Written in May/June 2015

Originally written for the 'How they met' challenge by  Romance

Also, it was one of the Honorable Mentions in that contest!

Monday Mornings 
(originally titled: Those blue eyes)

I would have never thought I could drown in someone's eyes.

Not until I met Grayson Richards. And his cornflower blue eyes.

I never really liked blue I guess. Always preferring red. Red was love. Red was passion. And danger.

But I grew to love blue, its cool and calming effect. Whenever I gazed at the blue sky, I was reminded of Grayson's eyes. Deep and blue and mesmerizing.

It was on a Monday morning that I first met him.

I had had an awful day... waking up with my hair looking like a big mess and then my car had been stolen and I had to walk four blocks to the next police station.

I entered the station and there he was, with his dark blue uniform and his dark brown hair combed back neatly. Yes, I found him handsome the second I saw him, but when I got called upon and walked to his desk I felt my heart beat a little faster.

I sat down on the chair across from him and felt his gaze on me, so I looked up and into his eyes.

That was the moment, when the cloud that had been covering the sun had decided to move over and a sudden ray of light fell through the window in the police station and lightened up his face.

And right then, I looked into his eyes for the very first time and felt my knees go weak. I was glad I was already seated, because I might have tripped over otherwise.

He had the bluest eyes I had ever seen. A deep, rich, vibrant shade of blue with a slight tint of violet and darker blue streaks. I sat there, completely captivated by the way those blue eyes were flashing in the sunlight. Then I realized, that he was smiling politely and that his lips were moving.

He was talking!

I pulled myself together and tried to focus on what he was saying.

"I'm Officer Richards, I'll be taking on your case. You mentioned that your car has been stolen?" he said in a smooth deep voice.

I nodded, unable to say a word.

"First, I'll need your ID." he continued.

I reached into my purse and handed him my papers.

"Alright, Ms. ... White—"

"Please call me Paige," I said with a smile and he smiled, too. He got little wrinkles around the corners of his eyes which actually made him even more attractive.

I felt myself swooning again. Why hadn't I met someone like him before? He seemed so nice and forthcoming, not like my last boyfriend...

And God, he was so handsome!

I couldn't help myself and let my eyes wander over him while he pulled some papers out of a drawer beneath his desk. I imagined what it would feel like to wrap my arms around those broad shoulders and to feel his firm chest against mine, to tangle my fingers in his dark hair...

"Would you please fill out this form for me?" I was again interrupted by his deep voice and I quickly blinked a couple of times before he could notice my dreamy expression.

He didn't say anything further so I hoped he hadn't noticed me staring at him. He just smiled courteously and handed me a slip of paper and a pen.

"Sure," I said, returning his smile and taking the pen from his hand. My fingers brushed his briefly and I felt his warm skin against mine. Suddenly shying away, I cast my eyes down, unable to look at him.

Instead I focused my eyes on the paper he had given me and with tingling fingertips, rushed to fill out the form. All the while, I was well aware of his eyes on me while he was waiting patiently, studying my every move, as if I were a suspect in a crime case. I felt my cheeks heat up under his scrutinizing look but I didn't dare look up. I don't know why I was so nervous suddenly, but my heart was beating very fast.

I wrote down my full name, address and my phone number and then slid the sheet across the table.

"That's all for now, Miss," he said and when I finally looked up again, I caught him still looking at me. He smiled faintly and cleared his throat before casting his eyes down himself.

Had he been checking me out? I wondered and my heartbeat accelerated once more. However, I didn't get the chance to ponder the question further as he started talking again and I strained my ears to hear what he was saying over the thumping in my chest.

"We'll do what we can to find your car and return it to you." he told me and looked me in the eyes. "However, you shouldn't get your hopes too high. Sadly, this is no individual case, there have been a ton of stolen cars recently. Chances are high you won't get it back."

He opened the drawer again and handed me a little piece of paper, like a business card. I looked at his hand, it was large and slightly tanned.

"This is my number, in case there's something you may have forgotten." He smiled once more. I nodded and took the card from his hand.

"Thank you, Officer." I replied and stood up as he rose from his seat.

"We'll call you when there's news of your property," he said as his warm hand closed around mine. I shook it and shivered slightly as a prickle ran up my spine from the contact.

"Good bye, Officer Richard," I said as I looked into his blue eyes for the last time.

***

Two weeks later, the weather had decided it was finally time for summer to begin. So I was lounging in my sister's garden with some ice tea and fantasising about Officer Richards.

Or, as my sister had named him, Officer Hottie.

I shifted. She had caught me daydreaming a couple of days ago and noticing my dreamy face and the fact that I was barely paying attention to her ramblings, she demanded to know what was going on.

Because she knew something was going on.

And honestly, most of the time I'm pretty bad at hiding things from her. She just knows me way too well. So I caved and told her everything.

She hadn't stopped mocking me since.

Alas I couldn't help myself, every time I was unoccupied my mind would wander back to the Officer.

Just the thought of him in his dark uniform...

My phone rang.

I looked down and saw an unknown number flashing across the screen.

Wondering who it might be, I hesitated for a minute. What if someone had dialed the wrong number? I wasn't very keen on talking to a stranger. Besides I really didn't want to end my musings about a certain someone and his blue eyes.

But the stupid phone wouldn't stop ringing. Signing and putting my glass aside, I finally picked it up before it went to voice mail.

"Hello, Paige White here."

I was greeted by a male voice, the same one that I'd been imagining murmuring sweet words into my ear just a moment ago.

I felt the heat rise to my cheeks.

"Good afternoon, Miss White," he said. "It's Officer Richards, I'm in charge of your case. You reported your car being stolen two weeks ago." He clarified.

"Yes, I remember," I said. As if I could ever forget him and his smooth deep voice...

"There have been some new findings that I would like to discuss with you. Maybe you could stop by at the station tomorrow?"

"Of course!" Came my rushed response and I bit my tongue. I bet that sounded just as desperate as I felt. I cleared my throat. "I mean... what time should I stop by?"

I could almost hear him smile through the phone.

Oh God, this was getting so embarrassing!

A blush started to creep up my neck and I felt my face grow even hotter than before.

"Same time as the last time?" He asked and I nodded, unable to trust my voice for once, but then I realized that he couldn't see it.

"Alright," I told him. "I'll be there."

"Very well, until then Miss White."

"I told you to call me Paige," I said suddenly. "'Miss White' makes me feel like an old maid."

He chuckled lightly through the phone and right into my ear, a warm and lively sound that made me all tingly and left a fluttering sensation in my belly.

"Okay," he finally said "but only if you call me Grayson. I insist." I could hear him smile and wondered if his eyes had lit up from his humour.

Grayson.

So that was what the 'G.' on his nametag stood for.

Grayson Richards.

I was drifting off into a daydream again when I noticed that he had gone still on the other side of the phone, waiting for me to say something.

I quickly composed myself, running a hand through my hair.

"I'll call you whatever you want, Grayson." I found myself answering in a low voice before I could stop myself.

I bit my lower lip, his name on my lips felt so foreign, yet so strangely comforting.

The familiarity of it made my heart pound in my chest and I started to debate if it had been the right thing to say.

Because the truth was, it felt so intimate to call him by his first name, considered the fact that I had only just met him.

I was never someone to rush things, to fall head over heels for someone. I was not the girl to have a one night stand or an affair.

I had to think things through first. Sometimes I even ended up changing my shoes twice in the morning because they wouldn't match my outfit...

But this felt oddly right.

The feeling of his name on my lips, the taste of it on my tongue.

Now that I had said his name aloud, I couldn't imagine calling him Officer Richards anymore. It sounded so formal and awfully distant to my ears now.

I felt like I knew him just by speaking his name.

I let myself fall backwards onto the sunbed and stared at the sky which was a light vibrant shade of blue, just one or two shades lighter than Grayson's eyes.

My gaze fell onto some little fleecy clouds and I found myself mouthing his name again, moving my lips soundlessly.

There was another moment of silence and I was aware of the phone that was still pressed to my ear, yet he hadn't said anything in a while. Or maybe he had and I hadn't heard him.

Did I say something wrong? Insulted him maybe?

I started to panic.

"Grayson?"

"Goodbye, Paige," he said then in a soft voice, barely more than a whisper.

My name from his lips sounded like a caress; it was simple, yet tender. The intimacy of it warmed my cheeks and made a million butterflies flutter in my stomach.

And I knew, then and there, he felt it too, the same connection.

I think I shivered a little, despite the warm weather.

"See you tomorrow," I whispered back.

I leaned back and stared at my phone, trying to memorise his phone number and indulging in the feeling my name in his voice gave me.

Still dreamy, I reached for my glass of ice tea on the side table only to find it gone.

I looked up and there stood my sister, jug in hand refilling it. I jumped a little, I must've been so in thought, I hadn't noticed her approaching.

"Who was that on the phone?" she said smiling, clearly amused that she had startled me.

When we were children we used to hide behind corners constantly in order to make each other jump in fright.

It was our favourite game back then.

"No one." I lied and reached for my glass again, avoiding her curious stare.

But of course she saw right trough it. Cautiously, I peeked up again and found her narrowing her eyes at me.

"That wasn't no one," she stated bluntly and then realisation seemed to hit her and she broke out in a slow sly grin, her green eyes twinkling mischievously.

"Oooh," she said "Officer Hottie called and asked you out on a date."

"No, he didn't!" I burst out, feeling like a teenager who just found out her best friend had blurted out her secret crush.

"Oh, but it was him," she said in her 'big sister' voice.

"Yes." I signed. "I have an appointment tomorrow at the police station. How did you know?"

Her grin grew wider, her impish eyes sparkling with amusement.

"Darling, you're blushing."

I brought my hands to my face and felt my warm cheeks.

"I want to see him," my sister said suddenly in a more serious tone. "I want to see the guy that makes you go red like a tomato."

"Sarah, I'm not taking you with me," I told her, sounding like a three year old, even to my own ears "I'm not letting you make a fool of me!"

"But you don't have a car, honey. I'll have to drive you."

***

The weather these days was unpredictable.

One day it would be wonderful and sunny, the next it would rain like crazy. Today was one of those days.

We arrived at the police station dripping wet, our umbrellas leaving little puddles of rain on the tiled floor while we waited to be led to Grayson's office.

"Ah, Miss White." He greeted me winking and smiling conspiratorially. He was his usual gorgeous self, looking as dashing in his uniform as he had the last time.

I prayed my sister hadn't noticed the look he gave me.

"Good afternoon, Officer." I shoot back, biting back the smile that threatened to break out on my lips.

He turned his attention to Sarah. "This is my sister," I said and he smiled at her as they shook hands.

"Nice to meet you Miss—"

"Mrs." She corrected him. "Mrs. Randell."

"Mrs. Randell," he repeated and motioned to the chairs by his desk. "Have a seat."

He turned around and went to sit in his own chair on the other side of the desk.

I caught a movement from the corner of my eye and turned to Sarah to find her mouthing something to me with wide eyes and fanning herself with her hand.

I rolled my eyes, alright yeah, he was hot.

"Well, to make it short, we found your car." he began, shuffling some papers in front of him. "Alas, there's not much left of it though, just the bodywork really. The engine and everything else valuable has been removed..."

I didn't really register anything else he said, I was too lost in his blue eyes and the way his lips moved when he spoke. Actually, I didn't really care about my car at this moment.

I was interrupted as my sister asked him for directions to the restrooms.

"Down the corridor and then to the left," he told her.

She thanked him and turned to leave.

"I'll wait in the car," she mouthed to me with her back to him, winking and giving me another one of her sly knowing smiles.

I signed internally. I would never hear the end of it...

Now that she was gone, I had Grayson's undivided attention.

I felt his eyes on me and when I looked up, I stared into their blue depths.

He looked me over and smiled faintly.

"You look nice today," he said in a quiet voice, almost as if he was talking to himself.

I blushed furiously like a schoolgirl and looked away.

He seemed to want to say more, but instead cleared his throat and continued on with his job, telling me what forms I had to fill out for my insurance.

Truth be told, I was a little disappointed.

I don't know why, but I had hoped he would say something else, compliment me. I had spent the whole morning thinking about what to wear. Pitiful, I know.

So by the time I was about to leave, I wasn't as joyful as I was upon arriving.

I was already in the corridor, my heels clicking against the checkerboard tiles, when I heard a familiar deep voice call my name.

"Paige!" Shivers ran down my spine.

I turned around and there was Grayson, a few steps behind me. He had took off his dark jacket and stood there only in his white shirt, sleeves pulled up to his elbows, exposing his tanned forearms. His hair was slightly ruffled, as if he had ran his hands through it.

"You forgot your umbrella," he said.

No, I didn't. It was in my purse, neatly folded.

He held it out to me and I looked at my sister's pink umbrella. I smiled and reached out for it.

"But that's not why I came after you," he said as I grabbed the umbrella from his hand.

He stepped closer, closing the distance between us, blue eyes fixed on mine.

"I wanted to ask you something."

I saw his lips moving, but again, I was caught up in his eyes, the way the different blue shades swirled in his irises.

I realized that I was still holding up the umbrella between us. He came even closer, laying a warm hand on mine.

"Would you," he inhaled slowly, as if to gather up his courage, "like to go out with me sometime?"

I snapped out of my trance, looked at his face. He was smiling, observing me and waiting for my answer.

I broke into a wide smile.

"Yes," I breathed.

[Word count: 2981]