A Coffee Shop Napkin & A Peppermint Kiss

Disclaimer: This story is fiction. Fiction=Not True. Get it?

Also, to some this story may seem a little...far-fetched--not very likely to happen, but I like the concept, and short stories aren't usually my specialty, but I think this one turned out pretty good. Please tell me what you think! & If you have any stories you'd like me to post please send them my way!

Nick sat at a small, round table in a dark corner of the coffee shop. He was thinking about his life, his singing career, his family, his friends. Then he got to thinking about that girl he met after a concert just two days earlier. What was her name, Cara or Sara, maybe? Nick shook his head at the thoughts of not even being able to remember the name of the girl that he had seemed so into just a couple of nights ago. As he took a sip of his coffee, he saw a girl coming in his direction. Oh great, I've been spotted, Nick thought. No corner can be dark enough to hide me. Nick turned his head away thinking maybe he could still get out of it, then he realized the girl wasn't coming to his table. Instead she sat at her own table for one, right beside Nick’s table. Nick gave a sigh of relief at this.

Nick couldn't believe it. He wasn't recognized; he could swear the girl looked right at him. This baffled Nick. It baffled him so much that he couldn’t help but look at the girl in wonderment. He watched as she sipped her drink, and gazed down at the book in front of her. She looked fairly plain for the most part. She wore a black sweater with gray pants and black shoes. She had brown, shoulder length hair, which she pushed behind her ear as she read so that it would not be in her face; Nick could also tell that there was no hair spray in this girl's hair at all. She wore no jewelry except a watch, and she wore no make-up.

As plain as she looked, Nick couldn't help but stare. She looked so interested in what she was reading. It just seemed as if she was in her own little world, a world that nobody else in the coffee shop knew of, a world where anything could happen. Nick wanted to escape to this world too. He loved his life, but sometimes he just wanted to get away. He wanted privacy. He wanted love. He wanted to wake up in the morning with no plans, no agenda; if he was still tired, he could go back to sleep. If he wanted to go out he could, and he wouldn't have to worry about being mobbed when he went out.

The girl closed her book and took another sip of her drink. She then pushed her hair back behind her ear and looked around. When she did this she couldn't help but notice the blonde guy at the next table, who was wearing a green sweater and glasses and looked to be in some sort of trance. He was a dreamer, she could tell. Nick saw her and looked down at the table, then immediately back up at her. He smiled sweetly at her, and she smiled back. Nick loved her smile. She looked so innocent and sweet. After seeing her smile, Nick knew that he had to talk to her.

He got up from his table and approached her. "Mind if I sit with you?" He managed to say.

The girl was extremely surprised. Why would this beautiful guy want to sit with me? She pondered. After hesitating for only a short moment she answered, "No, I don't mind at all."

Nick sat down in the chair across from the girl. "So what are you reading?" He asked.

Once again the girl hesitated slightly. First she couldn't believe this beautiful guy would want to sit by her, and now she couldn't believe that he was asking her about the book she was reading. Finally she answered, "It's a poetry book." Nick smiled and nodded. The girl felt slightly nervous and uneasy. She took another sip of her drink and tried to think of something to say to the guy at her table, but she just couldn't think of anything. "I'm sorry," She managed to say.

"Why?" Nick replied.

"I'm just a little shy around guys." Now she stared down at her cup so as not to make eye contact with him.

"That's okay. I'm shy sometimes too. What's your name?"

"Kylee."

"That's pretty."

Kylee finally looked up from her coffee cup. "So are you going to tell me your name?"

Nick gave a big smile. Obviously the girl didn't know who he was. He was so used to meeting people that already knew who he was, so he never really had to introduce himself. Most people may see introducing oneself as a simple, common thing, but it was a real treat to Nick. "I'm Nick," he answered happily.

Kylee nodded. Despite her shyness and the trouble she had making eye contact with people, she now couldn't help but look deep in to Nick's eyes. She saw so much truth in them. She saw him as a seemingly carefree guy, definitely a dreamer; a guy filled with happiness and optimism, but somewhere within his soul there was conflict, she could tell. He was in some sort of seemingly happy situation that definitely had its consequences; he was happy with so many aspects of his life, but something was definitely missing. She knew all of this just by looking in his eyes.

After seeing all this Kylee put her guard down a little. She knew that although Nick seemed beautiful on the outside, he definitely had his share of problems, and on the inside, there was a possibility that he wasn't that much different from her. "What are you doing here, Nick?"

"I came to get some coffee."

"But why are you really here, of all places? And why are you sitting with me?"

"I have to be somewhere in a little while, and this place looked pretty quiet, so I thought I'd come in here. I thought it would be peaceful. As for why I'm sitting by you, I really can't say. I was watching you earlier as you read in your book, and you just looked tranquil. You seemed to be in your own world, a world I wouldn't mind escaping to."

"I love reading. At times I do feel like I'm in my own world. You should try it; it just seems to set my heart free, if only for a minute, or maybe an hour..." She trailed off.

"I don't always get a lot of free time."

"I know we’ve just met and all, but you can talk to me. You seem a little troubled."

Nick was now a little uneasy. He didn’t like revealing things about his private life to anyone. However this girl seemed really different. Nick didn’t even know her, but for some reason he felt that he could trust her.

"It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I didn’t mean to pry. You just looked like you could use someone to talk to.”

“No, I’m sorry. I’m just kind of a secretive person. You can’t trust anyone these days. But if I talked to you, you’re really not going to tell anyone, are you?”

“Of course not. When people tell me things in confidence, I keep it to myself. Besides I’m sure the two of us have no friends in common.”

Nick couldn’t help but smile at this comment. He knew that this girl had no idea who he was, and that was one thing he liked about her. This girl was not throwing herself at him just because he was Nick Carter. This girl was asking him a personal question to simply be friendly and caring unlike some people he had met in the past.

“You really don’t know who I am, do you?” Nick asked.

“Am I suppose to know you?” Kylee asked. “You didn’t go to school with me, did you?”

“Oh, no,” Nick answered quickly. “I’m not from around here. The reason I said that was because a lot of people think that I look like other people. You know, like I’ve got one of those faces.” Nick took a nervous, deep breath. He hoped she bought his explanation.

“Well, I think you have a very sweet face, but I think it’s really one of a kind, actually. You look like nobody I’ve ever met before.”

Nick smiled. He took that statement as a compliment. He decided to change the subject, “How old are you?”

The girl frowned at this question. “Well, I’m sure you look at me and think I’m around fourteen, but I’m really nineteen. Hard to believe, I know.”

“No, I would have guessed you to be around nineteen,” Nick lied. Actually he thought she’d be around sixteen, but he didn’t want to make her feel bad.

Kylee smiled. She knew Nick was just trying to make her feel better; she knew very well that Nick wouldn’t have guessed her to be around nineteen.

“Does it bother you when people look at you and assume you’re younger than you really are?”

“I’m kinda used to it. I guess what bothers me more is that people look at me and judge me. People look at me and see me as this little girl who just wants to study all the time. I know I look extremely innocent, but I like to have fun too.”

“I know what you mean. I feel like people are always judging me too. I hate being criticized for things that I really can’t help, and then other times people tell me how great they think I am, and I feel like I’m put on a pedestal that’s way too big for me.”

“You’re afraid you won’t live up to people’s expectations of you,” Kylee replied.

Nick couldn’t believe how easy it was for him to talk to Kylee. He felt like he had known her for years. There was just something about her that told Nick to trust her. So he did, and she seemed to understand everything he told her. Nick told Kylee that he was in a position where it was very hard for him to have a private life. He never told her who he was; instead he called himself an up-and-coming-singer. He told her about the difficulties of having a girlfriend when he traveled a lot, and he told her about the difficulties of finding friends that he could trust.

“You seem like a wonderful person, Nick. I think you’re right to worry about people using you, but I don’t think you should worry so much about what others think.”

Nick laughed slightly. “Do you care about what people think of you?”

Kylee smiled. She realized what Nick was getting at. Kylee was giving Nick the same advice that she should be taking herself. “Okay, I shouldn’t worry about people judging me on my young, innocent look. I guess you can’t really help but be conscious of other people’s judgments of you.”

“You seem very smart.” Nick replied.

“See it’s the smart, little, school-girl thing again!” Kylee laughed.

“There’s nothing wrong with being a school girl and being smart.” Nick replied in a serious tone. “I mean, I loved watching you as you were reading earlier. You looked so--free. Typically a guy would see a girl walking around in a little mini-skirt strutting her stuff, and go ‘wow,’ but I’m even more wowed by a girl who looks beautiful without even trying; a girl who listens and who really cares.” Nick took Kylee’s hand and gave her one tender kiss.

Kylee was speechless. Nick was a handsome guy. He seemed very sweet, and she did like the kiss, but she had just met him, and she really didn’t even know him. “I can’t believe you did that,” she managed to say.

“Was that okay? I assumed it was okay to kiss you, but you might not have wanted me too.” Nick suddenly sounded anxious and worried. “I’m sorry. That was a stupid thing to do. I shouldn’t assume anything.”

“Nick, it’s okay. Normally I wouldn’t want someone, whom I’ve just met, to kiss me, but I don’t think you meant any harm in it.”

“I still shouldn’t have done it. We just met, and I normally wouldn’t have done that. It just seemed right at the time.”

“Nick, I don’t normally go for that sort of thing either, since we just met, but I liked it. It was good.”

Nick smiled and took the last sip of his coffee. “I’m kinda dating someone right now--nothing serious”

“I’m also dating somebody--nothing serious,” Kylee replied.

Nick stared down at his now empty cup. He was really lost for words at this point.

The silence was killing Kylee. She had to break it. “What are we even talking about? We just met, and you’ve been talking to me about your trust issues and your problems. Now we’re over here talking about....” She trailed off.

“I’m sorry. It was my fault. I shouldn’t have kissed you, even if you did kinda like it, especially since I have to go.”

“Where are you going?”

“I have to go sing somewhere.”

“I see. Is it anywhere I can go?”

“No, I’m afraid not.” Nick took her hand in his. “I enjoyed talking to you. Would you like to give me your number. I could call you sometime.”

“You might call me some time. Or you might lose my number. You might meet a pretty blonde tomorrow. It’s been nice meeting you, Nick. I’ve enjoyed talking to you. Hey, why don’t you just autograph this napkin for me. So when you’re a big star I can say that I had coffee with you once.” She gave a black pen to Nick. He took it and wrote his name on a napkin. He stood up and handed the napkin to Kylee. She looked at it and smiled. Nick then took her hand and pulled her up.

“So you want to say goodbye?” Nick asked.

“From what you’ve told me, you seem to have a hectic life. I couldn’t compete. I don’t want to compete, and you deserve to have somebody very beautiful in your life.”

Nick placed his hand under Kylee’s cheek. “You’re beautiful,” He told her, and then he gave her another tender kiss. He thought silently for a moment. “It’s like...peppermint,” He finally said.

“Peppermint lip balm,” Kylee answered with a smile. Nick smiled and then kissed her on the cheek. For a single moment, time seemed to stand still. The two of them just looked at each other. It only lasted maybe a minute, but it seemed more like an eternity. If someone had just walked into the coffee shop, they probably would have guessed that Nick and Kylee were young lovers who were parting ways; young lovers who had possibly known each other all their lives and were meant for each other, but for some reason they just couldn’t be together.

“Goodbye,” Nick finally managed to say.

Kylee’s eyes shifted to the floor. “Goodbye.” She replied. Then Nick turned and walked away. He felt such great emotion as he walked across the floor. He wanted to turn back and tell Kylee that he had to have her number, that he had to see her again, but he knew that it would be better for Kylee this way; obviously she didn’t want to give Nick her number, because she was afraid that he’d end up hurting her. Besides they had only met for a few minutes; they didn’t even know each other. Yet still as Nick walked down the street he felt the strongest need to go back.

Kylee slowly sat back in her seat. She looked at the white, paper napkin that Nick had signed for her. “Nick Carter,” She whispered to herself. Kylee opened her poetry book to page 149, the page she had been reading just before she saw Nick. The page that she seemed so into, according to Nick. She placed the paper napkin on this page and closed the book. Then she thought of Nick, his true-blue eyes, his beautiful, blonde hair, his magical smile, and his sweet words. Although she had only met him for a few moments, she knew that she would not soon forget him. Kylee finally got up from the table and put her coat on. She then picked up her book and left the coffee shop.

Meanwhile Nick had just arrived the MTV studio to do a show with the rest of the Backstreet Boys. “Maybe if she knew I was a Backstreet Boy...” Nick said to Howie.

“Maybe if she had known you were a Backstreet Boy, she would’ve wanted to have a relationship with you?” Howie asked.

“Yeah,” Nick answered.

“But you don’t want that to be the base of your relationship.”

“That’s just the thing, Howie. I don’t think it would be. Howie, I loved talking to her. She treated me like a person, a normal person, and she was nice. I think sometimes people are nice to us just because of who we are, but this girl didn’t know who I was. She had no idea.”

Kylee had just arrived home. She walked into her room, and placed her book on the desk. Then she sat on her bed, still thinking of Nick. “Why I am I doing this?” She said aloud to herself. “Stop thinking of him.” For some reason Kylee just couldn’t put Nick out of her mind. This was not like her. She never really thought of guys much; she thought a lot of them were cute, but this thing with Nick was driving her crazy. She was infatuated. Suddenly something told her to go talk to her sister. She got up from her bed and walked across the hall to her sister’s room. Her sister, Janet, was sitting on her bed watching television when Kylee came in.

“Hey, Jan. What’s up?” Kylee said as she sat down on the bed beside Janet.

“I’m just watching MTV. The Backstreet Boys are about to come out.”

“Oh yeah. That group that you’re starting to listen to more and more. I’ll stay in here and watch them with you.”

“You’d love their music,” Janet said. “It’s much better than that country and jazz stuff you’re always listening to. I can’t believe you’ve never heard their music.”

“I’ve probably heard some of their music, like what I’ve heard coming out of your room constantly. Oh there is that one song-- ‘I Want It This Way’ or something.”

“That way! I Want It That Way! Oh wait. They’re coming on!”

Just then the MTV’s Carson Daly announced the Backstreet Boys, and five guys came running out into the studio where all the fans were. The guys talked for a brief moment, and then they went over to the microphones, and began singing. “And who is it that we like so much in this group?” Kylee asked.

“Nick, of course!” Janet answered.

Just then there was a close up of Nick, who almost seemed a bit teary eyed as he began singing, “But we are two worlds apart. I can’t reach to your heart when you say that I want it that way. Tell me why!”

Kylee was completely shocked at what she was seeing. “Oh my God!” Kylee finally managed to say.

“What’s wrong?” Janet asked.

“That’s Nick!” Kylee said in shock.

“Yeah, what’s the problem? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Kylee turned around to look at the wall which had a huge picture of Nick plastered against it. She then turned back to look at the television. So many thoughts ran through her head. She had met Nick Carter. She had a personal conversation with Nick, the guy of her sister’s dreams, actually the guy of her own dreams, not because of his looks, or his money, or even his talent, but because of his personality. Suddenly the only thing Kylee could see was Nick smiling at her from his table, and Nick getting up to talk to her, and Nick telling her she was beautiful. As she thought of all this she could almost feel Nick touch her hand and kiss her lips. She closed her eyes tightly as to keep a tear from rolling down her cheek. Then she finally snapped back to reality in time to hear Nick’s very loud, “Don’t wanna hear you say.” She was completely mesmerized by his talent. He had such a beautiful voice, and he looked beautiful.

As the song ended, Janet said, “Kylee, what is wrong?”

Kylee thought for a moment. Janet would die if I told her, Kylee pondered, but Nick shared confidences with me. Finally she answered. “I’m just amazed by Nick’s talent. He has an extremely wonderful voice! I’ll have to get the cd.”

“Is that all?” Janet said. Obviously Janet was a little more than surprised, actually shocked, by the way Kylee reacted to Nick.

Kylee smiled to herself. “That’s all!” She replied. Then she turned up the volume on the television to hear the Backstreet Boys interview.

Nick was extremely quiet during the interview; well, he was always quiet, but this time he didn’t say a single word. He didn’t really even smile. The guys got to talking about going to the movies and the food they liked to get when they went to the movies. Obviously Nick really wasn’t paying any attention to the conversation topic; all he knew is that it was about food. Suddenly Carson said, “Well, Nick we haven’t heard from you. What do you like?”

“Peppermint,” Nick replied, looking straight into the camera. It was almost as if Nick knew that Kylee was watching, and he was sending her message. For a moment the only thing on the television screen was a close up of Nick’s suddenly smiling face. Kylee couldn’t help but smile back. She knew that Nick couldn’t see her smiling back, but she thought maybe Nick could somehow since that she was watching, and for a moment it just seemed as though nothing stood between them as they were thinking the same thoughts about each other. Kylee could feel his spirit somehow, and Nick could swear he felt her.

The guys got up to sing another song, and Kylee couldn’t help but smile, yet shed a tear at the same time as she heard Nick sing, “I never thought that I would lose my mind; that I could control this...” But she wasn’t smiling at Nick Carter, the young heart throb of the Backstreet Boys. She was smiling at Nick, some guy she met at a local coffee shop.