Chapter 7 Traffic had been so bad that she didn't have time to stop for her morning cup of coffee and she was already feeling the effects. She came to a screeching halt in her parking space, quickly cutting the engine.  She grabbed her briefcase and slid out. She of course, was early, she always arrived to work early, but today she made sure so that she could get organized. Looking at her watch, she saw she had nearly an hour to kill before everyone would start arriving.  Her jog came to an abrupt stop as she gazed ahead. No way, it couldn't be. She looked back down at her watch and then ahead again. He was early.  He stood as she approached, something in his hand. She stopped just feet from him and stared. "Good morning." Howie smiled.  She quickly regained her composure. "Mr. Dorough, good morning. You're early, you have about an hour before we're to meet."  "I wanted to be on time, to relax and get collected a bit. You're early too."  "Yes, well I need to get organized and setup."  Howie nodded and slid over on the bench, gesturing for her to sit.  She stared at him a moment. "Come on, I don't bite, I swear."   She raised an eyebrow and walked over, sitting a safe distance away from him.  Howie chuckled and grabbed something next to him, holding it out to her. "I dunno why but something told me to pick up an extra cup of coffee this morning. It's all yours. If you're anything like me, you're not functioning until you have that first cup."  She stared lovingly at the cup. " That's so true. You're...sure?" "Definitely, go ahead." He offered. She took the cup, inhaling the scent of the rich brew and sighing contently. "Here, I got some cream and sugar incase you need it." He set them on the bench between them.   She swiped two of the creams and one of the sugars, removed the lid and poured them into the cup, using one of the wooden stirs. "Thank you Mr. Dorough."  "Please, Howie, call me Howie. Mr. Dorough makes me feel old." He chuckled.  She smiled. "Alright Howie, and you can call me Jordan." "Oh and here, got these too. Too many as usual." He handed her a bag.  She peeked in. "Croissants?"  "Yeah, love em. Help yourself."  She had to stop and think, was this planned? Croissants and coffee? She turned to say something to him when he turned and looked at her and smiled, wrapping his hands around the steaming cup.  "Nothing like being out in the fresh air."  For whatever reason, what she'd been about to say, died on her lips as she nodded. She grabbed her briefcase and opened it, pulling her name list out and grabbing a pen.   "Well you're here aren't you." She checked his name off, feeling slightly off balance.  "I hope it's not a problem that I'm so early." "No, not at all." She smiled at him, pulling a few more papers out and looking through them. There was friendly silence as Jordan continued getting set, reading through the itinerary for that day and just relaxing for a bit.   Coffee, he liked coffee, lots of people did. Croissants, he liked those too and they happened to be two of her favorite things.  "Do you have any brothers or sisters?"  The question caught her off guard. "Excuse me?"  "Siblings, do you have any?"  "Oh, yes I do. One brother and three sisters."  He looked over at her startled. "What?"  "Me too."  "Oh." "I mean that exact same combination."  "Whoa really?" He nodded.  She shook her head, it was freaky.   "Thank you again for the coffee and croissants, I appreciate it."  "Not a problem." Howie smiled.   They sat there for a while longer and soon the rest of the group members started to show. Throwing her now empty cup out, she stood and started checking names.  Howie watched her and smiled, he figured she'd be early. He wanted to take the opportunity to show her he wasn't some pig. He stood as everyone started piling into the bus.   Once everyone was situated, Jordan stood at the front of the bus.  "Good morning everyone, I hope we're all rested up, we have a long day ahead of us. First, on the way, I'll be going over a brief history of torchbearing as outlined in the itinerary. We'll be visiting arenas where the competitions will be taking place and meeting with various people of the Olympic committee."  As Jordan continued on, Howie studied her. So was so poised, so composed. Naturally she would have to be considering her position, still he wondered what it would be like to shatter that composure, to see her unruffled and totally inhabited.   He smiled as the bus came to a stop at their first destination. **** "So that's it for today everyone. Same time tomorrow." Jordan finished, as they all stood and she started out of the bus. "Tomorrow when we get back, I have a few more forms that you all need to fill out before leaving. Also we're going to be doing a mini test run of what exactly it is that you'll be doing when you carry the torch and the events leading up to it so that you can get a feel for it."  They all nodded as they made their way off the bus and over to their cars. She waved and started into the building.  Howie watched as she left, he found her intriguing to say the least. Yes, he was looking forward to getting to know Ms. Jordan Fairview very well.