Some of the wives from the station put together a luncheon back at our house. I told myself that I just needed to hold it together for a little longer. I stood in our entryway with Liz and Ken and thanked people for coming.
A tall, slim man approached the house wearing a uniform that I wasn’t familiar with. When he stepped inside, he shook hands with Ken.
“Elise, this is Neil Strickland, from Australia,” Ken introduced us.
I broke down, yet again. This fire chief traveled far to be here for Jacob’s service.
“Our country is grateful for your husband’s service, and we mourn his death as well,” Neil said.
He handed me an envelope and hugged me. He also brought a small stuffed koala bear. The koala bear wore a yellow firefighter hat and a sash that said, ‘Thank You,’ on it. I handed the envelope and koala bear to Liz, then took Neil into the kitchen and offered him some food.
By the time the evening rolled around, I was beyond exhausted. Liz stayed to clean up while I took myself to bed. My cold, lonely bed.
1
Andrew
I lookedup from the blender as ‘large iced caramel macchiato,’ otherwise known as Liz, walked in. She immediately got in line, which I thought was kind of weird. She always waits for ‘large peppermint mocha with extra whip,’ or Elise, to arrive, and then they get in line together.
I heard Liz place the order for her usual as well as Elise’s usual. Maybe Elise was out in the car waiting…with the car running and air conditioning on so the ice cream that they bought wouldn’t melt. I smirked as I came up with the scenario but took it a few steps further as I began making her order. Perhaps the two of them were going to watch porn together as they sipped their coffees and ate ice cream. Maybe they had plans for the extra whip cream today, I thought to myself while I sprayed a heap of whip cream on top of Elise’s peppermint mocha.
I’ll give her extra cream.
Both women were smoking hot, but there was something about Elise that intrigued me a little more than Liz. They both had different painted fingernails each week, I thought to myself as I noticed Liz’s deep red nails. I had a fantasy of both women scratching me with those fine, expensive fingernails while they tugged and pulled at my hair.
“Liz,” I announced and made eye contact with her.
She smiled, dropped a few bucks into my tip jar, and picked up the drinks.
“Thank you, Andrew,” she said.
I acknowledged her tip with a nod and a smile. I watched her ass in her tight black yoga pants as she walked out.
I hope Mr. Liz takes good care of that ass. Or Mrs. Liz.
I started to get hard at the idea that Liz and Elise were a couple. Or better yet, friends with benefits. Though, Elise wore a wedding ring. For my own sheer enjoyment, I’d continue to allow myself to believe that they were together.
Over the next few weeks, Liz continued to come in, but not Elise. I couldn’t help but wonder if something was going on or had happened. At first, I thought that maybe Elise was out of town, but then I reminded myself that Liz had been ordering Elise’s usual coffee too. So, Elise being out of town no longer made sense.
By the end of the sixth week of Elise not showing up, I felt compelled to ask or say something to Liz. I was getting really concerned; I had seen them come in together for years now. I kind of felt like something was missing without both of them showing up.
Liz had just placed her order and paid for it. Since there weren’t any orders waiting, and no one was in line behind her, I caught her attention as she moved down to the receiving counter.
“Excuse me, Liz,” I called out to her. She stopped and looked up from her cell phone. I held the empty plastic cup up so she could see it. “Should I write your name on both cups?” I asked. My hope was that she would say for me to write ‘Elise’ on one.
“Yes, that will be fine,” Liz replied and went back to looking at her cell phone.
Damn.
The next week when Liz came in, I decided that I was going to come right out and ask her or specifically say something about Elise. Of course, it was busy when she came in, but when she came over to collect the two coffees, I took the opportunity to ask.
“Tell Elise that I said hello,” I said.
Liz put a few dollars in my tip jar and smiled at me.
“Isn’t that sweet of you? I will, Andrew. Thank you.”
It had almost been two months since I had last seen Elise. It just didn’t make sense why she would suddenly stop coming in. Liz came in again on a busy Friday morning, alone again. I filled her order and called her name.
