Coffee and Cigarettes

I think that Libby had actually fainted. As I gaped at the sign that shattered my existence in a non-literal way, Libby fell over and hit the ground with a loud thump. I looked to my left and saw her on the ground, limbs sprawled out in the show, whispering to herself about how her world was over.

I dragged her to her feet. "How did this happen?" she asked frantically. "Why would they close down our coffee shop?"

I spotted Mikey by the side of a building with a cigarette in his hands, digging his heel into the snow. "Look, there's Mikey," I said. "Let's go see what happened."

We rushed over to him and Libby immediately demanded, "Why is Collin's closing down?"

Mikey sighed and rubbed his temples. "Well to be honest, we weren't making enough money. It may have been a good coffee house, but there's first of all, too much competition and second, there weren't enough people who were aware of our existence."

"You could've asked us to advertise for you!" Libby exclaimed.

Mikey chuckled. "I know, and I know you two would've gladly done it...but you know, you two were really the only ones who were giving us any business at all. But a coffee shop can't survive on two drinks a week."

"Why not?" Libby whined sadly.

Mikey shrugged, looking back at the abandoned building. "It's a shame that we needed to close down. Now I have to look for a new job..."

"Ask Brian," I said immediately.

"Brian at Hot Topic?" Mikey asked, clearly confused.

I shook my head. "Nah, Brian Malloy. You know, the one who works at Barnes and Noble? One of your really close friends?"

After a moment of silence, Mikey shouted, "OOOH! Oh yeah! I forgot that he had a job. Come to think of it, I forgot that he's the manager of that store."

Libby shook her head. "Sometimes I question why I date you." Mikey then proceeded to kiss her (I had to look away, it kind of grossed me out) and she promptly said, "Now I remember!"

"Anyway," I said loudly, still not making eye contact, "you should go call Malloy."

"Yeah," Mikey sighed. "I'm really going to miss this job. It was great."

I shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe Lib and I will find another coffee shop to hang out at."

"It won't be as good as Collin's," Libby replied mournfully, "but I guess you can't help these things."

"Come on," Mikey said, grabbing Libby's hand. "Let's go back to my place. You guys can hang out with Gerard while I call up Brian."

And so the three of us walked to Mikey and Gerard's house and went inside. Gerard was lying stomach-first on the couch, giggling to himself and swinging a bottle of vodka around in one hand. I approached him cautiously, as did Libby, and as soon as he saw us, he screamed.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack!" he slurred, rolling off the couch and falling onto the floor. "What are you doing on my boat?"

"Boat?" Libby whispered to me.

"He's drunk out of his mind," I replied dismissively. "Gerard, give me that bottle, would you?"

"Not my baby! The dingo ate my baby!" Gerard cried out dramatically.

Libby and I exchanged glances. "I'm surprised he hasn't started puking, actually. Looks like he had a lot of alcohol." I said, prying the vodka out of his hand. "Occupy him. I'm disposing of this."

I had to whisper the last part or Gerard would've killed me. As Libby was helping Gerard count his fingers, I walked into the kitchen and drained the remains of the bottle and threw it into the recycling bin.

Just then, Gerard's mother walked in. "Oh, hello there..." she said, trailing off. We hadn't really been properly introduced.

"I'm Morgan," I said with a polite smile, extending my hand. She shook it. "I'm Gerard and Mikey's friend."

"Call me Donna," she said, smiling back. "Uh, what exactly were you doing with that bottle?"

"Um, oh..." I stuttered. "Well, Gerard looks like he's had a bit too much to drink and so I decided to try and help him a bit."

"Bless your soul," Donna said with a sad smile. "Poor boy. He's got an alcohol problem. He hides it all over the house. I'm so worried about him."

"Don't worry, Donna," I replied. "I'm sure that he knows his limit."

Donna scoffed a bit. "That boy's idea of a limit is as much as you can drink until you pass out."

"Oh," was all I could say. After a moment's silence, Donna excused herself and left the room. I went back into the living room where Gerard was asleep on the couch.

"I never knew that singing Yankee Doodle could tire someone out so badly," Libby said with an eyebrow raised. "This kid needs help."

At that moment, Mikey scurried into the room. "I got me and Gerard jobs at Barnes and Noble!" he said happily. "I get to work in music and Gerard gets to work in books." Then he finally looked over at his brother, passed out on the couch. He shook his head and sighed. "Go figure."

"Does this happen often, Mikey?" Libby asked softly.

He nodded. "He's taking anti-depressants too. It's really sad to see him like this." We sat there in silence, watching Gerard as he twitched in his sleep. "Let's get him upstairs," Mikey suggested.

We all carried him up the stairs to his bedroom. Once we had tucked him in, we left his room and went back downstairs.

"Let's watch a movie," Mikey suggested. "You guys look kinda down."

"No, really?" Libby said with sarcasm dripping from every word. "Our favourite cafe is closing down, we both have family issues, Frank's a dick--"

"Wait," Mikey cut her off. "What's this about Frank?"

"Nothing," I growled, plopping down on the couch with my arms crossed. "He's just a dick. I don't want to see him, I don't want to talk to him, I don't want to ever be around him again."

At that very moment, the front door opened.

"Hey Mikey, where's Gerard?" someone called from the front door. I glanced over, hoping that it wasn't who I thought it was.

Of course, it was him. Frank Iero. That's how much my life loves me. He saw me and immediately shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Um, I can leave..."

"Don't," I replied, rising to my feet. "I'm leaving." I pushed past him and stomped out the door. I heard Libby saying death threats to Frank before following me down the driveway.

"You know what would make you feel better?" Libby said, hugging me from the side.

"What?" I said, feeling a mixture of sadness and anger.

"Let's go to my house and watch Disney movies," Libby smiled. "Come on."

As we walked to Libby's house, I started feeling a bit better, although I still felt like crap. While we were walking though, I couldn't help but feel like we were being watched.