Coffee

Sequel to "Snowing in December", 4th in line in "The Bridesmaid" series

 

Barry has a thing for commemorating big events, so I found myself at the Starbucks we met at shortly after the wedding. I sat in one of the plump chairs by the entrance, eagerly waiting for him. I took a big bite of my coffee cake, wondering what he was doing. He was probably still back at the apartment, maybe making sure he looked his best or he may have been thinking of a good pick up line to use on me. Either way, we were going back to our apartment together.

 

The Christmas decorations had been taken down for almost a month now, and I really missed them. Living in LA, I had never missed the snow before.

 

I sipped at my coffee, shivering even though it was still southern California, and I looked up and Dana was approaching me. I smiled. Always there when I needed him.

 

“Excuse me,” he said coming up to me with an exaggerated lisp, “those leather boots do NOT go with that sea green blouse of yours, young lady!”

 

“Yeah, and that guy you’re with doesn’t go well with your pink silk bed sheets,” I retorted, nodding towards a guy in black heading for the men’s room.

 

“I’m gonna tell your mom you’re making fun of me again, Angela,” Dana said, dropping the exaggerated lisp and returning to his regular lisp.

 

“I’m gonna tell your mom that you’re ruining those special bed sheets,” I said, winking.

 

“It was my inheritance!” Dana exclaimed, putting the back of his hand to his forehead and making a few of the patrons turn to stare. “Grandma would have wanted me to bring those sheets back to life!” I forced my coffee down and stared at my cousin with a glare. Dana had moved out to West Hollywood from Wisconsin and I actually didn’t see him for a while when he came out. I thought at first it was just because he was still getting set up and trying to make a place for himself, but what I didn’t know was that he was actually more or less getting cozy in that apartment his at the time boyfriend had.

 

“We have coffee a lot,” Dana told me cryptically the first time I saw him after he moved here. I remembered asking him repeatedly what that meant, even screaming it a few times at the top of my lungs in the middle of that mall, and I remember a few guys turned around, looked at me knowingly and ran off together giggling.

 

“So, you’re having coffee today, huh?” I asked Dana, taking another sip of my coffee to drive my point home. Dana wiggled his eyebrows and wrapped his arm around his Frapaccino flavor of the month.

 

“I like it ice cold,” Dana said beaming. “The thick, slushy, sweet, tasty and the cream—”

 

“Ok, that’s really ok,” I said, waving off the end of his explanation. “You like your coffee cold, I like mine hot.”

 

“So I can tell,” Dana said cryptically once again. I rolled my eyes. “Barry brought you here for your anniversary?”

 

“More or less,” I said, my heart beginning to flutter. All of a sudden, I needed more coffee cake. I had to give into my cravings.

 

“You used to hate coffee cake,” Dana said in his once again cryptic voice. I sighed.

 

“I used to hate Barry too, but you see how that turned out,” I said giggling.

 

“You never hated him,” Dana said firmly. I squinted at him.

 

“You weren’t living out here when Barry and I met, how would you know?” I asked.

 

“Calling me every week because of every little thing he did to you?” Dana said. “People only do that when they secretly like someone.” I sneered at him and the door opened. I almost sprang to my feet.

 

“You need to stop spending like that,” Darrell said in a hushed voice, pushing Arianna to the farthest end of the Starbucks.

 

“I don’t spend too much,” Arianna said.

 

“I don’t mean that you spend too much,” Darrell hastily amended. “But we do need to save more, we need money to pay for the house.”

 

“You’re saying I spend too much,” Arianna shot back. A man shot a look at Darrell and he looked at the man for a second and turned away quickly.

 

“I’m sorry Arianna,” Darrell said, “but I’m just worried. I…I want you to be comfortable. I want you to be happy. I…I want you to stay with me. Forever. Just like we said in high school, remember?” Their backs were facing me, but I could just tell from the back of her head that she was smiling. She won. I had the feeling that Darrell’s smile that I couldn’t see must have been one of relief.

 

“I can’t wait for Jason and Cecelia to get here,” Arianna said as Darrell pulled out a chair for her to sit in. Arianna flashed a smile at Darrell, making him melt to her more and more.

 

“Anything to keep you here with me,” Darrell said before going to order her latte. As if on cue, Jason and Cecelia walked through the door, Cecelia closing the door behind Jason as he made his way to Arianna without even saying hello to Darrell. I watched closely as Jason sat next to Arianna, laughing and smiling as if high school hadn’t ended yet, and Cecelia sat next to Jason, turned towards him, almost begging for attention. I looked down at her left hand and smirked. He still hadn’t gotten her an engagement ring. Arianna commanded Jason’s attention every time she moved and he kept a close eye on her, admiring every turn of her head, every exaggerated blink of her eye, every gesture her hands made and every time she turned her body just a little bit towards Jason, even after Darrell had ordered everyone’s coffee. My eyes were beginning to burn from the intensity of the glare I was giving them, but none of them even looked my way. None of them could see the anger in my eyes, not that it would make them realize how pathetic I thought they all were. I could feel my anger burning. I hadn’t felt this angry since the day of the wedding. It dawned on me how long it had been since I really thought about the wedding. Things had changed so suddenly during the wedding, but then Barry came into the picture and I didn’t remember—

 

Matt breezed through the door, looking around the coffee shop, and my heart sank slightly when he didn’t even look next to him to find me. His eyes were glued to her and he speed-walked to the table of fools where he belonged. It almost felt like a knife in my heart. Matt didn’t look at anyone else at the table. Arianna looked at Matt with a huge smile on her face as if she won a huge prize. Darrell just looked so damn patient, waiting for the day to be over as if there were somewhere else he had to be, but refused to get up until Arianna was done. Jason laughed obnoxiously at something Cecelia said, making Arianna crack up and smile. I wasn’t sure if Cecelia had actually said something to try to be funny because Cecelia wasn’t the wittiest person around. It felt a lot like I had heartburn and my fists began to ball up in rage.

 

My paper cup burst open and my coffee spilled out onto the table, all over my right hand and onto my lap. I realized this must have all happened within a minute or so because my coffee was still steaming hot.

 

“Angela!” Barry shrieked, rushing to me and getting napkins to mop up the mess. “Ange? Angel, look at me, please!” I looked into Barry’s eyes, the heartburn beginning to cease. Barry leaned away from me seeing the look in my eyes. I felt like I had just woken up from some sort of trance, but I eventually got back to reality and began to help him clean up. Once I was cleaned up, Barry wrapped me into a tight hug. I was glad that Barry was so much taller than me; they couldn’t see me because Barry’s tall body shielded me from them.

 

“I’m ok,” I said soothingly. “It was just an accident, babe. I swear, I’m fine.” Barry turned me around to walk me out of the coffee shop. I glanced out of the corner of my eye; they were still enjoying themselves as if they had done no wrong. Dana loved his coffee ice cold and so did everyone at that table.

 

But I wanted my revenge served scalding hot.

 

 

Sequel, "Scorpio Falling":

http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/Stars%20Fall%20On%20My%20Heart/292900/

 

Author's Note

To understand this story, you MUST have read "The Bridesmaid", "Fallen", and "Snowing in December" first, and in that exact order. If you have not read these stories first, do NOT leave comments that you didn't understand this story. Thank you.

Reviews

[DarkAngelWriter]

Ugh, don't listen to the stupid b***h who's the "first" comment. She doesn't know what she's talking about.

Okay, Dana's back. Yay. I love that dude, even though he has a girl's name.

The gang? Ugh. I want them dead. All of them.

Barry? *sighs dreamily* Always loving that one.

Angela? She needs to close her eyes to them and see what's right in front of her.

And how do you say Ange? Is it like Angie or Ang? Hmm...

[Drew Wade]

Okay, well this story does have a great cliffhanger. Really, I want to know what kind of scalding hot revenge she serves up for everyone. secondly, once again, angela is making me sad. Shouldn't her vengeance on the wedding day have been enough? I think she might have some issues she needs to work out. but that's just another part of making a complex character. you take the good with the bad. and that's what a great character has in them.

speaking of the story, you had some great lines.. 'dropping the exaggerated lisp and returning to his regular lisp.' haha.

the only thing that tripped me up a bit was the part when you say, 'his at the time boyfriend.' I think I would go to 'his boyfriend at the time' on that one. Okay. more to come.

[Nicole (Carpe Diem)]

oh i cannot wait to see how this story ends... i am hooked... fantastic writing.

[D. Nelson]

hmm... i like this one.. short but interesting

[xRetroCortx]

Revenge.... what a wonderful idea.

[~D.A. Phoenix~]

OOOOOO Revenge *evil laugh* excellent

[sutoraika]

The last line made me smile evilly. Revenge. How I love it.

[Nikki]

First comment! Woo!

That was WAY twisted! I can't wait for the next one! Write more!!! ^_^