled, gathering up her books and stepping out in front of their desk. "Seriously though Sarah, if he tries to start something call him out on his shit. That goes for either of them."

  "Alright, alright. Jeez. You're like my mom sometimes."

  "Ew gross, don't say that." Maggie kissed the tips of her fingers and gave a two-fingered salute. "Love ya."

  Sarah waved goodbye, standing herself and walking over to where the lecturer was stood, trying to pretend for the moment that Keith was not there. As soon as she entered his view however his gaze locked on her, his eyes narrowing with each step she took towards them, before finally coming to a halt.

  "Now may I ask what your name is?" His tone was already hostile, she could tell exactly how this was going to go.

  She tried not to clench her fist as she answered, "My name's Sarah, I've been sitting in the same seat this whole semester."

  "Well, Sarah." He spat out her name like it offended him, "I must say that what you did was highly unprofessional - do you have any explanation for why you did it?"

  "It just..." Deep breath, "It just slipped out."

  "Just slipped out?" He huffed a laugh, the sound grating on her ears, "An undermining of my authority like that, I have half a mind to take it to the academic board!"

  "Oh, hey whoa!" Keith stepped in, eyes wide with disbelief. "Are you seriously..."

  "Are you fucking kidding me?" The two men turned to Sarah, clearly neither of them having been expecting that reaction. Her vision flashed red as she stepped closer to the lecturer, his body shrinking inwards at the confrontation. "You have half a mind to go to the board about me laughing? I have a full one to tell them how useless you are at teaching this class!"

  "If you continue to undermine me..."

  "What? What'll happen? You'll lose what respect you don't have from teaching this class?" She slung her bag over her shoulder, grunting to herself, "Stop talking about your stupid golf course and start doing your job, maybe you'll actually be worth what we paid for."

  "Why are you making such a big deal over her laughing anyway? I'm the one who caused a big scene for you in the middle of the class." Keith crossed his arms as he narrowed his eyes at the lecturer. "Oh, I get it, just because she's a woman..."

  "Oh, screw you Keith. It's bad enough I have to deal with this crap, I don't need you white knighting on top of that." Sarah turned and began to stomp towards the door. "I'll leave you two to whatever it is you need to get off your chests."

  By the time Keith recovered from her outburst the door to the lecture hall had slammed shut. He swore, running after her and ignoring the lecturer's protests, emerging out into the hallway and looking frantically around him. "Sarah!" He yelled out, seeing her off in the distance. "Wait up!"

  She continued walking, not turning around until he sprinted up next to her, hands on his knees and panting for breath. "Sarah... Hold up... Just give me... A second..."

  Sarah rolled her eyes. "If you're looking for an apology then you really ca-"

  "No, no apology." He took a deep breath, straightening up. "You were right, I shouldn't have butted in. I didn't mean to be so patronizing but..." He rubbed the back of his neck, sighing to himself, "But I did, I can admit that. You did an awesome job defending yourself, it wasn't fair for me to try and inject myself into that."

  "Oh." She blinked, clearly taken aback by his unexpected speech. "I... Thank you. I suppose I might have been too harsh..."

  "No, no you were the right amount of harsh." He chuckled, "Just ask my best friend Tyler, sometimes I need a kick up the ass to bring me back down. So, you know, you probably did me a huge favor today." He held out his hand. "As you know, I'm Keith."

  She giggled, taking his hand in her own. "And as you know, I'm Sarah."

  They shook each other's hand, eyes locked as they started to smile. Keith cleared his throat, "
Well Sarah, it's very nice to meet you. Do you have any other classes right now?"

  "Me? No, I'm clear the rest of the day now."

  "Well that's great! I know a pretty decent coffee place near here, do you want to go grab a cup?" He held his hands up. "Feel free to refuse, I was kind of a dick back there."

  "No actually..." She smiled, shifting her bag on her shoulder. "I think I'd like that very much. You're buying though, as punishment for being..." She smirked. "Kind of a dick."

  He huffed a small laugh in response, leading her out the doors and down the stairs to the street. "Fair enough."

  • • •

  Keith led her to a small coffee house about ten minutes from the university. As they walked inside, the bell on the door ringing to announce their entrance, the barista looked up. Smiling widely, she gestured for them to come over. "Keith! How are you?"

  "I'm good Anna, how're you doing?"

  "Good, good." She looked over at Sarah, her eyebrow raising. "Are you on a date?"

  Sarah sputtered, trying to tamp down the blush that was rapidly emerging on her face. "No! No, we're not on a date!"

  Anna nodded, making a little noise of understanding, "Ah, this is an apology coffee then isn't it?"

  "Yes..." Sarah looked over at Keith, her brow furrowed in confusion and his own face starting to glow red. "I suppose it is."

  "Ok so I have a habit of rubbing people the wrong way, sue me." He ran a hand down his face, tapping his cheeks to try and force his blush down. Turning back to Anna, he asked, "Is the usual booth free today?"

  "Sorry Keith, the Musketeers are sitting there today, can't help you." Anna pointed towards the back of the store. "I have another booth near the back that might work just as well, if you want?"

  He sighed, "The Musketeers huh?" He shrugged. "Alright then, lead the way."

  They followed Anna towards the back, walking past simple art and contemporary decorations, the coffee house clearly modern but not pretentiously so. While there was a focus on steel and angles, the atmosphere did not feel oppressive, likely due to the just audible selection of indie music filtering through the speakers, loud enough to kill the silence but not so much that you couldn't comfortably have a conversation.

  "Oh, look who it is, the Three Musketeers!" Keith waved as they passed what must have been his usual booth, the group sitting there looking up and smirking at him in response. "You three stole my seat today, I needed that."

  The sole woman seated snorted, her two male companions only shaking their heads fondly. She clicked her fingers at him, her tone one of mock seriousness, "You know, you might not need this booth if you weren't such a dick to almost everyone you meet. Food for thought." She leaned out, looking over at Sarah. "Seriously, if you're gonna hang around this guy for any longer than today you'd better prepare yourself for that."

  "Alright, I think that's enough talking." Keith hurriedly waved at the three of them before walking on. "Aisha, Dave, Chris. Nice to see you again."

  "Pleasure's all yours!" one of them shouted, their voices fading as Sarah and Keith rounded the corner of the store, their booth in front of them.

  "Alright, you two just take a seat and tell me what you want." She waited until they were seated before continuing, "Keith always has a flat white, what'll you have?"

  "Mocha, thank you." Sarah looked around quickly before turning back to Anna. "You have a nice store here."

  "Thanks, I decorated it myself." She flipped her hair over her shoulder before turning and walking back to the front. "I'll be back in a little bit with your coffee."

  Once they had been left alone the two of them lapsed into silence, neither really sure what to talk about while they waited for their coffee. Left with very little option, they fell back to the tried and true classics: Who are you, and what do you like to do?

  "So," Keith asked, "Who are you exactly? What does Sarah like to do?"

  She leaned forward onto the table. "Well, I'm a twenty-two-year-old Anthropology student, I live in the same dorm as my best friend Maggie, who I've known since I was fourteen. Let's see..." She smirked. "I like long walks on the beach, pina coladas and getting caught in the rain."

  "Oh, wow that's crazy, those are all the exact same things I like." Keith chuckled to himself as he leaned his cheek on his hand. "I'm guessing that something else we have in common is cussing out professors too?"

  The memory of the morning gave her a jolt of feeling, the lump in her chest dislodging after she'd given herself a second to breathe. "I try not to make a habit of confronting people, though I'm not going to just sit back and let someone walk all over me."

  "No, no that was very clear." He laughed at the memory of the lecturer's face. "I'd be shocked if he doesn't just give you automatic A's this semester, just so he doesn't have to risk you coming after him again."

  She shifted in her seat. "I wasn't that harsh..."

  "Sarah, he looked frightened. He could barely get a word in because he looked like he was focusing on not crapping his pants right in the middle of the room." He clapped, careful not to make it look sarcastic. "Bravo, I'd say he got what was coming. Especially considering it came from a woman."

  "I guess so, but I don't exactly have to like it."

  "Course not, but look on the bright side." He tapped his exercise book. "He might actually start teaching us now. We won't have wasted all that money."

  She hummed in thought, "You know, that does make me feel better. I like not wasting money."

  Their conversation was interrupted as Anna rounded the corner, two steaming cups of coffee clutched in her hands. The cups made a light clink as they were placed down on the table, the air rich with the scent of roasted coffee beans and chocolate. It took all of Sarah's willpower not to moan at the strength of the aroma.

  "Oh my god Anna that smells so good!"

  The barista chuckled, "I should hope so, considering I run a coffee house." Winking at Sarah, she leaned in and said, "If he bothers you too much just give me a yell, I'll come and toss him out for you."

  "I'll keep that in mind." Sarah giggled, watching with great amusement as Keith huffed indignantly and thanked Anna for the coffee. Once they were alone again, she asked, "All jokes aside, how would you describe yourself?"

  He mumbled into his coffee, "Not nearly as bad as everyone else seems to be saying today." She waited as he took a sip, dabbing at the corner of his mouth. "Well I'm twenty-one, study the same thing you do, also live with my best friend of many years, I really wasn't joking when I said we were pretty similar."

  "That's... kind of strange actually. What do you like to do? Maybe there's something different there."

  "What do I like to do?" He pursed his lips. "My best friend is a huge film nut, so mainly I watch those with him. When I get free time, I like to... Actually, maybe not, it makes me sound old."

  Sarah smiled, hand brushing against his. "No come on, I promise I won't laugh!"

  "Alright, I..." He exhaled, his next sentence coming out in a single breath, "I like to fish in my free time!"

  She tilted her head at him, a small chuckle winding its way through the air, "You like to fish? That's not that embarrassing! I mean sure, it does make you sound kind of old..."

  "Alright enough about me!" He blushed, waving towards her. "What do you do? Please tell me it's something like... knitting or whatever, something that makes me not sound so bad!"

  She swirled her spoon around in her coffee, the thin film of foam swirling hypnotically around the cup. It was a second before she gathered her thoughts enough to reply, "Well there's the usual, watching movies, reading books, all that normal college student stuff. But in my free time... I actually like to paint."

  "Paint?" He leaned in, a grin on his face. "That's awesome! Like, what do you paint, what's your... Muse? Is that right, am I using that correctly?"

  "Sure. This might sound absurdly pretentious but... I actually try to paint emotions."

  His grin remained, but his brow twisted in co
nfusion. "Emotions? What - like sad, happy, angry...?"

  "It's hard to explain but... Well, imagine a painting with a lot of red, and a lot of harsh, straight lines. What would that feel like?"

  "I guess..." Keith shrugged. "I guess anger?"

  "Right!" She clapped her hands together, happy that he at least understood. "But one with a lot of blues and curves would seem happy, right?"

  "Yeah..." His face lit up. "Yeah! Alright, I see what you're going for now!"

  She slumped forward onto the table, chuckling to herself, "Oh thank god, I was worried it sounded completely stupid!"

  "I wouldn't say stupid. Ambitious, definitely." He tapped against her hand. "I'd love to see some sometime, you know, if you didn't mind me doing that."

  Her chest seized at the thought, but she tampered it down. "Maybe in a little while. Maggie is still the only one who's seen them, I don't know if I'm ready to show the public yet."

  "That's fine! We just met after all, I'm not expecting to roll down the red carpet with you just yet."

  "Well..." She toyed with a lock of her hair, the tightening around her finger comforting in a way. "You might be in the running to see, this has been pretty enjoyable so far."

  "Really?"

  "Yeah." She smiled. "I like talking to you, if you want... I think I'd like to keep talking to you sometime."

  Keith laughed, reclining in his chair as the tension leeched out of his body. "You say that as if I would ever refuse! This is some of the most fun I've had speaking to someone in a long time, of course I'd like to keep doing it!"

  "Well good... That's great!" Sarah laughed, the light reflecting off of her teeth, her eyes crinkling at the sides as she shut them and shook. Keith's smile dropped slightly, the sight in front of him taking him completely by surprise. Of course, he wasn't some teenager, he was more than aware of what it was he was noticing, he was old enough to recognize beauty when he saw it.

  And it had just hit him in that instant with all the force of a runaway train.

  Sarah was extremely beautiful.

  The way her eyes, as green as the grass of an undisturbed field, gleamed in the sunlight. Her long black hair falling delicately over her shoulders, so soft it looked like a gentle breeze could blow it all away. Her full lips, whether widened by a smile or pinched together in a frown the sort of thing that would lead men to war and women to despair. And here she was, sharing a friendly coffee, smiling and laughing all because of him.