The Coffee Shop (13 page)

She turned back to face him. “You don’t think you do?”

He shrugged.

“This is your way to get me to kiss you to prove it to you, isn’t it?”

“And here I thought I had disguised it so cleverly too.”

“You don’t need that to get me to show you how much you mean to me.”

“I don’t?”

Slowly, Annie shook her head. “Never.” She slipped her arms up around his neck, and staring up into his eyes, she smiled to herself.

“What are you smiling at?”

“I was just thinking about how happy I was.”

“Was?”

“All right, am. Happy now?”

“Very.”

She kissed him, her fingertips caressing the back of his neck. “Now, as to dinner.”

“You really want to go there?”

Annie chuckled to herself. “Well one of us has to try. It’s either that or starve.”

“We could always order in. Or go out. Or have a chef make us up stuff that we just heat up or pop in the oven.”

“As romantic as that all sounds…”

Derrick grinned. “All right, if you insist, I’ll help you then.” Taking off his coat, he tossed it over the couch and unbuttoned his cuffs, rolling them up his arms.

“Oh, my big strong man. Just look at those arms.”

Derrick held up his arm, flexing it for her, and Annie laughed. “So, what do you need me to do?”

“Well, how about you make a Caesar salad. You’re good at that.”

“All right! Where’s the lettuce?”

“In the fridge, dear.”

“Now there’s the kind of sentence I long to hear, both condescending and endearing all at the same time.”

“I was just kidding, and you know it.”

“Do I? Do I know you’re kidding?”

“Well if you can’t figure that out by now…”

“And she does it again.”

“Just make the salad!”

He laughed, and going to the fridge, he pulled out the romaine lettuce. Pulling off the battered outer leaves, he tossed them in the sink and washed the others.

Annie turned on the garbage disposal, and bunching the lettuce leaves, she gave them a shove down the drain, the sound of something metal bringing the mechanism to a stop. “Oh great, probably a spoon.” She flipped off the switch, and reaching down into the drain, she felt around for the metal object. “Yep, a spoon.” She tried to pull it free giving it a tug. “I can’t see a thing.” Reaching for the light switch she accidentally turned on the unit, and the spoon kicked, yanking her hand down into the shredder.

Chapter Eleven

The phone rang, and Derrick sat up sharply in bed. “God!” Dragging a hand down his face, he breathed hard, feeling as if he had just run a marathon. Grabbing the phone, he brought it to his ear. “This better be good.”

“Where the hell are you? I’ve been waiting downstairs for ten minutes. You’re not still sleeping are you?”

“Good morning to you too, Brian.”

“Morning? It’s nine o’clock already.” There was a pause. “You’re not sick, are you? It’s not like you to sleep in like this. Do you want me to come up and have a look at you?”

“No, Brian. I am not sick. Just really tired for some reason. Just give me a moment and I’ll throw on some clothes.”

“Throw on some clothes? Did I hear you correctly? Did you say, ‘Throw on some clothes?’ Now I know you’re sick. Derrick Sloane does not throw on some clothes. I’m coming up.”

“No, Brian…”

But he had already hung up, and Derrick climbed out of bed. Going to the front door, he unlocked it and went back into his bedroom. He dug out a pair of jeans and a T-shirt from the walk-in closet and slipped them on.

“Where are you?”

“In the bedroom, just give me a sec will ya?” Slipping on a pair of running shoes, he walked out into the living room.

Taking one look at Derrick in his jeans and T-shirt, Brian stared. “Okay, it’s official. Here, let me take your temperature.”

“Stop it, Brian! I’m fine.”

“You are not fine.”

Derrick just stared at him from across the room.

“When was the last time I saw you in jeans and a T-shirt?” He looked to the ceiling as though contemplating the meaning of the universe. “Oh, yeah, that’s right. College, if I recall.” He came close, looking him in the eye. “So what gives? What’s with the get up?”

“Get up?”

“Something’s wrong. Come on, spill it. Tell Brian all about it.”

“Last I checked you were a general practitioner, not a psychologist.”

“And listening to you all these years doesn’t qualify me as a psychologist?”

Derrick lowered his head, staring at Brian from across the room.

“Okay, okay.” Brian laughed but moved closer. “But seriously, what’s going on?”

“Nothing already, Jeez.” But Brian continued to stare. “I had a dream, that’s all. Woke up feeling like I’d been sleeping for a year.”

Brian wiped his mouth. “A dream?”

“Yes, a dream. What can I say?”

“If that dream has you wearing jeans and a T-shirt, then that must have been some dream.”

“It was nothing.”

“So then why the, I don’t give a shit, look?”

“No reason.” Brian was like the annoying kid in the first grade. You just wanted to up and smack him one good, and then maybe he’d leave you the hell alone.

“Derrick Sloane never does anything without a reason.”

“Now who’s being a prima donna?”

“I never said that.”

“No, but you were intimating as much.”

“Hey, if it walks like a duck…”

“Would you give me a break already?”

Brian took hold of Derrick’s arm. “Seriously, what’s going on?”

“I already told you. It was some stupid dream.”

“Well, whatever it was, it changed the way you dress. So what’s up with that?” A strange look came over his face, and you would have thought he’d just come up with the cure for cancer by his expression. “You weren’t wearing that in the dream, were you? So you figure if you dress like that then whatever happened won’t happen for real.” He cleared his throat. “I’ve got news for you, Derrick.” He patted him patronizingly on the face. “Dreams don’t come true.” Shaking his head Brian turned away. “Now get dressed and let’s go.”

“I’m fine like this.”

Brian turned slowly back, looking upon Derrick with a renewed fascination. “All right, I’ll bite. Tell me about this dream.”

“Why, so you can rib me about it for the next month?”

“I won’t.” He crossed his heart and held up his hand in some sort of salute.

“Now what the hell is that?”

“You were a kid once, you know what that means.”

“Yes, and last I looked you weren’t a kid anymore.”

“Oh, come on. I’m just having a little fun. You remember what that was like, don’t you? Having fun? Or is it you’ve been too busy amassing your fortune to remember stuff like that?”

“I know how to have fun.”

“Oh really? All right then, tell me, when was the last time you had fun. And I’m talking about fun here, not that crap you pass off as fun.”

Derrick just sighed.

“My point exactly. Derrick, you’ve got to relax. Stop and smell the roses once in a while. God knows you can afford the best in the world. You may as well enjoy them while you’re at it.” He patted him on the chest. “What good does it do to have all this success and wealth if you’re not even taking the time to enjoy the simple pleasures in life? How many times have I told you to take some time off, and just take it easy?”

“Yes, you’re getting to be a regular nanny, what with all this mothering. Don’t know how Denise puts up with it.”

“Hey, at least I’m in a committed relationship, which is more than I can say for you.”

Derrick turned away.

“Oh, what was that?”

“What?”

“That look just now?”

“What look? Honestly Brian you really are starting to become the most annoying — ”

“This dream had something to do with a girl. What, did you hear the word no? Is that what has you all…it was! Okay, now you really do have to spill it.”

“You really want to know?” Brian didn’t have to say anything for Derrick to know he wanted to hear every juicy detail, the expression on his face not unlike the time they snuck his dad’s Playboy magazine out to the back of the garage. “All right, I’ll tell you.”

Brian sat upon the couch, his arms crossed in front of him as he stared up at Derrick.

“I dreamed about this girl, yes. But it was so real, to be honest it’s creeping me out.”

“So you had a dream about a girl. So what?”

“You ever have a dream about a relationship that lasted over several months?”

His eyes drifted off to the left as if deep in thought. “No, can’t say that I ever have.”

“Well, me either. Hell, I was going to ask her to marry me.”

“Okay, now I know you’re sick.” Jumping up, Brian tried to feel Derrick’s forehead.

“Stop it!” He pushed him back to the couch, and Brian laughed.

“No, seriously, you were going to ask some woman to marry you?”

“Yes.”

“Wow that must have been
some
woman.”

“Cut it out, Brian.”

“No, you don’t see the significance of this?”

“It was just a dream.”

“Ah, but dreams are the windows into the psyche.”

“You did not just say that. Where do you get this crap?”

“All right, I just made it up now. But for you to be in a committed relationship? But not only that, for you to actually think about asking the girl to marry you? That is huge! Huge! You do see this don’t you?”

“Yes, and it was
just
a dream, in case I need to remind you.”

“Oh, really?” Brian leaned back on the couch, reaching his arms out along the back as he crossed his legs in front of him. “Well, if this is just some dream…then why are you wearing jeans and a T-shirt, my friend?”

Derrick stared down at his clothes.

Brian sat forward. “Oh, wow! Now, I know this is serious. Derrick Sloane experiencing the loss of speech? Oh, I’ve got to alert the media on this one.” He had pulled out his cell phone and was busy dialing.

Derrick just stared down at him.

“What, you’re not going to try and stop me?”

“I figured I’d just let you get it all out, and maybe you’d finally lose interest. I mean you can only go on about this for so long before you run out of material…I hope.”

Brian laughed, and slipped his cell phone back into his coat. “Just razzing you, man. You know me.”

“Unfortunately.”

“Hey, I heard that.” Brian grinned, getting up off the couch. “No but seriously — ”

“Oh, my God! You won’t let this go. You’re like a dog with a bone.”

“Can you blame me? My God, man, you tell me you have a dream about wanting to ask some girl to marry you.”

“You are aware the word dream is being used in context of that remark, right?”

“Doesn’t matter. Dream, daydream, wet dream — ”

“All right now, I know I’ve heard enough.” He thrust a finger in the direction of the door.

“Okay, it was
just
a dream. So then — ”

“Stop!”

“Hear me out.”

“And then you’ll shut up on this subject?”

“I’ll think about it.” Derrick glared at him, and he stepped back. “All right, all right, just hear me out, okay?” Derrick didn’t reply. “So then, if it was just a dream, why are you wearing jeans and a T-shirt?” Derrick didn’t answer, and Brian moved closer. “This really spooked you, didn’t it?”

He thought about what Brian had just said, and then he shrugged. “It’s nothing.”

“Well, apparently not. For you to change your entire persona like this? For you that’s major.” Brian looked thoughtful, and he looked up at Derrick. “I know what we need to do to fix this.”

“Fix it? You say that like it’s a…a…”

“Yes?”

Derrick just sighed, and conceding to Brian’s suggestion he waved a hand through the air.

Brian laughed. “Come on.” Reaching out, he grabbed Derrick’s arm. “You and I are going out, as planned, and that’s all I am going to say about that.” Pulling Derrick out the front door of the building, he signaled to the limousine just there at the curb. Climbing in, he leaned back in his seat. “There now. We’ll get out and forget all about this, okay?”

“Whatever you say.”

“Whatever I…? Look I know right after you wake up from one of these it still feels real, but I am telling you right now, it’s not.”

“I know that.”

“It would help if you said it with a little more conviction.”

Derrick laughed, and the limousine came to a stop. “Why are we stopped?”

“Looks like an accident up ahead,” Lawrence said over his shoulder, “some truck has spilled its load.”

Derrick sat forward. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“Sir?”

“Never mind.”

“I can take another route if you prefer.”

“That will be fine, Lawrence.” Derrick leaned back into his seat, Lawrence pulling off the main road, turning down a series of streets. The limousine slowed to a stop at a light, and Derrick glanced from the window seeing the coffee shop from his dream. Turning away, he stared straight ahead.

“What is it?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Oh, now don’t give me that. What did you see that…?” Leaning forward, Brian looked out the limousine window. “It’s a coffee shop. Why would a coffee shop…?” Sitting back in his seat, Brian grinned to himself. “You didn’t happen to, oh, I don’t know, meet this girl of your dreams in a coffee shop, did you?” Derrick said nothing, and Brian shook his head. “I’m about to do something you’ll thank me for later. I’m going to prove to you it’s all in your head. Repeat after me, dreams don’t come true.” Leaning across he opened the car door. “Now I want you to go in there and see for yourself, none of it was real.”

Derrick just stared.

“Okay, I tell you what. Prove me wrong. Go in there, and show me she’s in there. If she’s in there, you go and sit at the table with her. If not, come straight back out. Go on.”

Derrick sighed. “Anything to get you to drop this once and for all!” Climbing from the limousine, he ran to the front door of the shop. Opening the door, he stepped in.

A man on a white cell phone bumped into Derrick, his coffee spilling down Derrick’s shirt and onto his pants.

“Hey, buddy! Watch where you’re going next time, why don’t ya. Jeez.”

Derrick watched as the coffee spread into the fabric of his shirt, the scent of cinnamon surrounding him as he stood just inside the door.

The man scowled, uttering a curse, and then pushed past him out the door.

Staring out the door, Derrick watched as the man darted out into traffic, a car swerving to miss a cyclist almost running him over as it jumped the curb and carried on down the street. For the briefest of moments he stood, unmoving, and slowly he turned his head. There to his right was Annie, sitting at the table with the only empty chair, her eyes on him, as he stood holding up his arms at his sides. He shrugged, and she laughed, looking back to her book with a smile.

It took all his strength to look away, and he stepped up to the counter where he ordered a coffee. Turning back to the tables, he glanced the entire length of the shop. Just as in his dream, there was not a chair unoccupied, that is, all except for the one across from Annie.