Chapter 1: Interesting Meetings

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

"Ugh," I groaned as my alarm went off. Why can't I just sleep for a little while longer? My door bangs open and enters my roommate, Bloom.

"Rise and shine! Time to get your lazy butt to work." She walks over to the window and pulls the shades apart to let the blinding sunlight into the room. I roll over.

"Go away, Bloom," I mumble, already knowing that she won't.

She pulls the sheets back. "Get up. It's your first day and I know for a fact that you want to make a good impression." She was actually right about that, so I grudgingly get up and stumble into the bathroom.

Working as a waitress never was my vision of what my first job would be. Yeah. I'm 23-years-old and this is my very first job. I'm living with Bloom free of charge right now. She's actually a really great girl. I'll have to start paying rent when I get my first paycheck, though. Ever since my ex-boyfriend of five years, Steven, decided he was bored of me and kicked me out of his home, Bloom had taken me under her wing and helped me out. That was three months ago.

When I'm finished dressing and whatnot, I pull my hair into a ponytail and walk into the kitchen. Bloom already has breakfast set out. Froot Loops. Yummy.

"Thanks," I call out to her and hurriedly gobble down my cereal. My phone buzzes in my pocket and I check it. My Dad. Again.

"Hey, Dad."

"Stella! About time you answer. How's my baby girl?" I look at the clock on the wall to see that it's only 6:55 A.M. It's still pretty early….CRAP! My shift starts at seven!

"Uh, Dad I gotta go," I chock out as I grab my jacket and slip on my sneakers.

"What? I just called to ask when you were planning to come back down-"

"I don't know about that, Dad," I interrupted. "I'll call you later. Love you. Bye!" I turn off the phone before he could reply. I have no idea why he was calling me this early about coming back to town to visit him and his new bitch of a wife. She and that evil step-sister of mine are partly the reason that I left town with Steven five years ago.

"See you later, Bloom," I shot as I jog out of the door.

The diner was a ten minute walk at best, but today I made it a five minute sprint. No, I don't have a car or a bus pass. I just walk to get myself to places. I would've caught a ride with Bloom on her way to work, but she had to go on the other side of town for some meeting. She works as a secretary at a fashion designing firm. It had always been my dream to work in fashion, but it never came through for me.

I brushed through the creaking double doors just in time. A girl with long pink hair looked up from wiping down the counters and smiled. "Hi! You must be…Stella?" I nodded and she smiled again.

"I'm Roxy. The manager here. And before you say it, yes, I am young. My Mom left me the place after she passed. Since I'm eighteen, I run the place."

I blink twice. "Wow. That's… amazing. You do this all by yourself?" I start to walk around the counter to her.

"Nah. My Dad helps me out sometimes on the weekends and anytime I need help. My older sister, too. The only reason she's not running the restaurant is because she's already got a job and a family to keep her busy. My mom knew that, so she left the place to me. That's also why you're here. Hope you don't mind working from seven to four."

"No, not at all."

"Great," she squealed. " My sister should be here later to help out with the lunch rush. Breakfast rush is usually slow, but it will definitely pick up as the day goes on." She starts to walk away and then turns back to me abruptly. "Oh, the chef's name is Ricky. Don't get him mad. He can be particularly grouchy in the mornings." She tossed me a small apron to wear around the front of my orange checkered uniform.

"Good luck."

Like she said, the morning rush was slow. Not many people to serve, but plenty for me. As more people piled into the restaurant, Roxy joined me in serving them. I was really starting to get the hang of it. I took my thirty minute lunch break and came back. The customers weren't too rude, like I feared they would be. That is, until He waltzed through the door.

He was accompanied by two other men. One with blond hair and the other with striking facial features and slicked out hair. The first man himself was absolutely gorgeous. From where I was standing I could tell he had brown hair and a pretty lean, muscular build. All three men were dressed in suits, as if they just got out of a business meeting or something.

I looked over my shoulder to Roxy who was busy with a family order. Looks like I'll be serving the cute guys. No complaining here. I pick up three menus from the counter and start my way over.

The blond haired guy is sitting on the inside of the booth next to the brunette, while the other man sat on the other side of the booth. As I approach the table, slicked out hair guy looks at me, cutting off a sentence he was making. He smirked in what I guess was suppose to be sexy way.

I cleared my throat at his uncomfortable stare. "Hello, gentleman. I'm Stella and I'll be your server today." I set the menus down on the table and the gorgeous guy immediately picks one up, looking it over. Slicked-out-hair guy smiled at me.

"Well, hi there Stella. Nice to see a beautiful waitress every once and a while," He winked and the blond-haired guy sighed.

"Riven, leave the poor girl alone. She obviously isn't liking your advances whatsoever." Thank you blond-haired guy. I didn't really want to thank him that much though because he kind of reminded me of Steven.

"Shut it, Sky. Me and…" Riven checked my nameplate again. "Stella were about to have a tantalizing conver-"

"Could we order now?" the gorgeous guy snapped. I kind of jumped at his sudden harsh voice.

Riven scowled. "What's crawled up your butt and died?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe the three million dollar deal we lost today. Maybe if you could shut the hell up for a few seconds, then we might have been able to convince them otherwise." Three million dollars? Whoa.

Sky put his hand on his shoulder. "Brandon, we can't win them all."

Brandon shook his hand off. "I don't care. We could've gotten that deal if-" Brandon cut his eyes up to me. My heart pounds as I look into his beautiful brown eyes. They were practically mesmerizing. Even though they were glaring at me right now.

"Did you want anything else?" He asked, irritated.

"Oh! I'm…I…Sorry. I'll just-" I stumble over my sentences.

"You'll just leave. Now. We'll tell you when we're ready." And with that, he turned away from me and back to Sky. Riven smiles slightly in an apology, but then turns away as well. I turn around and walk to my other table. My cheeks are on fire. That may have been the most embarrassing social interaction I've had in my life. Who did he think he was? My Father? And why didn't I snap back at him? He just got me all flustered and completely shocked me with his attitude.

I was so caught up in my own thoughts that I didn't see Roxy right in front of me until I ran into her. Classic Stella.

"Sorry, Roxy. Won't happen again," I apologize.

She waves me off. "Happens all the time. Are you alright though? I saw you talking to those guys over there."

"Oh…yeah. I'm fine. Two of the guys were cool. It was just the one with the brown hair that gave me major attitude." I confessed, glancing over at the table again. I lock eyes with none other than Brandon. He surprisingly held my gaze steadily. I looked away first and turned back to Roxy. Why was he looking at me like that? He was so fast to dismiss me before. What's his deal?

"Ah. Do you know who they are? I mean, what they do?" I shake my head. "They're like big business guys. Like, really important men. They all work at Alfea Corporations." I mouth drops a little.

"Alfea Corp.?" Alfea Corporations is a huge deal. They work in technology, construction and stuff like that. All I know is that this company has been around before I was even born. These guys looked not that much older than me. It's surprising to hear that they are huge business moguls.

"So," I said, "they think they're better than other people?"

Roxy shrugged. "They must not, since they always come to the smallest diner in town."

"Always?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Yep. Everyday, actually. Well, it's usually just the brown haired one, but he brings company every now and again." She looks me over again. "Look, my sister just came in. She can take over their table if you want her too. She usually handles them anyway."

I shake my head quickly. "No, no. She doesn't have to do that. I'll be fine."

"Seriously, Stella. You don't have to deal with them if you don't want to." I bit my lip in consideration. I didn't really want to see Brandon again. Maybe this was the best for now.

"That would be great."

I went home that night feeling pretty good about my new job. It wasn't the best in the world, but it was definitely a start. When Bloom asked about my day, I told her all about it. All she knows is that I met some super hot guys today. She got all giggly after I told her one of them were blond. She's a sucker for blond guys. She doesn't know about the rude Brandon part, though. I didn't want to embarrass myself any further by talking about it. He just isn't worth my time. For some reason though, I couldn't get the brown-eyed stranger out of my head.

The next day started out much like the first. Roxy's sister, Tecna, wasn't coming in today. So it was just she and I today. I was hoping that Brandon decided to stay away today. I did some thinking last night and I wasn't going to let him talk to me like that again. I still need some time to come up with a snarky comeback.

Of course, things I hope for rarely come true as I notice Brandon walk through the door. I sighed and moved toward the other end of the restaurant as he sat down in the same booth as yesterday. Why would you sit in a booth if you're only eating for one? I caught Roxy's eye and nodded towards his table. She got the hint that I didn't want to serve him.

"Order 24!" yelled Ricky from the kitchen and a plate appeared on the small plate deck. I picked it up and gave it to the customer at the bar. "Enjoy," I smiled at the man who thanked me in return. Roxy shows up by my side.

"Uh, we got a slight problem, Stella." I can feel my eyebrows pull together before she further explained. "He won't order unless you are his waitress."

I blink. "What?"

"He specifically requested you. Well, he more like described you, but we both know who he wanted. Can you do it?"

Oh no. I'm not going to look like a helpless little girl. I'm not going to let him hinder me anymore. "Of course." I walk away before she can reply. Taking a deep breath, I continue strolling until I reach his table.

"Hello. My name is Stella and I'll be your server today. Are you ready to order?" I pull out my notepad and purposely stare at it without looking at him. He doesn't respond so I glance from my notepad to him. I control myself not to gasp out loud. He's just as gorgeous as I remember. Actually, he probably looks even better.

"Hi, Stella," he grins at me. I narrow my eyes slightly and clear my throat.

"Hello. Are you ready to order?" I repeat formally. He sighs and stares back at me.

"I wanted to apologize for how I treated you yesterday. I was having an off day as you saw." I snorted slightly. Understatement of the year.

"Okay, I was being a complete ass. Is that better?" he smirks slightly.

"I guess it will suffice. It's in the past now. Just forget about it."

"See, that's the thing." He leans forward on the table a little. "I can't forget about it. More like I can't forget about you. The way I talked to you was…it should've happened. No matter how angry I was, it was in no way your fault."

I was still shaking a bit on the whole 'more like I can't forget about you' part of his small rant. He kept thinking about me? Why? He definitely didn't seem like he liked me very much in the first place.

"Well…apology accepted Mr…." I trail off as if I didn't know his name. I have to play this casually.

"Woods. Brandon Woods. Please just call me Brandon, though."

"Um, okay, Brandon. It's nice to meet you, but are you going to order now? I kind of have other customers to attend to." I laugh slightly.

"Oh! Sorry. I'll just have the Burger and fry combo. With a Sprite." He closes the menu and hands it back to me. Our fingers brushed together and it was hard to ignore the electricity that spread throughout my hand. He smiled. It was totally dazzling. I ginned back.

"Order coming right on up." I scoot back to the front kitchen to place the order with Ricky. I serve my other customers but can't help but glance over at Brandon a few times. He was waiting patiently. My type of guy. Well, actually I don't have a type to be exact. If I did, Brandon would totally fit the bill.

When his food was ready, I brought it over to him and he readily took it. "Here you are. Just tell me when you're done so I can bring you the bill."

"Thanks." I just smile and nod.

When he finally was finished, I brought over the bill. I was about to walk away again before he stopped me by gently grasping my wrist.

"Wait. I'm just going to pull out some money real fast. I wanted to talk to you."

"Uh, okay." I watch as he pulled out two twenty dollar bills which was around fifteen dollars more than the actual bill.

"You don't have to leave so much…"

He held up his hand with a smirk. "I can't help that I had such great service today. It's honestly my pleasure." He slipped the cash and something else I didn't catch into the bill card, before standing up. I didn't realize how tall he was. At least four inches taller than me.

"I think I owe you. You know, for an I'm-sorry-for-being-a-jerk coffee run during your lunch break tomorrow. If you want." he says a bit shyly. I can't believe such a confident man would actually be shy about asking me out. It's mind-boggling but I couldn't help being giddy.

"Hmm…I do think that is in order," I say in a nonchalant manner. Or at least that's what I was trying to do, but obviously didn't do a good job since he chuckled. It was a heavenly sound that I wished I could record and use as my ring tone. Whoa. I am starting to be on an obsessive level and I just met the guy.

"You get off for lunch at one or two?"

"Two," I chirp.

"Okay. Could you meet me at Alfea Corporations? That's where I work. It would be less of a struggle to get away from clients if you were there walking out of the building with me. If that's not possible I could just meet you somewhere…"

"No! I…I can meet you there. Just ask the receptionist for you?" What am I doing? I most certainly could not walk all the way to Alfea Corporations. It's way to far a walk from here. He couldn't know that though.

Brandon nodded and smiled brightly. "That would be perfect. Well then…I'll see you soon, Stella."

"See ya," I respond softly as he grinned once more and walked out of the diner. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. I still wonder what he does at that huge business place.

I open the bill card and see a small business card within. It says:

Brandon Woods

CEO of Alfea Corporations: Technology and Architecture

Work number: 142-7598

Email address: Bwoods

Well, now I know. I'm going on a date with the CEO of Alfea Corp.

A/N: Hi again! Back with a new story and new character personalities. If you read this, Thanks for reading. If you read AND review this, you're my idol. Seriously.

If you read my first story, New beginnings, then I should tell you that this story is going to be completely different. Stella and Brandon in this story aren't going to be like Stella and Brandon from the first story. You're still going to love them, don't worry! And it's still Teen rating. These two are just going to have different personalities than in my other story. If you haven't read my other story, then disregard this message, lol.

I'm going to make this one a long story. I have so many ideas and drama that I can't wait to start with. Don't worry, I'm not going to pack on the drama right away. It will come gradually.

So…Review!