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"I don't know about you," I commented, "but I would definitely call this grand opening a success."

I stood at the entryway to the office with the owner, my neighbor Katherine. The Friday night opening of her coffee shop had attracted more customers than I had expected, even given the extremely close proximity to the university. As I slowly sipped at my third latte of the evening, I marveled at the line of students, professors, neighboring shop owners, and even a pair of police officers on patrol.

"It's definitely a success," Katherine said proudly. "It'll be interesting to see what my first Monday morning is like, to see how many students and professors will come this way for coffee and breakfast before heading to class. I just wish there were more dorms and student apartments on this side of campus, though, as that would almost certainly increase the foot traffic."

I again watched the many-pierced barista preparing a pair of drinks simultaneously, and was awed at her experience and expertise. Katherine had spoken about her earlier in the evening, but would not reveal how much she had had to pay the young expert to have her come work for a brand-new, single-location coffee shop.

"Well," I said, lifting my latte to my friend, "congratulations on a successful evening."

"Thank you," she graciously accepted, "but I think that if a particular student goes home with you, then she'll also consider this a successful evening."

That caught me off-guard. Katherine nodded her head across the room, and my eyes followed to a young woman who was probably twenty years old, studying from a rather thick textbook at a small table near the front window.

Katherine knew that I preferred younger partners, that my relationships in the past few years had all been with students from the university, even though they were all about ten years younger than me. She truly understood, firsthand, as she had been born exactly seventeen years after her now-late husband.

I had to admire the studious student. She was the only person studying on this Friday night, and I was rather surprised that she could block out the loud collective chatter in the coffee shop. Her shoulder-length hair was a rusty-red and, from where I stood, appeared to be entirely natural. Her fingers were long and slender, reminding me of my older sister, as her fingers were long and slender from having played piano since the age of four. She wore a modest college sweatshirt and black jeans, and the pendant of her necklace pointed straight down as she leaned forward over the textbook. Given the size of the textbook, I assumed that she was a science major, and given that she was studying on a Friday night, my guess was that she earned numerous excellent grades.

"I've noticed her looking at you on occasion," Katherine continued. "She may be studying for an upcoming exam or something, but she was also studying you rather closely earlier. It wouldn't surprise me if her notes contain observations about you."

It had been several months since my last relationship had ended. Christina had been a fun partner, but with her December graduation, both her education and our relationship had ended, as she moved to Florida for a position with a well-known newspaper. I had felt for weeks that it was time to find someone new, to again have someone to hold and cherish, although I had not actively sought anyone.

Perhaps, as Katherine seemed to be suggesting, someone had just sought me.

As she put down her pen, I again noted the long, slender fingers wrapping around the tall cup as she brought it to her lips. As she sipped, she looked about the main room, her eyes finally meeting mine, and as she drew the cup away from her lips, I saw a shy smile enhanced by immediately-glowing eyes. I simply raised my latte toward her, acknowledging her presence and her attention, and even at this distance, I thought I saw her blush just slightly.

"I think I'll leave you two lovebirds alone," Katherine commented softly. "Be sure to introduce yourself to her before she leaves. Somehow, I doubt she'll come to you, even though I can see she wants to at least chat with you."

"Why do you say that?" I asked, my eyes still upon the student as she returned her attention to the textbook.

"Because I was the very same way with Frank," my friend replied. "I don't recall, but he said that our relationship began the very same way: a few moments of eye contact and a rather profuse blush on my end. Fortunately, he finally came over to me and... Well, you know the rest."

I nodded, finishing my latte as Katherine disappeared into the office. Clearly, that was her signal to me that I was to go to the student.

But first, I went to stand in line, and when I finally approached the small table by the window, I carried two lattes. "May I?" I asked, gesturing to the empty chair across from the studious redhead.

She looked up from her notebook, saw that it was me standing before her, and smiled with her lips and with Samsun Escort her eyes.

*****

By the time we left the coffee shop, it was nearly midnight, with only a handful of patrons still enjoying the expertly-made drinks. Katherine gave me a knowing smile as Strawberry and I left.

Yes, "Strawberry," for that was her nickname, bestowed upon her by her father in part because of her natural red hair and in part because she loved strawberries. While I obviously could not see it, she supposedly had a tattoo of a strawberry on her lower back, directly over her spine.

"Strawberry," I said to myself, still in disbelief about such a nickname.

"At least she didn't nickname me 'Cherry,'" she replied, partially serious and partially joking. "'Cherry' almost has a slutty connotation. I had a friend in high school whose real name was Cherry, and I would often hear the guys talking amongst themselves about wanting to 'take Cherry's cherry.'"

The cool night was clear, the stars easily visible above us as we slowly strolled away from campus. We walked side-by-side, our hands in our pockets, Strawberry's big bulky backpack almost causing her to look like a turtle able to walk erect. As I had learned, she was indeed a science major, studying biology. Confirming Katherine's supposition, she had an exam on Monday morning, and had been studying a chapter she had not yet read. But, she had confessed, she was perfectly content to chat with me for a while and save the rest of her studying for Sunday afternoon, having already intended to take Saturday off and go shopping at a large mall in a neighboring city.

"This is the first time I've ever gone home with a stranger," Strawberry admitted quietly, as if not wanting anyone else on the sidewalk to hear her.

"I find that a little hard to believe," I commented, hopefully making the statement sound somewhat like a joke.

"I've gone to other guys' dorm rooms before," she said, "but that's different. I've never gone to an unknown guy's home before."

"Ah," I said, finally understanding her meaning. "Is that any different?"

"Sure. A dorm room is still a quasi-public place, even with the door closed and the window closed and the blinds closed. Especially in the dorm I'm in, the walls are paper-thin, so even a soft snore can be heard in neighboring rooms. If things start to go bad, people will know about it immediately and call for help or come to the rescue. A few of my friends have been in that situation. I've fortunately been much luckier. So far."

"I see." That was all I could think to say at the moment.

"Going to someone's home, that's a different matter. There's space between houses, especially in this town. Sound does not necessarily carry well. For all I know, you have a soundproofed dungeon in your basement or attic where you'll take advantage of me and keep my locked away for days or weeks, and no one would know."

"I can assure you, I don't take advantage of anyone," I countered. "And in fact, the owner of the coffee shop lives right next to me. Katherine and I have known each other for about seven years now, and in fact, she knows that you and I are heading to my place. Trust me, if ever I do anything wrong by you, you can go to her and she'll be the first to put me in my place or call the cops or do whatever is necessary."

I could sense the last remaining nervousness oozing away from Strawberry. That in itself made me feel more at peace with the situation. And as we stopped at an intersection and waited for the traffic light to change, I was pleasantly surprised with she slipped an arm through mine, and we looked at each other in the orange glow of the street lamp overhead, sharing a smile and a gaze which assured me that we had each found what we were looking for.

*****

"What we were looking for" was indeed coming to fruition.

I had long been attracted to the university girls because they were both worldly yet innocent overall. They were old enough to have experienced a lot of life, especially those who had been able to spend part of their teenage years traveling, whether simply across the States or even overseas. They were also innocent in that there was still so much more of life to explore, so many more experiences which would shape their futures, and some of those experiences I was willing to give them if they so chose, especially in the realm of sexuality. That Strawberry had been an exchange student in the suburbs of Paris and was planning to spend the fall semester studying in Paris gave us a point in common, as I had also studied in Paris during my college career... although, since I had not spoken French much since my return from Europe, my knowledge of French was indeed rusty. That Strawberry had also spent many summers in various parts of the country hiking and camping and canoeing and swimming and biking and generally exploring the wonders of Nature appealed to me as well.

Strawberry was looking for someone older, wiser, someone Samsun Escort Bayan who had already experienced much of the world and who would be willing to help her grow, both as a person and as a sexual being. "College guys only know so much," she commented, somewhat sadly, "and the guys I know seem very turned off by my sexual interests, to the point that they don't even want to try for fear of hurting me."

We were indeed compatible sexually. While Christina and I had not engaged in any S