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skids of books in record time than Hank or anyone upstairs. It was really something to get to work for her. She was a bossy perfectionist and it was a pleasure to appease such a stern mistress. David was grateful that he’d swapped shifts with Chrissy for those glorious weeks before school had started.
     
    * * * *
     
    When his philosophy lecture was over, David headed straight for the coffee shop to buy a gift card to present to Nadine, as a way to keep the exchange of offerings alive. From there, he went to the bookstore, still buzzing with students on the textbook floor. He took the stairs down to Shipping, marched into her realm and went right up to her desk where she was filling out paperwork.
    “Thanks again for this morning. Allow me to return the favor. If you’re up for it, I’d love to join you sometime.”
    “Oooh,” she said in a tone that both surprised and delighted him.
    Her response made him wonder how long ago it had been that someone had asked her out.
    “Thanks. Are you free after work?” Nadine asked.
    “When are you off?”
    She glanced at the clock. “In an hour.”
    “I’ll wait for you at Higher Grounds and if you can make it, awesome.”
    “And if not?” Her smile threatened to make him dizzy but he stayed focused and nodded.
    “Then I’ll get my homework done.”
    He turned on his heel and walked out, silently berating himself for the school-boy comment. Maybe she was checking him out, but he didn’t dare look back in case it was only his own false perception.
     
    * * * *
     
    In the coffee shop, he tried to do some work, but his mind couldn’t focus. Instead, he tried to dissect what had just happened. If he played his cards right, there was a chance that this could be a date, he surmised.
    He’d managed to get a bit of reading done and he’d gotten back to someone over a phone message before the goddess entered the student hangout, came over to where he was and sat down.
    “Hi, David,” she said. He got up, trying to be a gentleman.
    Immediately he recognized the flaw in his plan. She was far too sophisticated for this place. Sure, she picked up coffee here when she was at work, but she didn’t look like a university student or like the kind of woman who would spend time in a place like this.
    “Nadine,” he began. “I’m so glad you agreed to meet me. Let’s get off campus, I want to take you somewhere better.”
    She laughed. “What’s this about?”
    “Sorry?”
    “Well, you wanted to see me for something, right?”
    He panicked. She had not considered this to be a date. It was obvious. He was a hopeful little boy, like a student who goes to the high-school dance and asks his teacher to be his partner.
    “I just wanted to thank you for making my morning.” He smiled. He had to win her over, make her see what he saw in terms of the possibilities between them.
    “Oh, you didn’t have to.”
    “It’s not every day that a beautiful goddess does something nice for me.” David didn’t see any reason to play it cool. Nadine was out of his league. It didn’t take much to figure that out. At least, he thought, he might get points for enthusiasm.
    “Goddess?” She looked shocked.
    He nodded.
    “I hardly think so,” Nadine said. “But thank you just the same. Flattery gets you everywhere,” she joked.
     
    Much to her own surprise, Nadine was really turning on the charm for this guy. She didn’t know what it was about him. On the surface, maybe it was his sandy brown hair and broad chest, his crystal blue eyes and the intensity of his gaze. She could never date him, she reasoned, since he was probably almost a decade—or more—younger than she was. But there was no harm in looking. At least that’s what she had thought until she found herself unable to avert her eyes.
    What was the harm in staying? She had wondered whether David had asked her as a date or whether he really was planning on doing homework and just wanted her to stop by for some reason. She