The desk was half submerged in a lake of papers.
She felt so adult, being invited for coffee.
But get outta here. With your remarkable eyes and..  WEDDING RING
The question hung invisibly in the air.
What does that mean, coffee?  Have you ever felt like you were missing some obvious sign-signal? Why does he want to have coffee with ME?” Lisa asked herself.
He isn’t the first guy to hit on her but he’s a professor.
WAS he hitting on her?
Her ***-dar said he was hitting on her.
“Sorry, I, I can’t.” she said as her mind searched for context.
She thinks: What if I make him mad - and he decides he doesn’t like me anymore?
Wait, does he like me NOW - or am I just another of a million students he’s taught?
Am I making a thing out of nothing? Am I being fractious?
Maybe coffee means coffee?
She has a hundred thoughts in a millisecond.
“Why not?” he asks, not looking up and marking some student’s paper with a red pin.
“I’m busy with humdrum deadlines,” she said, wondering if that even made sense.
He looks up and chuckles, “No problem.” He says with a smile, then he returns to grading.
After a second she turns and goes.
“I need to find Anais,” she thinks, reaching for her phone.

Bar talk and Bartok in the air set the scene
Astronaut haircut made his move into the next red leather banquette
Missy Jean sat demurely as Mr. On-the-make explained
He was very new in town, just off the plane
He'd been a pilot, assigned to Afghanistan
Now here he was in NYC, trying to fit in
He would appreciate some conversation after all he'd seen
It was good to be back in the States, he said
Some of his compadres, they ended up dead
But that was being morose, so he toasted to life
To making the most of it anywhere, including this bar near Washington Square
He was glad to be there, in the moment, alive
He was was clearly sincere, sans any jive
Clean-cut, neatly dressed, Missy J sighed
For here was a man with a story to tell
And she had the time and interest in what he had to sell
Which was friendship, which could lead to more
Life and love are so random, what was in store?
She was was from Virginia, not long out of school
Working in fashion, in a job that was cool
In search of a future, a new and good day
An auspicious start, it was time to play