With everything paid for, we sit back and let the food digest a bit. Angie then asks, “So which movie would you like to see?”
“Well, would you like to change the old routine?”
“What do you have in mind?”
“I was thinking about bowling.”
“Uh . . .”
“Just kidding. Actually I was thinking about going to a coffee shop and chatting over a cup of joe.”
Angie makes the disgusted face and says in a apologetic way, “Sorry, but I don't really drink coffee.”
“Well do you like Italian sodas? Or maybe hot chocolate?”
“You said the 'c' word. Actually that sounds really good.”
“Excellent. Do you have a cafe that you have mind to go to?”
“You're choice again.”
“Ok. I know a perfect one and it's only a couple of blocks away. I'll direct us there.”
With that, Angie and I get up and leave the restaurant. As we walk down the street, Angie puts her arm in the crook of mine. I can't believe things are going so well. Where is some wood to knock on or a four leaf clover to kiss? Plus I am having a great time.
It wasn't too long after I had arrived here that I had completely given up on the female gender. I figured that I was a complete human and did not need a 'better' half. I was the perfect whole. Ok, maybe perfect is going a bit too far. I had my hobbies and my routines, and I was getting to the point where I would be afraid to change them.
Being here with Angie right now, just walking on the sidewalk next to her, I was seriously having to re-evaluate my prior statements and convictions. At the same point, was she at the state that I am? Is she emotionally stable and personally set? Is she too set in her ways? Am I just being paranoid?
Wow, and I am totally not made uncomfortable by the silence. I figured there might be butterflies, but it seems that all the pollution and smog is killing them off. I can live with being calm about it. And if it doesn't work out, what have I really lost? I might as well spend some time revelling in the lust that is working it's way through my system. Trust will come with time, if it is given time to bloom.
I look over at Angie and she is looking down the street watching the various people on the sidewalk. As if she feels that I am looking at her, she turns to me and smiles. She starts to ask me something and then pauses and then continues on, “Penny for your thoughts.”
“Just thinking of all the things that I want to know about you but probably won't be able to find out in a single evening.”
“Like what?”
“To single anything out would do it injustice and more injustice to all that I haven't selected. I feel like I am just seeing a flower garden from a block away. I know that it is pretty but I don't know what makes it up. But then again understanding others takes a lifetime and then you still never understand all.”
Angie continues to walk down the street with me dangling on her arm although any other person passing by would see just the opposite. She faces forward for a bit before turning back to me and saying, “I'd gladly give you more time to learn if you'd give me the same opportunity. As long as what you are saying does not mean that you're asking me to marry you.”
I stop and Angie stops to as I start laughing. It was one of the mixed laughs although this time it is not for sadness or fear mixed with joy. I can't help be feel happy that she is having a good time and amused and crazy humor she has. After I regain my control, I look at her and say causually, “Are you proposing to me?”
Angie slugs me in the arm and laugs, “No, and I take it you are just checking to see if I'm even considering you second date material.”
“Yeah”
Angie grabs me by my ears and pulls my lips to hers and holds me there for all of a second before pushing me back.
“Well Pete, you should take that as a yes.”
“Uhhh . . . I will.”
“So how much further?”
“It is right there on the corner.”
“Whoa, not a Starbucks.”
“They aren't my favorite. I like the ma and pop shops.”
As we enter the shop, the smell of coffee permeates the air. It is almost like taking a bath in coffee with some expresso beans shoved up your nose for good measure. We make our way through the maze of chairs till we get near enough to the counter to make out the tiny lettering on the board announcing what they have available at their establishment. As I look down the list of coffee solutions, I chuckle at the names that have been chosen. Cup of Latte Heaven. Mocha Good Stuff for the Soul. Pontificino. Hellasciously Hot Cocoa. Eye Talon Sew Da. After staring at the menu for a little bit of time, I finally come to my weapon of choice. Mocha for the Soul. Why? Because you can't go wrong with a mocha.
I turn to Angie and ask her if she has made up her mind. Angie looks back and me and asks what I am going to get.
“I was thinking about the Mocha.”
“The mocha?”
“Yeah, the Mocha for the Soul. So are you going to get the soda or the cocoa?”
“I was thinking about just copying you.”
“Really? I thought you didn't like coffee.”
“Mocha has coffee?”
“Yeah, it's chocolate and coffee.”
“Well, I 'll get it anyway.”
“Ok, do you want to order?”
“Sure”
I watch as Angie goes up to the guy working behind the counter and she orders a mocha grande and I come up and order the same. Angie then leans with her back against the counter and looks at me seriously almost like she were trying to dissect my mind with her eyes. Slowly she starts peeling through my fears and loves and blahs.
“You like coffee?”
“Not really.”
“But you got a coffee drink.”
“So did you.”
“I ordered one because you did and you are avoiding my question.”
“Coffee drinks are ok. I don't like straight coffee very much. Latte's have too much milk in there. Mocha's are just right.”
“Chocolate can cure everything.”
“I've heard it releases chemicals in your brain that are the same as some euphoric events. Also shrinks testicles.”
“Well, I don't have to worry about the latter. Aren't you worried?”
“From what I read, I would have to consume the entire world supply of chocolate to even make a dent, and then I would have other problems.”
“Yeah, I would have to kick your ass.”
Just then, the clerk brings over the two cups of mocha. While he is there I have him bring over a piece of chocolate mousse cheesecake and two forks. Angie chuckles and says, “You evidently know the soft spot to my heart.”
“Just making sure you are having fun and chocolate seems to help.”
“Why, yes. I have noticed the same thing.”
We make our way to the back of the shop and find a table in the corner. After setting the cheesecake in the middle, I go over to the table where they keep the coffee additives and grab the cinnamon. I come back put just a dash in mine and look at Angie. Angie gives a nod and I put a dash into her cup.
After putting the cinnamon back, I take a seat at our table and take a sip of the mocha. The best thing about a mocha, which makes it superior to all other coffee like drinks is that the chocolate helps smooth out the bitterness of the coffee but leaves the velvety taste of it behind. Plus the coffee balances out the sweetness of the chocolate to leave you with a wonderful complex drink that I make a tad more complex with a spicy dash of cinnamon.
“So Angie, what do you think?”
“I like it. A bit too much of a coffee taste for me, but not overly sweet. And the cheesecake is my slice of heaven.”
“Cool. So what are you hobbies? What do you like to do?”
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