Karie felt the hairs rise along the back of her neck as if a cold chill had swept through the door the last time it had opened. Her eyes shifted from the glass she dunked into the sanitation station to the entrance and frowned. She hadn’t heard the bells chime recently and the door was firmly shut. Currently, they had over a dozen of patrons come in for their lunch meal. Locals who had become accustomed to Cookie’s food and opted to enjoy some friendly company in their retirement rather than make food at home. There was always something extra in his food that they couldn’t quite figure out. Karie never had the heart to tell them it was simply extra spices, mainly salt.<br/><br/>Still, she couldn’t shake off the feeling from earlier and the dream kept returning to her thoughts.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#00b3b3"><i>He’s getting too close…</i></span>Her mind whispered to her which made the young woman frown. You’d think her appearance would draw a different crowd than the elderly folk gathered inside for food and ale with her two toned hair, piercings and eyes that seemed to pierce through anyone’s armor in an instant rather than bring warmth to their hearts. But, they had watched her grow up from a small youth into a business woman after her father had passed away. The law couldn’t take the property as she’d just turned 16 two days prior to his untimely death. Karie blamed it on stress from the local thugs. His life insurance had paid them off and the remodel. She was now 22 and not a day went by that she didn’t miss the man deeply. She was just like him  putting all of her earnings back into the business, which means she’d never left. She didn’t have any other family that she knew of, being they’d come from the continent when she was just a child. There was no one left alive who knew her origins.<br/><br/>All of a sudden, Meagan appeared out of nowhere with an odd expression painted across her face. Already more aware than normal of her surroundings, this set Karie into alert mode. She began wiping her hands dry with a hand towel while eyeing the girl she’d known for the past four years. “<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#808080">Karie, there’s a really hot gentleman wanting to talk with you about investing in the pub,” </span>Meagan looked flushed to her. “<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#00b3b3">You, uh… doing ok Meagan? You look a bit… off,”</span>she didn’t want to appear rude but then again, she wasn’t exactly known for subtleties.<br/><br/>When she got literally no response other than that eerie grin, Karie heaved a sigh and wound the towel through a belt loop of her skinny jeans before making her way to the end of the counter.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#00b3b3">“Well! Show me where he’s sitting. Did he put in an order? Water? He comes to a pub and orders water. Make sure its tap.”</span>Meagan pointed to the back corner booth and Karie pressed her lips firmly together. People wanting to buy her pub typically just wanted it for the land it sat on for other development plans. If this guy thought she was going to sweet talk him while handing over the keys to her life, he had another thing coming. Meagan was about to follow her when Karie shooed her to other customers. The girl kept that goofy grin plastered on her face which was just weird. This entire day was turning out to be weird.<br/><br/>The menu was freshly printed out, and he could tell this was done each day ensuring the freshness of the food served here. Today was fresh crab salad with a minestrone soup to go along either turkey on rye or corn beef on sourdough. It didn’t matter how many times Karie told Cookie he had the breads backwards, the man didn’t care. His kitchen, his rules. She loved reminding him where his paychecks came from when he tried to impose his authority.<br/><br/>Truth was, she was lucky to have him. He was the best head chef she could find and both he and she knew he was far underpaid. But it seemed, it didn’t matter to Cookie. This was home to him and he had no dreams of leaving to the big restaurants. The arrangement suited the two of them rather well. She put up with his rough demeanor and he ignored her strict expectations. Today, he was pissed. Even as her feet carried her closer to their elite guest, she could hear the pots and pans being banged around and winched. If he ruined another ladel or pot handle, she was going to start docking his paycheck. All of his hissy fit was over the lack of his precious onions that didn’t make it on today’s delivery truck. Damn man.<br/><br/>Karie’s eyes settled onto the man’s dark hair as she slid her slender frame into the booth opposite him.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#00b3b3">“So, Mr… whoever you are. I hear you want to buy my….”</span>Karie stopped dead and went paler than the sheet of white paper he held the instant she met his eyes.<i><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#00b3b3">No… It cannot be! </span></i>Every single fiber in her body told her to get up and run. It didn’t matter that the lunch rush was just getting underway when more people began streaming in. It didn’t matter that she owned this pub any more. His eyes were exactly like<i>HIS</i>. Her pupils enlarged while her nostrils flared. Karie had the look of an animal caught in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle in the middle of a highway.<br/><br/>Logic kicked into gear, telling her that such was impossible. A man of her dreams simply did not exist in the real world. It told her all sorts of rationalizations she needed in order to slowly relax to the point where her heart at least wasn’t trying to climb out of her chest. His hair was different as was his attire. However, his facial features were extremely familiar as was the sensation of being this close to him, too familiar. It was like electricity flowed through the air between them. Much like it had in the dream, she was caught needing to flee but wanting to stay.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#00b3b3">“... pub.”</span><br/><br/>Meagan came over like a lost little kitten who needed a home, giving the man a rather longing look with that stupid grin on her face.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#00b3b3">“Meagan, just bring him some soup alright?”</span>Karie ordered for him as her hands began to clench beneath the table until she was certain her nails were trying to pierce her skin. The girl bobbed up and down before hurrying to place the order. No matter who this man was, he certainly had Karie’s undivided attention.