Coffee and Love

I woke up with my rising and falling slowly. I blinked, confused, until I remembered what happened last night. I blushed but didn’t move. Caleb was still asleep and I didn’t want to wake him up. The Benadryl had helped me get to sleep quickly and I didn’t have any nightmares. Not moving, I closed my eyes and reflected on my father’s death.

We had been at my grandmother’s funeral. Everyone was gone but me and him. My mother had gone to oversee the luncheon after. She didn’t have a close relationship with her mother-in-law because we lived in different countries.

My father held my hand as he stood by the freshly dug grave. He was crying a lot and I was trying to make him feel better.

“I’m sorry, cel mic,” he said and I looked up at him.

“Sorry for what, tată?”

“I know I promised,” he sniffed and let go of my hand. From his sweater pocket, he pulled out a syringe. “I- I have to cel mic.”

“No,” I said, grabbing his hand again. “No, tată! It’ll be okay! We’ll go back home and watch your funny movies! I’ll make you chocolate chip pancakes! I’ll read you your favorite book. Please!”

He smiled at me, his lips trembling. “It will be okay, cel mic. When I am done, we will go and eat until our bellies burst.”

He got on his knees and wrapped his arms around me. I held him tightly, trying not to cry.

“Please,” I whispered. “I’ll do anything. You can ground me. I’ll be a good girl.”

“Oh, Mirela,” he said. “You need not be grounded! And you’ve always been a good girl! It’s just one, okay? I hurt too much, baby. This will make it better.”

I held tighter. “I can help!”

He kissed my forehead. “It will be okay.”

I watched in dismay as he put the needle in his arm. He winced a little and pushed down on the syringe. He closed his eyes, gasping a little, until the stuff inside was gone. I sniffled and he smiled at me.

“Come. Let’s go eat.”

He held my hand and walked with me back to the church. He slipped the syringe back in his pocket. My mother was by herself, waiting anxiously for us. One look at my father and she knew what he had done. He kissed her with a reassuring smile and we went in. While he talked with family members, I wrapped my arms around her waist.

“I’m scared, Mommy,” I whispered.

“Shh,” she said. “It will be okay.”

Half way through the luncheon, my father got pale. He had to sit down and my mother hurried to get him water. He started to sweat though it was freezing in the church. I gulped. Something was terribly wrong. They thought it was grief until he passed out. Someone called an ambulance and they rushed him to a room, trying to flush his veins.

They were too late. My mother and I had ten minutes with him. He tried to encourage me to not be a business woman. He knew how much I loved running around with my fake camera. I promised him I’d do what I love but, in my mind, I promised myself that I would do what he had desired and become a business woman.

The flat line sound was the last thing I heard before I fainted in my mother’s arms.

“Mirela?” I opened my eyes. Caleb was rubbing my arm. “Stop crying. It’s just a nightmare.”

“Sorry,” I whispered. “What time is it?”

“A little after seven.”

“Thank you for staying with me,” I said, embarrassed.

“Of course. Do you want to grab an early breakfast? There’s an IHOP not far away.”

“I’m not hungry,” I murmured.

“I know you’re not but you have to eat something.”

I sighed. “Okay.”

I sat up and rubbed my eyes, trying to get the sleep out of them. Caleb sat up and stretched, his back cracking.

“I’ll wait for you out in the kitchen,” he said and closed the door behind him.

I frowned. Why had he stayed with me during the night? I was still clothed and I didn’t recall him touching me…. Could he have been genuinely concerned for me? I remember him crying for me. Should I ask him or just leave it be?

I decided to just leave it be. I changed into all black, feeling like I had just lost my father all over again. Though I was only seven at the time, I recall what happened in terrible detail.

Caleb was on his phone when I walked out.

“Yeah, I’ll bring her by if she wants to,” he was saying, his back to me. “I highly doubt it, Lu. Trust me, okay? We can ask I guess…. All right.” He turned and saw me. “She’s up. I’ll see you soon.”

“Everything okay?” I asked as he led the way to his car after I locked the house.

“Yeah,” he said. “We finally heard from the insurance company. They’re going to replace the green screen.”

“That’s great!” I said and he nodded with a small smile.

“Luther wants you to come by after we eat. He also wants to do a shoot of just you.”

“Why just me?” I asked.

He waited until we were seated to answer me. He rubbed the back of his neck.

“His reason, and I agree, is because you’re beautiful.”

I stared at him. I was waiting for the smirk and his inner dick to come out. He just stared at me expectantly, waiting for my answer.

“Uh… okay I guess. I don’t really have any plans. I take Fridays off.”

“Great,” he said with a smile.

I stuck with just some sausage and eggs, not feeling like a big breakfast. He ordered his and we sat in silence for a while.

“I got an email from Carol,” I said quietly and he nodded.

“I did, too,” he said with a small smile. “I’m so glad he’s fitting in well. She says that I can visit on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.”

“When do you go up to take pictures of the property?”

“We were going to go this weekend but there’s rain in the forecast so we’re shooting for next weekend.”

“Why not during the week?” I asked, thanking the waitress when she brought our food over.

“Because she’s too busy,” he answered. “We want her to be in most of the shots since she’s the reason that place exists to begin with.” He sighed. “Are you sure you can do this shoot?”

“Yeah,” I said quickly. “I think it’ll be good, too. Get my mind off of….” I cleared my throat. “Is your dad still mad at you?”

He rolled his eyes and nodded. “I don’t care, though. Tom is more important.”

“Why did he try to rob you?”

He sighed. “Probably to pay for his next score. I know it doesn’t look like much, but those dressing rooms have a lot of valuable things in them.”

I nodded and sighed. I hated drugs. I hated what they did to the users and their families. It wasn’t fair. I wish Caleb's father wasn't so terrible to him. I wish I could have done more for my father….

“You ready?” he asked, shaking me out of my thoughts.

“Yeah,” I said quickly and finished my water. “Thanks for breakfast.”

“Of course,” he said with a smile.