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attention to her every move, but her beauty made tearing my eyes away from her nothing short of impossible.
    So I sat and stared, well aware that my actions were rude, but incapable of changing them completely.
    “What can I get for you?” the girl behind the counter asked.
    I nodded my head toward Stevie, who stood staring into the display case of donuts. The girl shifted her eyes away from me and grinned as she seemed to admire Stevie’s tattoos. As the girl ran her eyes along the length of her arms, I, too, admired Stevie; her sleeveless black dress, and the depth of her very colorful hair.
    “I like your sleeves,” the girl said as she eyed Stevie’s arms.
    “Thanks.” Stevie exhaled in apparent frustration. “I’ll have a chocolate Long John, and one of the coconut donuts. No, make it two Long Johns, and the little coconut guy. And a cup of coffee with cream and sugar.”
    “And for you?” the girl asked as she turned toward me.
    “Give me two of the strawberry jelly donuts and a caramel Long John. And I’ll have a cup of coffee as well,” I said.
    “What size coffee would you like?”
    “Large,” we both responded.
    We both ordered a large.
    And something as simple as ordering a cup of coffee seemed, at least in my mind, to draw us that much closer. It was all the proof I needed to convince me our meeting at the grocery store wasn’t a mistake. We had both ordered a large coffee at the exact same time. We were two proverbial peas in the same pod.
    As I paid the cashier, another girl filled a small box with our donuts and poured the coffee. After being handed our drinks and a box of dinner donuts, we walked to a empty table and sat down. I stared down at the box of sweets and realized just how out of character it was for me to be eating donuts for dinner. Typically conscious of everything I ate, and rarely eating processed foods or sugar, eating donuts as a meal was contrary to everything I believed in as far as my diet was concerned.
    I had a feeling Stevie could convince me to do many things I had previously believed to be in my worst interest.
    Much to my surprise, after a brief moment of sitting across from me, Stevie stood, moved to my side of the table, and sat down. I pushed the top of the box open and smiled at the thought of eating a donut.
    “Didn’t like that side of the table?” I asked.
    She shook her head as she gazed down into the box of donuts. After pulling a chocolate Long John from the box and stuffing half of it into her mouth, she responded.   
    “I don’t want to have to yell across the table to have a fucking conversation with you,” she said over the mouthful of donut.
    “I see,” I said as I watched her stare intently at the uneaten half.
    She quickly poked the other portion of the donut into her mouth and after a moment of chewing, took a drink of her coffee. After swallowing everything, she peered into the box. A few seconds later, she turned to face me.
    “We’re going to need more donuts,” she said.
    “At least we don’t have to go far to get them,” I responded as I pulled one of the jelly-filled donuts from the box.
    “I fucking love donuts,” she said.
    I bit into the jelly donut, somewhat self-conscious of making a mess, only to have the filling ooze out onto the corner of my mouth. Eating jelly-filled donuts in a graceful manner was impossible, and for me to think I could do so was ridiculous. As I scanned the table for a napkin, Stevie reached up, wiped the strawberry from the side of my mouth, and licked her finger. To her it may have been simple maintenance; but to me it was yet more proof of our compatibility.
    “Oh shit,” she said as she shifted her eyes toward the box.
    “What?’ I said as reached for my coffee.
    “Those are real strawberries,” she said.
    I nodded my head as I swallowed. “I think so.”
    “Trade?” she asked as she pulled the chocolate Long John from the box and wagged it in the air.
    “Not for that one, no. I’ll