Chapter 1
Michael Pataki bowed his head to the gusts as he hustled to work. March was coming in like a lion alright. He preferred the weather to be more like a lamb, but with the climate in chaos, it seemed as if Mother Nature was going to the extremes. And we are all Goldilocks. Too hot, too cold, too windy, too rainy, too dry… His suit jacket and tie whipped around in the wind, and it felt as if he would get soot in his eyes if he didn’t squint. Sirens wailed, horns honked, just another day in the city. The sidewalks were crowded with pedestrians hustling to and fro. Michael thought they looked like schools of fish or flocks of birds, the way they all huddled at corners and then flowed as a group when the traffic signals changed. He was a fan of science and facts. He found comfort in numbers. Numbers didn’t lie. They didn’t care what you thought of them. As the wind chilled him to the bone, Michael looked up at the towering buildings on either side of the street. New York City needed him. He worked for the Department of Environment Protection. In their compliance department. When the signal changed and he could cross the street, Michael’s thoughts were on his workload. Someone bumped into him. A woman. She, too, seemed preoccupied and not paying attention. When they collided, the slender woman fell to the street. “Oh!” Michael panicked and reached for her. “I’m so sorry! I wasn’t looking!” The young blonde woman in very high heels seemed disoriented. Michael helped her stand and led her to the corner where she was headed, holding her by the elbow. He immediately noticed how pretty she was, with long blonde hair and a nice red wool coat. But the shoes. Very high heels for hustling around on a New York sidewalk. “Are you okay?” Michael asked nervously. The woman seemed upset and then met his gaze. “Oh, no. You’ve got dirt on yourself.” Michael worried about her nice coat. It looked very expensive. The woman seemed to return from her deep thoughts and stared at him. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying attention.” “Yes. Obviously, neither was I!” he tried to joke. She looked at her palms and they were muddy from the filthy street. Micheal felt horrible and searched around the area for a café. “Why don’t we go inside here and get you cleaned up?” He steadied her and led her into a coffee shop. “You’re being so nice,” she said softly. “Well, I ran you over!” Michael laughed at himself. He helped her into the warm space and looked for a restroom where she could wash her hands. “There. There’s a lady’s room.” “Thank you.” “I’ll wait for you. You know. To make sure you’re okay.” “That’s very kind of you.” She smiled and he thought she was very pretty, and blushed. She walked to the lady’s room and gave him another sweet smile as she shut the door. Michael felt shy around pretty women and usually kept to himself. He smelled the rich coffee aroma and then checked his watch. He was early. He was always early. It was a habit. It usually meant he had to wait. Wait for meetings, wait for businesses to open… stuff like that. Thinking of how cold it was outside, Michael stood in line at the counter and when his turn came, he said, “Two coffees to-go, please?” as he took his wallet out. He got a nod from the man behind the counter. This wasn’t an espresso shop. More like a corner deli. Two small coffees with plastic lids were served to him. Michael paid and then carried both to a tiny table. The woman emerged and spotted him. She approached and seemed slightly better after he’d knocked her to her rump! “I bought you coffee as an apology.” Michael felt his cheeks warm from his shyness. “It’s a chilly morning for March.” She set her purse down and looked at her palms again. Michael noticed they were scraped up. “Oh no.” He reached out for her hands and noticed there was no wedding ring on the left one. “Does it hurt?” She met his gaze again. “You’re so nice. Thank you. Most people would have left me as roadkill.” She smiled. “That’s not me.” He then said, “My name is Michael. Michael Pataki.” “I’m Kimberly Quinn. Nice to meet you.” “I bought that for you.” He pointed to it again. “Nothing fancy. Just coffee.” “Thank you.” She took the lid off and blew on the steaming brew. While they sipped their coffees, the noise around them of customers coming in for a hot drink or quick breakfast surrounded them. He wanted to ask her questions. Small talk. But he wasn’t very good at it. He was an introvert growing up. The typical geek with glasses and braces. He’d grown into his big feet and hands, the braces were gone, and he had contact lenses now. Pretty women made him mute. Same as handsome men. He was attracted to both and at twenty-nine years of age, still hadn’t had a steady partner of either sex. Every time he peeked at her face, she tried to meet his gaze, and he looked away, feeling shy.
