COFFEE AND LIQUOR

Chapter 6

'Hello there lady, my lady.' Ivan shouted as he walked towards Cynthia's desk. She was sitting opposite Helena, and the two were looking to be into some girly talk.

'You are late!' They said in unison.

'Again!' Helena added, her eyes hooded beyond their natural shape.

'Well, I got coffee for the most beautiful ladies I know.' He handed each of them a cup and then kept one for himself.

'So, what's with the balloons?' Cynthia questioned, not hesitating to open her cup and take a sip.

'I thought we could use these colors for the event, it took me a whole three hours picking them.'

'Are you crazy, Ivan?' Helena palmed her forehead. She was already pissed that he had showed up late but in the name of the grande iced latte with whipped cream topping, she had conciliated.

'These are all the colors there are, Ivan.' She turned to Cynthia, 'Did you by any chance pass a street vendor at the corner of the street two blocks from here?'

She nodded in response. 'He was hard to miss.'

'What were those he was selling?' Her acting deserved an academy award, or better still, she deserved the opportunity to take up the job of the government's spokesperson and convince everyone that everything is fine and the economy is not a load of deuce. 'Oh, balloons!' She feigned surprise. 'Kind of like the ones Ivan is carrying right now.'

'How coincidental?' Cynthia incited. She had looked forward to seeing the two bicker around but it had come sooner than she had expected.

'Uh!' He looked between the two and his balloons. They were both waiting to see him falter.

'You better not tell them the truth.' The balloons seemed to warn.

'I can see it in your face, admit it already.' Helena's gawping face seemed to dare.

'You are right.' He swallowed hard then stepped closer to Cynthia as if to escape the lasers that he anticipated would shoot from her gawping eyes. Once he was a safe distance away he whispered, 'How coincidental?'

Their stares after that would have burned any liar to repentance but not him, not the professional one, certainly not. Plus, someone had to save the poor balloons.

'We won't need the balloons before we develop a concept for the event and by all means when we do, it won't be those hideous colors.'

To say Helena was vexed would be an understatement.

...but the coffee. It had cinnamon and powder sprinkled on top with some extra drizzle.

'I have a different approach and these balloons could be a great motivation for developing a beautiful concept.' He defended. 'We still need them.'

If a dollar sign could go up on his smile then, it would be six figures.

'So, is that part of your grandmother's contemporary touch?' Cynthia teased and without blinking away the mischievous spark in her eyes, she extend her arms to high-five Helena without looking her way and somehow, she did not whiff it. The kind of fun she was having with the two around was long due.

With a faux frown, he sighed heavily and then rolled his eyes.

However, Helena was just getting started. 'Oh, wait till you hear that I'm the creative director and not you.' How eager she was to get that news out she even accompanied it with an elated dreamy sigh.

'Who says so?'

'Only the owner of the Calacta marble, which,' She made a dramatic swoosh of her wavy locs. 'weren't blemished in the slightest by my Mary Jane's.' She swiveled her chair in view to show him the pumps which were just as high heeled as the last time he had seen them.