Harvey at Starlight Cafe - Part (1/2)

Starlight Cafe was one of the many popular coffeehouse brand in the Metro City. They offered wide, exotic, and novel varieties of hot and cold beverages along with baked artisan pastries. They were usually found sitting in the bellies of popular malls such as Miracle Plaza.

Constable Jenny and Constable Jackson tried to be comfortable. The cafe seats were small and the table had a bit of a wobble. The ambience in the mall was loud: people chatting, kids splashing in the play fountain, mall music blaring random songs, and adults chatting on their phones. The area around them was too open, making any escape unpredictable.

Jenny frowned at the festive atmosphere, especially when she kept tugging on Jackson’s sleeve to get him to stop staring at women in fancy clothing. She pulled out her recording device and pressed a button, adjusting her posture with a police tablet on her lap. “Miss Felicia Harvey, you were aware that Mr. Frank Tucker had a wife, yes?”

“Oh of course. Do I look like an innocent school girl hopeless for true love? Please, this is the 21st century. A woman can have 20 boyfriends on her phone and still live happily ever after.”

Felicia Harvey sat across the cafe table from the two officers. She sipped on a cup of hot Espresso, smacking her full lips painted with lush scarlet lipstick. She spread butter across her jalapeno and cheddar scone and after one small bite, she made a lovely hum to savor the flavor. As she brushed the crumbs from her thin ironed suit and dark pantyhose she gave her head a light shake to free her hair about. “I am terribly sorry officer. I have back to back appointments. My coffee break is the only time I can answer your questions freely. Please, ask me anything. You have, hmmmm.” Felicia glanced at her watch, shaking her wrist to turn the loose lethal straps around, “29 minutes.”

Jenny gave a deadpan stare. “Then I’ll be direct. Do you know Sarah Tucker is dead?”

“Oh yes. Tragedy really. At first, I saw her on the news thinking it was another victim of the Splitter.” Felicia bit into her scone again and dabbed her lips with a napkin, “that was until Frank called and told me about the dreadful news. I spent the whole night consoling him over the phone. Poor man. My heart goes out to him.”

“Soooo,” Jackson leaned into the conversation, the table wobble under his weight, “How did you know Mr. Tucker? Love at first sight? Whirlwind romance? Or just you both want to get it on.”

Jenny just frowned and kicked Jackson’s ankle under the table.

Felicia pursed her lips into a tiny grin. “Oh my. When your fellow officer said she would be direct, I wasn’t expecting a question like that. Where should I begin?” She tapped on her lips with a hum. “Frank and I were actually childhood sweethearts. We did everything together, play, study, sleepovers, pranking teachers. Good times. We even went to the same highschool. Frank and I started to hang out, to dating each other, and, well” She cleared her throat and playfully brushed the wrinkles from her dress. “Did more than just holding hands.”

Jackson tried not to show his smirk. Jenny remained neutral, diligently typing on her police tablet.

“Alas, our love was interrupted.” Felicia shrugged. “His parents had to move out of town. Haven’t seen him in like forever, until I ran into him 5 years ago at the airport.”

“And like the song ‘Sometimes When we Touch’” Jackson smiled and literally sang out, “And the passion, flaaared agaaaaain~.”

Felicia could not resist a small clap to praise him.

Jenny just died of cringe inside.