1. A Stranger's Request

The air was stale with an icy attitude that drifted like waves down the city streets. Estelle was quite familiar with the unforgiving winter wind, but oftentimes she would forget how cold her legs were as her thoughts shut out all types of physical awareness. Her heels clicked and clacked in haste on the cement pavement, racing to a bus stop just around the corner. Before she reached the turn, with a minute to spare, a homeless man who was sitting up against a café wall called out to her.

"Miss? Miss, you dropped your phone," said the man.

Estelle turned in a swift motion to see the man holding a phone out to her. Without a doubt, she had indeed dropped her phone. In quick short steps she took her phone from the man's hand and he smiled. After being a victim of the man's kindness, Estelle began rummaging through her purse to lend the poor man some money.

"I didn't think young people like you still carried cash," he said with a smile.

She laughed and said, "I can't explain it, but I feel better using cash than a card". Then, she reached out to the man with a twenty dollar bill. He put his hand up and shook his head.

"That's very sweet of you, but I didn't ask for money, and I don't deserve it".

Right before she could protest, she watched as her bus rounded the corner to the bus stop. There was no chance of her catching the bus now. She was out of breath and the bag on her shoulder suddenly felt heavier.

"Geez, I'm sorry I kept you from catching the bus".

All Estelle could do was smile. "It's alright, it isn't the first time I missed the bus. It's only a forty-minute wait until the next one."

The man raised himself off of the ground and patted some gravel off of his pants. It wasn't until this man stood that Estelle noticed he was wearing a tailored suit, his eyes were gray, and he had the posture of a model. A shiver ran up her spine as her face turned candy cane red. There was no way a well fine dressed man could be homeless, and the thought of her offering him money only made her palms clammy. After he was done making himself look presentable, she caught his gaze and he let out an airy laugh.

"I am so sorry for treating you the way I did," she tried to explain.

No sooner said, he replied, "You have nothing to be sorry about, I'm sure I must have looked like a man down on his luck. To make it up to me, mind if we head inside for a drink?"

He made a gesture to the café the two had been outside of. Glancing at the window, Estelle could see the warm lights shining over the customer's faces and illuminating ornaments on a Christmas tree. Although this man was a stranger, his gaze into the city street seemed lost, no light, like he had nothing to look forward to anymore. After the kindness he had shown her, she felt it was right to accept his offer.

"I'd love to."

Without wasting another moment he opened the door, and both of them headed inside. The café was fairly loud, several conversations filled the atmosphere while instrumental Christmas music filled the gaps in between. An open table in the far corner of the place called to Estelle; a spot closest to the tree and up against the window which was decorated in garland, bows, and tiny golden bells.

"How about that table next to the tree?"

The man said nothing, but extended his arm out in the direction she was referring to. She led him to the table and both sat down. A young man came over wearing an apron and with a scratch pad in his hand.

"Can I get you two anything this afternoon?"

Estelle nodded, "Yes, could I have a peppermint hot chocolate? And what about you?"

She looked at the man in front of her. He turned his head away from the street a little sharply, then looked at the young man.

"I'll have a gingerbread spiced latte please".

The young man wrote down the requests and left. Estelle grew flustered as she noticed the man before her was no longer interested in the world outside, but all his attention had fallen onto her. There was no backing out now, she was stuck until her bus came, and she did agree to this.

"We've been in each other's company for about ten minutes and I haven't even asked you your name yet", she said as she tried to match his posture.

"My name is Gavin, and what is your name?"

The young man returned with two huge mugs of what each of them ordered, and then disappeared again. Right before he began to help other customers, she noticed how the waiter's face was flushed, but only for a moment. Maybe the poor boy was sick.

"My name is Estelle".

"That's a very pretty name," Gavin said, "And what do you do for a living?"

She held her mug, clinging onto the warmth radiating from it. For a moment, her smile weakened and her eyes wandered toward her drink before meeting Gavin's face.

"I'm a law student".

The bustling atmosphere of the café temporarily replaced the silence between them. There was something about saying it out loud that made her anxious, as if the words sounded like they were said in entirely language when she spoke them. She took a sip of her drink. The chocolate was rich, and the peppermint was just right. The taste alone was enough to suppress the weight in her chest.

"That's a fierce career you chose, but you don't seem excited about it."

Estelle took another drink before answering.

"It's not that I don't like it, it's just fierce, like you said".

Her tone was confident, but she was never good at faking an expression. Friends were always easier to fool, but strangers had an uncanny eye to read people. Gavin had taken a sip of his drink, he smiled so wide that dimples appeared. At first, it was possible that she was imagining it, but with each minute that passed, he seemed less lost than when they first spoke.

"Is your drink good?" she asked.

He gently placed his mug in front of her, "Try it and find out".

She looked at the cup, then looked at him, and back at the cup. He nodded and continued to wait. This couldn't be real she thought. What stranger offers another stranger to taste their drink? No matter how much she studied him, she couldn't find a reason to think he might be aiming to harm her. Cautiously, she picked up the mug, brought it to her lips, and before she knew it she was drinking it. She handed the mug back to Gavin.

"I think you ordered a better drink than me," she said.

"Isn't good? I used to bring my family here, my wife and our son. Funny enough, it was my son's favorite drink. You'd think my wife would like that, but she always liked bitter drinks".

The two of them laughed.

"Estelle, can I ask you a question?"

Seeing the light in his eyes and how his face seemed younger, she shook her head yes.

"If you could change your career knowing that it could change your life for the better, would you?"

The weight was piling in her chest again. It felt like both her lungs were being lassoed and tugged on. Maybe it was a good thing Gavin could read her. She didn't always feel this way about law school, in fact, it wasn't until two months ago that the idea lost its luster. Seeing his face, seeing the lights, and the people joyous around them made her feel safe for the first time in years to speak her mind.

"Yes, I would, but that type of luck doesn't happen to people like me. I've come too far anyway to try to start from scratch".

He let out a deep sigh. In one breath, Gavin was less tense. His shoulders finally relaxed, his face completely softened, and his eyes fully embraced all that was happening around him.

"Luck does not change the winds of your life, you do. It's all about chances and learning from what worked and what didn't work, but until you take that first step, you aren't in control".

He paused, looked out the window, then looked back at Estelle.

"Take it from an old man, I see an untapped potential in you. An energy that could open the minds of those around you, but you've buried it away".

His words only made the air thinner, but it was because she knew he was right and to hear it from a stranger made the truth sting more.

"But what if," she looked at him with heavy eyes, "you were raised with a path already made out for you, and to create your own path would disappoint those close to you?"

Gavin smoothed his hair back with his fingers, took a good look around the room, then leaned in toward Estelle, "Can I tell you a secret?"

She glanced around the room then leaned in too, "Sure".

He took one final look around the café, then focused back in on her.

"I was raised just like you. I'm actually the owner of a very popular company, but if I'm being honest, I always wanted to be an author".

She couldn't help but giggle at the conversation. The whole scene from beginning to end felt like a dream, a fairytale that only movies and books could make into reality.

"I know that sounds strange," he continued, " but it's the truth and-"

While glancing at his watch, he stopped, looked at her and a wide grin had spread across his face. He took out a wallet from his pocket and placed a hundred dollar bill on the table. Estelle's jaw had dropped slightly. Could it be Gavin meant every word? She was too caught up in shock and had too many questions that words escaped her lips.

"Your bus will be here in three minutes. Don't worry about the bill and thank you for your company, it helped me think about some things.

As she quickly put on her coat and gathered her things, she was finally able to speak. "You're welcome and thank you for everything."

Right before she could make it out the door Gavin had called out to her. She turned around to find him close behind.

"I know we just met, but can you do me favor and go to this location tomorrow morning? I wrote down the specifics on this napkin. Everything will make sense once you get there".

He placed the napkin in her hand. Out of the corner of her eye she saw her bus coming down the street, ready to round the corner again.

"It's the least I can do," she said.

Then she bolted out the door to her stop, entered the bus, and was on her way to the library like she had originally planned.