That smile of his was handsome, and Charlotte couldn't help but notice that it brightened up his entire face. It would have taken more than a cute smile for her to miss the price of these allegedly amazing Bloody Mary's, though. Even though she had never wanted for anything, ten dollars was more than a bit steep for tomato juice and vodka; leave it to her friends to choose a restaurant like that. Knowing how expensive everything was going to, it almost made the spilled coffee and her ruined sandals not worth it. The only bright side was this cute guy and his beard.

In any other situation, Charlotte was sure that a guy like him wouldn't even look at her. He probably liked girls with tattoos, who listened to obscure music and shopped at thrift stores. Not girls who got squeamish around needles, liked whatever was on the radio and got most of their clothes from the mall. Any way she looked at it, Charlotte was vanilla; boring. Life was starting to feel that way too.

“The subway...” she paused, reluctant. That sounded worse than just walking there. She smoothed down her sundress and weighed her options. She could be late to brunch, or just suck it up, pretend to be optimistic and do what needed to be done. 

She returned his smirk with a soft smile, laughing at herself for being so transparent. “Is it that obvious?” Charlotte was clearly out of her element. “I took it once with my friends after a concert. I can't say it was the greatest experience.” Actually, the group of girls had gotten off at the wrong stop and had to call one of their boyfriends to come and pick them up. “I'll just walk and be late,” she shrugged lightly. Her friends would still be there, and it was only a few blocks.

“You know, if you don't have anywhere to be,” she began, deviating from her normal route of flirting, “maybe you could walk with me?” Suggestions such as that were highly unlike her. Charlotte was the type of girl who let boys come to her, figuring that was the proper thing to do, but something about this guy and his tattoos made want to shake things up a bit.