Coffee House

“Another coffee?”

“Yes, please, and leave the pot.”

“Long night, hun?”

“Honestly, not really, but at the same time, absolutely.”

Eddus had returned home in the early hours of the morning, having taken a longer route walking home. He had only fallen asleep after what seemed like an eternity of replaying the night’s events in his mind. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the young woman he’d met, the way she smiled at him when she seemed to know that she was getting to him, and the way he liked hearing her say his name.

The waitress, a woman of about fifty, named Janice, shook her head and smiled sympathetically, refilling Eddus’ coffee cup. “You’re still hanging out with those kids, aren’t you?”

Eddus sipped the hot black liquid, then looked up at Janice with a slight shake of his head. He was too tired to even try and figure out what she meant.

“Yeah, the two gentle fellows, and that little actress girl you come in here with,” Janice said.

“Ah, those kids.”

“Ed, it’s none of my business, but you’re not a young buck. Trying to keep up with those youngsters is going to catch up with you.”

“You’re probably right, Jan, but one of those ‘fellows’ is my best friend, and all three of those ‘kids’ are my housemates.”

The waitress shook her head with a look of mild indifference. “Like I said, hun, it’s none of my business. But you do look like hell.”

Eddus managed a weary smile. “Well, if it makes you feel better, last night had nothing to do with any of them.”

Janice shook her head with a knowing look and then lifted her gaze. “Well, speak of the devil...”

Glancing up in time to see Mo entering the diner and looking around, Eddus raised his hand and gave a single wave.

“You gonna eat anything, hun?” Janice asked him.

“Just keep the coffee coming.”

“Will do.”

“You’re an angel.”

Mo slid into the booth on the opposite side of the table and then grinned up at the waitress. “Morning, Janice.”

“Coffee, Mo?”

“And pancakes, please.”

Janice gave Eddus a thin smile and walked toward the kitchen to put in the order.

Mo sat for a moment, studying his friend from across the table, not saying anything.

“What?”

“You look like hell,” Mo laughed.

“That’s what she said.”

Mo grinned, blinking in surprise. “Does that mean things went well between you and Cinderella?”

“No.” Sipping his coffee, Eddus shook his head. “It means Janice also thinks I look like hell this morning.”

“Well, she’s right. You look like you didn’t get any sleep last night.” Giving him a wink, Mo adjusted his black-rimmed glasses. “Wait a sec- Things didn’t go well between you and the shoe-girl?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Not in the way I can clearly see that you’d like to imply.”

“What?”

“And the shoe-girl’s name is Abbi.”

“What’s a shoe-girl?” Janice had returned to the table, placing a coffee cup in front of Mo and then filling it with coffee.

“May I?” Mo glanced across the table at Eddus. He reached for a small dish on the table with several packets of sweetener in it.

Emptying the contents of his own cup, Eddus rolled his eyes and gave Mo a nod before looking up at Janice, who again topped him up from the coffee pot she held.

“Ed here, came to Shem’s last night, carrying with him a pair of shoes that he’d found in the theatre. A few minutes later, he runs out the door, without a word, carrying said shoes. He returns a little while later with this tiny little bombshell in a black dress. Then, at the end of the evening, he leaves with the young lady, and this is the first I’ve seen of him since.”

Janice raised her eyebrows at Eddus with a nod of approval. “Good for you, Ed. I take back what I said earlier, you look great this morning.” She winked at Mo, who grinned as he slid to the far side of the bench he sat on, and leaned against the wall, stretching his legs out the length of the bench.

Eddus looked up at Janice.

“Nothing happened,” he told her blandly, narrowing his eyes at her, “and don’t you encourage him. He’s bad enough on his own.” Turning, he then glared at Mo. “And the reason you haven’t seen me until now is because you refuse to get out of bed before nine in the morning.”

“The bombshell,” Janice said, “were they her shoes?”

“Her name was Abbi,” Eddus said, rolling his eyes, “and she wasn’t a bombshell.”

Mo made a coughing noise. He nodded, pointing at Eddus, and then used his hands to make an hourglass shape in the air in front of him, giving Janice a wink.

“I thought you were gay,” Janice said to Mo.

“I am gay,” Mo told her, “but I’m not blind.”

The waitress shook her head, looking at Eddus. “Were they her shoes?”

“Well, of course, they were her shoes. Do you think I’d give her someone else’s shoes?”

“None of my business, hun,” Janice said. “It could have been some kind of experiment in picking up women.” She glanced at Mo, who again grinned at her. “I mean, from what I’m hearing, it seems to have worked out all right.”

Eddus shook his head. “I just wanted to return her shoes. I would have left them at the theatre, but by the time I’d looked around for her outside, they’d locked the doors. Then I happened to see her walk by outside the pub. I had no intention of bringing her back with me; she kind of invited herself along afterward.”

“I think he doth protest too much, Mo.”

“Janice,” Eddus was beginning to feel annoyed, “even if I were to adopt using shoes to lure random women into pubs as my signature move, I don’t make enough money to support the endeavor.”

“Then, whose are those?” Janice pointed to the bench he sat on. On the bench beside him were a small pair of black shoes, the ones Abbi had left at Shem’s. He’d collected them from the pub earlier that morning.

“They’re Abbi’s,” Eddus sighed. He quickly glanced at Mo, who was staring at him with a silly look on his face. “Apparently, she has an aversion to wearing them, and she left them at the pub.”

Janice let out a short, sharp laugh.

“None of my business, hun,” she said as she walked away.

• • • •

“You walked to City Park?”

Mo had finished eating, and Stiles had joined them on her way to the university. She’d ordered a plate of scrambled eggs and a bubble gum milkshake, and was interrogating Eddus as to what had happened after he left the pub the night before.

“She lives out that way.”

“And then?” Stirring her milkshake with a long spoon, Stiles tilted her head with a look on her face that was more expecting than questioning. She pulled the spoon out of the tall glass and began licking the pink ice cream off of it.

“And then what?”

“Well, what happened after you got to the park?” Stiles shook the utensil at him. “And if you leave out any details, I’ll cut your tongue out with this spoon.”

Eddus chuckled, glancing at Mo. “With friends like these...”

“Hey, I’m with her on this one, Ed. I’ve known you for seven years, and I’ve never seen you speak to a woman outside of work until last night, let alone offer to walk her home. So, none of that “gentlemen don’t tell” crap.”

“What are you talking about, Mo?” Eddus sipped his coffee with a smile. “I talk to Stiles all the time.”

“Yeah, well, don’t expect me to start calling you ‘Eddie’.” Stiles pushed the scrambled eggs around on her plate with the spoon she’d been stirring the milkshake with. Eddus glowered at her from across the table.

“The park, Ed!” Mo waved his hand in front of him. “What happened? Focus, man! Details!”

“Ok, ok, every detail. Here goes.” Smiling, Eddus glanced between the two of them. “After I walked Abbi to the park, I walked home.”

For a moment, no one said anything. Mo was leaning forward on the table, an expectant look on his face, while Stiles stared at him blankly.

“Mo, hold him down.” Stiles held up the spoon and then pointed it at Eddus, shaking her head.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you.” Eddus laughed, amused by the looks on his friends’ faces. “We walked from Shem’s to the park. We talked a little until we got there, and then, we parted ways.”

“Piss off, man! What really happened? You’re holding back!”

“It’s the truth.”

“Ed, did you do something to put her off?” Mo leaned back, glancing at Stiles.

“What? No!” Eddus laughed again. “We walked, we talked, and then we went our separate ways.”

“For fuck sake, Ed!” Stiles stared in disbelief. “What the hell did you do? That girl was all about you.”

“Perhaps she wasn’t,” he told her.

“Dude, she was making eyes at you all night long!”

Eddus shrugged, shaking his head.

“So nothing happened?” Stiles looked disgusted.

“She kissed me and said I was sweet, but that’s it.”

“Well, I guess that’s something,” Stiles said, still looking disappointed. “At least you guys kissed.”

“No, we didn’t.”

“You just said-”

“I said she kissed me.”

Stiles glared at him with a puzzled look on her face, her mouth slightly open.

"She kissed me.”

“What, like on the cheek?”

“On the chin, actually,” Eddus chuckled.

Stiles laughed out loud. “Ed, that is the most unromantic thing I’ve ever heard,” she said. “So, after she kissed you, on the chin, you what, dropped her at her place?”

“No, we parted at the entrance of the park. She said she’d cut through the park and be home in a few minutes.”

“So you didn’t even walk her home?” Mo looked confused.

“Un-fucking-believable,” Stiles looked at Mo, who shrugged at her. “Are you going to at least see her again?”

“I don’t know. I think she kind of blew me off.” Looking down at the table, Eddus was quiet for a moment, running his finger along the rim of his half-empty coffee cup. “At first, she said she’d like to see me again, but when I tried to give her my number, she said she doesn’t have a phone. Then she disappeared into the park.”

“Ouch...” Mo said under his breath, shaking his head. Eddus glanced from him to Stiles.

“Ed, I’m so sorry.” Reaching across the table, Stiles touched his hand, her expression sympathetic.