In a bit of a hurry on a Friday morning, I zoomed into a parking space outside The Coffee Drop, high on life and low on energy. I was depending on an infusion of caffeine and The Coffee Drop was just the ticket this morning. In my haste to get to the door while the queue was short, I bumped into a woman who was leaving, almost spilling the drinks she was carrying in her hands.
“Hey!” she said, “Mind where you’re going.”
“I’m so sorry. It was a complete accident. Did you spill anything?”
“Lucky for you, I didn’t,” she said, irritated.
“Let me help you with those,” I said, taking the cups from her hands. “I’ll walk you to your car. I’m Tony, by the way.”
“Thank you. I’m Megan Anne. My car is over here,” she said and pointed to a Nissan Leaf.
“Oh, you have a EV? What’s it like? Do you love it?” I asked.
“I quite like it, it gets me around.”
“That must be handy when you’re in the pub.”
“You’re Tony Harris, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I am. Have we met?”
“No, I hear the gossip in the coffee shop.”
“It’s harmless fun, that’s all. Not to be taken too seriously, Megan Anne.”
“It’s harmless until someone takes it seriously and what do you do then?”
“I don’t understand the question.”
“Flirtatious Tony, always promising but never getting around to fulfilling.”
“Still not understanding your point, Megan Anne,” I said.
“You’re the kind of guy who can start the fire and get it smouldering but never gets around to stoking it to full flame.”
I handed her drinks back to her and she took them wordlessly. I leaned in close to her face and she took a short step back.
“I’m really sorry to have conveyed that impression, Megan Anne. It’s not a conscious thought. I simply enjoy the exchanges of flirtatiousness, as you put it.”
“Is it not a little inappropriate, though?”
“It is if someone tells me it is, but nobody ever complains. We share kisses each morning, far better than exchanging barbs and hurtful words, but I’m not the arbiter of that.”
“You could be right, I only go on what I hear.”
“Why not come back in and see what goes on. You’ll find that it’s the girls who start it and get most of the fun out of it.”
“I don’t have the time,” she said.
“Ok, I understand. Have a great day, Megan Anne, nice to have met you and, once again, I’m sorry for barging into you like that, it was a complete accident.”
I pushed open the door and walked quietly to the counter. Suzanne was on today and she was standing with her head bowed, searching in the open register drawer for something.
“No use looking at it, Sue,” I said.
“Ah, Tony, I didn’t see you. I’m all befuddled this morning.”
“That’s a very big and calamitous word for one so beautiful, Sue.”
“Ah, Tony. You make my day every day.’
She leaned over the counter and dragged my lapel, pulling me in for a long, lingering kiss.
“Did I see your husband driving away just now?”
“I wish he’d drive away for good,” she said, “the prick!”
“I’m sure you don’t mean that, Sue. Whatever he’s done can be addressed at home tonight.”
“Is that our dreamboat talking about undressing us, Sue?” Sandra said, from her place behind the coffee machine.
I started to laugh, she was a card.
“He’s going to undress me, Sandra,” Suzanne said, “I got the first kiss of the day. Didn’t I, Tony?”
“You certainly did, Sue. My head is still reeling from it.”
“Do you want a flat white, Tony love?” Sandra said.
“Yes please, darling.”
I paid Sue for the coffee, moving to Sandra’s part of the small shop as I did so.
“Ah, there you are, handsome as ever,” she said with a smile.
“Jesse in Priorswood told me to tell you that she’s thinking of transferring over to this branch,” I said.
“She just fancies the arse off of you, Tony. You need to beware of her.”
She nodded in the direction of the door as a couple of girls walked in.
“Are we still on for Saturday night, Tony?“ she said, watching them for a reaction.
“After last weekend, Sandra? You were gone when I woke up.”
“I know but I knew if I waited for you to wake up that we’d be there until the evening, like the weekend before.”
I bit my lip. She was a wind-up merchant.
“I gave you a lift home, though, didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did, love.”
“You seemed to be having a little trouble walking, if I remember correctly.”
“Yes, I did, lover.”
She handed me my coffee with a mischievous grin.
“Thanks, babe,” I said, “I’ll think of you all the way into town.”
“When you’re drinking your flat white?”
“Yes, I suppose. But sometimes I like to lick just under the rim.”
“I do too, there’s always an overflow of froth,” she said with a wink.
“Will you two ever stop that,” Suzanne shouted at us, “you’re getting us all worked up over here.”
“I’d love to explore the semantics of that statement with you Sue, but I’m late as it is,” I said. “Sandra, kiss me and let my off to my chariot of dreams.”
“One of these days, Tony Harris, you’re going to have to make good on these promises,” Sandra said as she reached for me over the counter.
I touched my heart after our lips separated and turned to leave. The girls at the register smiled at me as Suzanne beckoned me for one too.
“Another one, Sue?” I said in mock annoyance.
“Just shut up and get over here,” she said, “do you want one as well, girls?”
“I do,” the smaller of them said, while the other just nodded.
I kissed all three and left the shop smiling.
