The Coffee Shop (18 page)

Derrick attempted to suppress a burgeoning desire to keel over laughing, but it was no good, and even though he pressed his hand to his mouth, he couldn’t stop the rising chuckle.

“What is this, a conspiracy?” Brian turned a sinister look upon Derrick. “You put her up to this, didn’t you?”

Derrick sat back shaking his head. “Hey, don’t look at me. You got yourself into this.”

“Some friend you are.”

“And just how many times have you heard me say that about you?”

“Too many.”

They both laughed. “I missed you, Derrick.”

“And I’m going to miss you, Brian.”

Annie and Denise looked at each other. “What does that mean?” Annie asked.

Brian looked from one to the other. “Don’t ask.” At this Annie and Denise stared once more at each other. “It’s a guy thing.”

“Oh, you are not going to hide behind that pathetic excuse are you?”

Brian thought on it. “Yeah, actually, I am.”

They finished their wine and finished their conversation, and finally Brian and Denise said good night as Derrick held the door.

“You want to watch an old movie on TV?”

“I spent the evening visiting with an old friend, why not finish it watching an old movie? A nice synchronicity, don’t you think?”

Somewhere about the middle of the movie, Annie dozed off, her head resting on his chest as she hugged him to her. He let her stay like that, enjoying her sleeping on him, Derrick starting to nod off himself, and so he turned the television off, lifting her into his arms and carrying her off to bed. Laying her down on the bed, he leaned over her and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “Good night, Annie.” Straightening, he reached up to turn off her light, the bedside table now heaped with books once again. “Your books.”

Half opening her eyes, Annie hugged her pillow to her. “I know, I know, I have too many books.”

Derrick grinned to himself, and nodded. “Right.”

Chapter Fourteen

Derrick noticed Angela staring at him as he walked through the front door of the store, a pizza delivery pouch in his arms.

“Oh, my God. Aren’t you just the sweetest thing!” she said.

“I’d like to think so.” He leaned forward, lowering his voice, and winked. “Now if only she’ll think so, then I’ll have it made.”

Angela laughed and smacked him on the arm. “Oh, you’re just awful.” But then she leaned over the counter. “She is going to love you so much. She is so tired, what with taking Amber’s shift on her day off, when she didn’t have to, and being up all night working on those questions.” She waved her hand.

“What questions?”

“Oh, didn’t you know? She loves to do high IQ tests for fun. She can work on one question for days, making graphs and researching formulas and stuff.” Derrick stared at her, and she straightened. “Then again, maybe I should just shut up about that.”

“No, I’d love to hear about it.”

“No, I shouldn’t have said anything. Oh, now she’s probably going to kill me.”

“Why?”

“Derrick!”

He turned to see Annie coming up to him.

“What’s this then?”

“When I didn’t get through to your cell, I called the store, and Angela told me you were working Amber’s shift for her. And, as your shift finishes at six and you’d be tired, I thought I’d get us something for dinner.”

“Oh, you didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to.”

“What is that? It looks like one of those pizza delivery pouches they use to keep the pizza hot.”

“Oh this? I bought it off the guy.” She was staring at it. “With what I paid him he can buy a lot more.”

“Okay. Well, I guess we can go then.” She turned to Angela. “Oh, do you need me to help you close?”

“You go. I can handle this just fine.”

“You sure?”

“I’ve been doing it for years. So, I’m sure.”

“All right then.” Annie pulled off her apron and grabbed her purse, motioning past Derrick to the door. “After you.” The ride in the limousine was short, and as they stepped up before the door of her apartment, she smiled self-consciously. “Um, I was hoping to get here before you and tidy up a bit.”

“Are you trying to tell me you are a slob and you don’t want anyone to know?”

“No. I am a normal person that actually uses their living space but who doesn’t always get a chance to tidy as they’d like to. You know, this thing called life has a tendency to, I don’t know, get in the way now and then. I’m sure you understand what I’m trying to say.”

He frowned, pretending he had no idea what she was talking about.

“Oh stop it.” She slipped the key into the lock but didn’t turn it. “So, if you wouldn’t mind waiting out here for a few minutes while I tidy up.”

“Are you asking me to stand out here in the hallway, Miss Maddock?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Why, isn’t that just a little rude?”

“You are bound and determined to see my messy place aren’t you? You’re thinking by seeing me at my worst, you’ll get some sort of insight into my psyche, or some nonsense. That’s it, isn’t it?”

“No.”

“You know, if you’re going to try and pull that one off, you’re going to have to be a lot more convincing than that.” She shrugged. “Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She wagged a finger in front of him. “And no judgments!”

Balancing the pizzas in one hand, he held the other up before him in some silent agreement.

“Well, all right then.”

She seemed extremely reluctant to open the door, but as she did he followed her inside. Flipping on the lights, she tossed her purse onto the couch. She pointed to the kitchenette. “You can put those in there.” She went to the table and gathered up the papers strewn across it.

“What you got there?”

“Oh! You scared me. I didn’t see you come up behind me like that.”

“So, what’s all this then?”

“Oh nothing, just a bunch of nonsense I like to get lost in.”

She was picking up the papers in a very specific order and placing them into a folder, and he reached out and grabbed one before she could get it.

“Oh, you wouldn’t be interested in that.”

“No, I think I would be very interested. If this is something you love to do, then I am very interested to know all about it.”

She looked at him for a minute and reached for the paper in his hand, but he pulled it away and he read it.

“What is this?”

“Like I said, some nonsense.”

“This does not look like nonsense.”

“Well, what’s the expression? It’s not rocket science.”

“Actually, that is exactly what this looks like.”

Her expression was blank. “You know rocket science?”

“No, but I have no idea what this is. It is so far over my head I — ”

She yanked the page from his hand and slipped it into the folder with the rest. “I seriously doubt that.”

“Oh, really? Okay, maybe you’d like to explain it to me and we’ll see if I understand any of it.”

She sighed loudly. “All right, how about I show you the question I am working on now. Will that be okay with you?” She looked through the folder, and pulling one of the sheets out, she thrust it in front of him. He was confused. “Number twenty-three.” She watched him as he read it to himself.

“How would you even begin to answer this?”

“Well, you break it down into its components. Try to think outside the box. Look at it from all angles. Sometimes it isn’t obvious, but then suddenly the answer appears to you as if out of nowhere. You know you can find the answer from the information you have been given, so you need to focus on that and what you can do with it. Sometimes it’s a case of stringing simple ideas together to create a more complex one.” She stopped, and looking at him she shook her head. “Oh, you don’t want to hear this.”

“Yeah, I do actually.” He could see she was uncomfortable talking about it. “You do this for fun?”

“What can I say? I love the challenge. I love figuring it out. And to do it all by yourself, without anyone else helping you, and to have a final answer. I can’t tell you how rewarding and satisfying that is. I can spend days on just one question. It can be really exciting.”

“To most people I know, a good time is getting drunk and hoping to get laid.”

“To each his own, I guess. As long as people are enjoying themselves then what does it matter?” She took the page from him and put it back in the folder. “Now, where is this pizza you promised to give me?”

“Coming right up.” He pulled open the pouch and brought out two boxes. “One for each of us.”

“Wow, you really do think I’m a complete pig, don’t you?”

“I never said that.”

“This is because of the hamburger thing, isn’t it?”

“I’d forgotten about that. But now that you remind me.”

“All right.”

He put the boxes down on the coffee table, and sitting on the couch, pair of jeans he had seen himself wearing from the dream he opened both lids.

“Is that Hawaiian?” Coming over she stared down into the box. “That’s Hawaiian.”

“Yep.”

“But how did you know? You talked to Angela?”

“Just a bit.”

“Please tell me you didn’t try to grill her for info on me?”

“Moi?”

“Yeah, right.” Plunking herself down onto the couch next to him, she grabbed a slice and took a generous bite. “Oh, God! Mmm!”

Derrick laughed.

“What?”

“Oh nothing. You don’t have a fireplace, I see.”

“No, sorry.”

He had expected her to offer her DVD fire and was surprised when she didn’t. “You don’t happen to have one of those DVDs, you know with nothing but a fire? I’ve seen them and they’re hilarious.”

“Hmm, I’ll have to remember that.”

“So, you don’t have one then?”

“No.”

He could clearly see the DVD from where he was sitting. That she would deny it was strange. “You know?”

“Yes,” she managed between bites.

“Just think of all you could accomplish if you put that intellect of yours to real use?” The moment he said it he regretted it, and she looked down as she leaned away from the pizza. Dropping the piece she was eating back into the box, she carefully closed the lid.

“Would you care for something to drink?” She got up, walking into the kitchen. “I’m sorry but I don’t have anything alcoholic. I have juice and pop.” She was talking into the cupboards as she pulled out a couple of glasses.

“I’m sorry if I said something I shouldn’t have.”

“You didn’t.”

“So then we’re okay.”

“Yep.”

“Then why doesn’t it feel like it’s okay?”

“Well, I don’t have any control over what you feel, I’m afraid.” She put the glasses on the counter. “You decided what you wanted? Or do you want anything? I’m going to have some pop, even though I shouldn’t.”

He watched her pour herself a glass and drink it without saying anything. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Yes, actually you did. You suggested that everything that is my life is a huge waste of time. That every choice I have made was the wrong one, and that what I am doing is worthless and meaningless. So, forgive me if I take offense with that.”

“Oh God, that is not what I meant at all! Please don’t think that was what I was saying. I just see this incredibly talented woman standing in front of me, and I want her to be able to use what she can to make this world a better place.”

“I am making the world a better place. I am kind to people, I show them attention and love. I care about people and let them know they matter. I spend my time doing things I enjoy, and that gives me great pleasure. I help people when I can, in my own little way. I think what I am doing now matters, even if you don’t.”

“I never said any of that didn’t matter. I am sorry. Forgive me, but I see so much potential that is not being tapped. The things you could do, the ways you could change this world, Annie, you have no idea how amazing you really are.”

“Who’s to say that we must be leading countries, or finding the cure for cancer to have made a contribution?”

“No, but Annie, you have so much more to give, what you could do with what you have.”

“You know, I’ve met people like you before. They all believe they know what is best for me. What I should be doing. That anything but what they suggest is a huge waste of my time and talent. It never occurs to them that…” He watched as she took a deep breath.

“I am doing this so badly, Annie I only want what is best for you.”

“I already have that. Why can’t you see that? Why must I be made to feel like a bad person for not pursuing those things you feel I should be doing?” She marched over to the pizza boxes and closing his box, she stacked them both, and handed them to him. “Oh, I almost forgot.” Grabbing the pouch, she put it on top of the boxes he was holding. “There. Now you have everything you came in with.”

“Are you asking me to leave?”

“Asking? That would be the polite thing to do. I am telling you. Get out!” He wasn’t moving, so she walked past him and opened the apartment door. Coming back, she gave him a shove, pushing him out the door and closing it behind him.

“Annie?” For the longest time he stood in the hallway staring at her door. Going over and over in his head how he could have messed something so perfect up so badly.

“You plan on ever leaving?”

Derrick spun around, there was a little old woman standing in the doorway opposite in her bathrobe and slippers. “Mrs. Fleming?”

“You?”

“Me?”

“Derrick Sloane.”

She was nodding her head as if taking in everything she had ever heard about him. “What did you do wrong?”

“I’m sorry?”

“Well, you’re standing out here aren’t you?”

He laughed. “Yes, you do have a point.”

“Is that pizza?”

“Yes?”

“From that place on the corner?”

“Yes.”

“Then come in, and bring the pizza with you.”

She disappeared back into her apartment, and Derrick wasn’t sure if he should follow.

“Hey, you comin’ or not?”

“I’m coming, I guess.”

“You guess? Either you come or you don’t, but don’t be guessing.”

“Okay.” He laughed at her directness. He always found that funny in an older person. Like they didn’t have the patience for any more crap in their lives. They’d already had enough and weren’t going to put up with any more. He stepped inside, pulling the door closed behind him.

“Sit.” She motioned to an old green couch that looked as if it had seen better days. “Now, let’s see that pizza.”

Putting the pizzas on the coffee table, he opened them in front of her.

She nodded her head as if inspecting them. “Good choice. I like both. But, I’ll only have the Hawaiian because I know you ordered the pepperoni.”