"Reading the Tea Leaves"

Rebecca stared at the cup between her hands. Tea leaves, she thought. What is it about tea leaves. She looked up, catching the eye of the skull-capped, black t-shirted, goateed guy in the corner table. He smiled, she quickly looked away. Here was a couple, buried in his-and-hers newspapers -- "sports" and "people."

She looked back at her cup...yellow-green tea of unknown name and origin, fresh leaves floating amid.

Tea leaves, she thought. I could Google it, I guess. Or, perhaps some things should remain a mystery. She smiled to herself, a smile that used to lead Ben to accuse her of hiding something, something that, in the end, she couldn't deny any longer. Skull-cap-black-t-shirt guy smiled, too; Rebecca pretended not to notice but she couldn't help but notice out of the top of her eyes. He was one of those guys who just invited staring. Not good looking, but striking. What the hell, she thought.

She stood up, a tall woman with dark, Mediterranean features, curly brown hair, brown eyes and that smile. Still holding her cup, she walked deliberately across the room. He watched her, laughed a short, nervous laugh and buried his head in his journal. When he looked up, she was standing at his table.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey." She stuck her cup under his nose, and he jumped back. "What do you see here?"

He sat up a little straighter and peered over the edge of the cup. He looked up, at her crooked smile and laughing brown eyes. "A convertible, an open road, a long highway and surprise..."

"Surprise?"

"Surprise. Who knows?"

She sat down.

"What kind of convertible?"

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