The house was quiet. Thom walked through the rooms not disturbing anything, leaving no impression that he'd been there. He felt like this a lot, a ghost passing through. It didn't feel like he belonged here. Since he only spent about six months a year in this house, he didn't get much of a chance to leave his mark.
    He wandered into the den. Here, his mother had insisted on displaying his medals ranging the whole way back to his earliest competitions. Many different colors from many different competitions were here. Thom lightly ran his fingers over the metal disks and the worn, sometimes faded ribbons, lingering on his World gold medal.
    There was an empty space in the collection of medals. His mother had purposely left it there. "Someday," she had told him, "I know you'll have the medal to hang there." She had smiled gently and hugged him. "I know you will."
    Looking at the empty space on the wall, Thom felt a corresponding emptiness in his heart. He was lonely. The life he lived didn't give him much time for socialization, but he was free tonight.
    Just like he was free last weekend, when he decided to go shopping. It was pure chance he'd run into Jenna then. Tonight, Thom looked out his window, remembering the time they'd had. He toyed with the idea of going to the grocery store again tonight, but dismissed it, thinking she probably wouldn't be shopping.
    Thom's hand strayed to the phone. He'd looked up her number after coming home from the store and had almost dialed it a hundred times. This time, he dialed it completely and prayed for her to pick up the phone.
 

    "So, did he kiss you?" Kristy asked as soon as Jenna picked up the phone. It had been ringing off the hook from the moment she stepped in the door.
    "What?" Jenna asked. She was struggling, trying to get her uniform bag into the closet.
    "Did. Greg. Kiss. You. After. The. Concert? Geez, how much more plain do I have to get?"
    Jenna sighed. "Yes, he kissed me." She held the phone away from her ear and winced as Kristy squealed. "Yegods, Kris! Leave me some of my hearing!"
    "How was it? How was it?"
    "Eh." Jenna tucked the receiver under her ear as she opened the fridge to get out some bread and sandwich meat.
    "Eh? The incredibly gorgeous office stud kisses you, and all you have to say is 'eh'?"
    "There's nothing really to tell, Kris."
    "Was he a bad kisser? Sloppy, droolly, rubber-lipped?"
    "No, he was an okay kisser. I just felt...nothing."
    "Nothing?"
    "Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zero. Zilch. The big void."
    "Ouch. Nothing?"
    "Kristy!"
    "Sorry! I'm just having trouble believing this, that's all."
    Jenna sighed as she started making her sandwich. "You're just going to have to believe it, Kristy. We just don't click." Her phone beeped, indicating there was someone on call waiting. "Kristy, I've got another call coming through. I'll talk to you later tonight, okay?"
    "You'd better believe you will." Kristy said her good-byes and hung up. Jenna clicked to the waiting call.
    "Hello?"
    "Hello, Jenna Bauer?" A vaguely familiar male voice asked.
    "This is," Jenna replied, completing construction on her sandwich.
    "This is Thom Ellison." Jenna's sandwich hit the floor as she dropped it, startled. "I wanted to know if, uh, well, would you like to go out for coffee?"
    The receiver nearly followed the sandwich to the floor. "I...yes, I'd love to go out for coffee. When?"
    "Now? I'm sorry, is this a bad time?"
    "No, no, not a bad time." Jenna sat down on one of her dinette chairs. "Where would you like to go for coffee?"
    "Do you know that coffee shop downtown, corner of Union and East?"
    "I can find it."
    "Great! Um, do you want to meet there?"
    "Sounds good. I can be there in..." she looked out her window to try and judge the traffic, "about twenty minutes to half an hour."
    "Okay, so I'll see you there? Bye."
    Jenna slowly hung up the phone. Her hand lingered on the receiver, wondering what had just happened. She shook her head violently, which reminded her of her pinned-and-sprayed forties hairstyle. "Argh!" she groaned. "I don't have the time to get this thing out of my head. Screw it. I'm going for coffee. If he thinks my hair is weird, it's weird. Tough." She dug her keys out from where they'd slid between the couch cushions, grabbed her nylon Inspiration jacket, and was out the door.

    Twenty minutes later, she was sitting at a table in the dim coffee shop. A local folk guitarist was playing in the corner, votive candles were lit around, and the tables were plain, no tablecloths, not to mention the strong smell of coffee pervading throughout. All in all, it was a warm, pleasant atmosphere.
    She'd been there for ten minutes before Thom arrived. He found her immediately. "Hi," he said, smiling with what looked like a mixture of "It's good to see you," and "Thank God, she's here!"
    "Hi." Jenna smiled back. Thom sat down across from her and Jenna found herself staring at him. The waitress came and Jenna looked away.
    "Ready to order?" the waitress chirped. She looked like she'd had a few too many espressos in the past hour. She sounded like it, too, as the list of coffees went by in one big stream of "lattecappuccinofrappemochaaulaitespressofrenchroastcolumbiandarkandanumberofflavoredsyrups." She took a deep breath and added, "We also have tea and hot chocolate."
    "Do you have Chai?" Jenna asked.
    "Yes we do! Would you like one?"
    "A large, please."
    "Hot or iced?"
    "Iced."
    The waitress turned to Thom. "And you, sir? What would you like?"
    "Large Colombian dark."
    "Okay! They'll be here soon!" The waitress skittered off behind the counter.
    Jenna laughed. She couldn't help it. "I thought waitresses like that only existed in bad sitcoms," she commented.
    "I think having a caffeinated personality is a prereq for working in places like this," Thom replied. "We've run into quite a few on tour."
    Jenna looked at him. "Can I ask you a question?"
    "Sure."
    "How'd you get my number? And why'd you call me?"
    "That's two questions. One, you're listed in the phone book."
    "I realized that as soon as I asked."
    "Two, I called because I was lonely and you were the first person I thought of." Thom looked right at her. "I almost went grocery shopping tonight, hoping to run into you there, but I figured it would be easier to just call and ask you to go to coffee."
    Jenna laughed. "It was. I wasn't planning on going shopping tonight. I was planning on soaking my head to try and loosen up all the hairspray Kami used this afternoon."
    "I was wondering about that."
    "They decided on it a night I had to miss practice." At Thom's questioning look, she explained. "I'm in a senior-level winterguard. We had a competition this afternoon, so Kami, the captain of the rifleline and a licensed beautician, lacquered my hair into this fright."
    "How'd you do?"
    "We took first in our division, fifth overall."
    "That's pretty good, isn't it?"
    "It isn't bad for a bunch of us who are missing our college and high school twirling days," Jenna said wryly. "Senior guards are filled with those of us who don't want to admit we're in the real world. Competing against each other, we're pretty evenly matched. Inspiration, the guard I'm in, only won by two-hundredths of a point. The high-school-age guard I coach came in first in their division by six points. In guard, that's a big margin. The four guards who came in ahead of Inspiration in the overall competition were all high-school age." Jenna sighed.
    "But you enjoy it, don't you?"
    "More than anything," she admitted, smiling broadly. "If I could get paid to twirl, I would."
    The waitress arrived with their drinks then, interrupting the conversation. "Iced Chai and Colombian Dark, right?"
    "I had the Chai," Jenna said.
    "I had the Dark."
    "Righty-o! Enjoy!" The waitress set down their drinks and bounced off. Jenna shook her head, grinning.
    "Thank goodness I got the job at Weber. I'd never be energetic enough to be a coffee-shop waitress." Jenna took a deep drink of her iced Chai and sighed happily. "I haven't had one of these in a long time."
    "What is it exactly? I can smell it from here; it smells pretty good."
    "It's black tea, milk, ginger, vanilla, and assorted spices. It's good, tastes like gingerbread. Want to try?" She offered him her mug. He took a small sip, then agreed with her and handed her mug back.
    "It is good, but I think I'm going to stick with coffee for now," he said, reaching for the sugar packets. Jenna watched amusedly as he poured in five packets of sugar before stirring and taking a large swallow.
    "Another vice?" she asked jokingly. "First steak, now sweet coffee." She shook her head mock-disapprovingly. "And I bet that's not decaf."
    "It's not," he smiled. "I prefer the real stuff. And yes, sweet coffee is another vice, I'm afraid. But just here and at Starbucks."
    Jenna grinned. "I'm not going to criticize. When I get coffee, I usually use three sugars and three creamers at the least. And I'm a huge Starbucks Frappuccino addict."
    They sat in silence for a while, enjoying their drinks. The votive candle flickered, casting light and shadows across the table. The guitar player started playing a balladic guitar air.
    "This is really a nice place," Jenna said, trying to revive conversation.
    Thom nodded. Jenna frowned at him, tempted to kick him for not talking. She gave into temptation.
    "Ouch!" he yelped, rubbing his shin.
    "I didn't kick you that hard." She hid her smile behind her mug. He had looked so adorable when he yelped.
    "But still, you kicked me. Why?"
    "You were being too quiet."
    "You were quiet, too."
    "I know, but I got tired of it first. You could have kicked me, you know."
    "Can I kick you now?" Thom's foot touched Jenna's shin under the table.
    "Nope." Jenna was grinning. "Because now we're not being quiet. We're talking again."
    "So the next time you quiet down, I can kick you. Okay, I think I've got the rules down now." Thom was grinning, too. "And you're right, it didn't really hurt, I was just startled. I wasn't expecting to get kicked tonight." His foot still rested lightly against her leg.
    Jenna was quite aware of that foot. She was still in her leggings and t-shirt from the competition. However, she did not want to get kicked, so she continued the conversation.
    "How's your practicing going?" she asked.
    "It could be better. I'm working on two new programs for Skate America and a new exhibition program."
    "What are you skating to?"
    Thom smiled and shook his head. "I can't tell you. It's a secret."
    "Please? I promise I won't tell."
    "Nope. I can't even tell my parents."
    "Can I ask what your costumes look like?"
    "That I can tell. For the short program, it's black pants and a black shirt with a silver-and-green vest. Long program, black pants, red and orange shirt."
    "What about the exhibition?"
    He leaned across the table, motioning her to move closer, like he was going to tell her a big secret. He whispered, "I'm going to skate naked."
    Jenna sat bolt upright. "You're what?! Wouldn't that be cold?"
    Thom laughed. "It would. And I'm not, really. I haven't decided on an exhibition costume yet. I might just dig up one of my old costumes."
    Jenna smiled, a bit relieved that Thom wouldn't be skating naked. It would be a shame if he got frostbite. "You could always dye your white costume from a few years back. Actually, it would be neat if you tie-dyed it."
    Thom grimaced. "Tie dye?"
    "Why not?"
    "I'd be afraid I'd get a strange pattern where I didn't want it."
    Jenna laughed. "True, that could be bad. Or good, depending on who's viewpoint you were going from."
    He groaned. "I'm sure there's an Internet contingent that would enjoy discussing the pros and cons of tie-dyed targets on my costume. They'd also probably manage to work quarters into that discussion."
    Through her laughter, Jenna agreed with him. "I know of about three people who'd be heading the discussion, and several more who'd be participating in it."
    He rubbed his foot against her leg. "Would you be one of the participants?"
    "Probably not. I'd just sit back and watch." His foot against her leg was starting to distract her. She finished her glass of Chai before looking up to catch his eyes.
    She carefully set the glass on the table; her hands were starting to shake a little. Thom was staring at her intensely. She forced herself to relax and calmly look at her watch. "I should probably get going," she murmured. "It's been a long day, and I had a late night last night." She stood up and Thom took her arm.
    "I'll walk you to your car," he offered. She accepted, enjoying the feel of his arm next to hers.
    When Thom caught sight of Jenna's truck, he whistled appreciatively. "Any reason for a full-bed truck, or do you just like it?" he asked.
    "Look in through the cap window and you'll see the reason. I haul the equipment for the guard I coach," Jenna told him.
    They were standing by the door of her truck. Jenna had her keys in hand, ready to unlock the door. They stood there, looking at each other for what felt like an eternity. Jenna fumbled through her brain for how to say goodbye when she caught sight of Thom's gaze. He was almost staring, a look of want combined with loneliness and uncertainty boring a hole through her brain. As she watched, the uncertainty melted away and she knew he was going to kiss her. Unconsciously, she stepped closer, tilting her head up just as he tilted his down. Their lips met in a blaze of sparks. Jenna could feel excitement coursing through her veins just from the gentle, almost feathery touch of his lips on hers. His arms snaked around her, pulling her closer. She followed suit, her fingers playing with his hair where it needed trimmed, just starting to curl above his collar.
    After what seemed like an all-too-short eternity, they slowly released each other. Thom held Jenna's hands in his. "When can I see you again?" he asked.
    "I don't know," she replied in almost a whisper.
    "Tomorrow?"
    "I can't, I have..." laundry, she finished the thought as his lips descended onto hers again. Screw laundry, she thought. No, screw him! a little voice in the back of her mind replied. It sounded an awful lot like Kristy, so Jenna ignored it and just let herself enjoy kissing Thom.
    He released her lips, but kept his hands at her waist. "Tomorrow?" he asked again.
    "Tomorrow," she agreed softly. She leaned up and kissed him one last time before they finally parted.
    She sat in her truck for a minute or so before starting it and turning on the radio. Faith Hill's "This Kiss" was playing. For once, Jenna could totally agree.