Drowning

Chapter Seven

Closing the car door behind me I enter the heaven of Brooklyn. Even Though it's completely out of my way, I like coming here. I don't know, it feels homey and smells like recently baked cookies. Listening to the jingles of the bells indicating someone has opened the door I see Sam turning around and Angela behind the register.

"Hey guys,,"

"Valentina, long time no see," Angela says with her casual smile.

I encountered this little piece of heaven while jogging one day. I was so angry at a board member for being stubborn that I had to blow off steam and decided to work out. I ended up running all the way from Manhattan to Brooklyn and by some point I ran out of water, was exhausted and hungry. I looked for the closest place to eat and this coffee shop was it, The Coffee Cup. I drank amazing coffee, ate delicious pastries and met two people I actually like.

It's sad to say that outside of us Mariana and I don't have many friends. We always figured we're the only ones we need, we're each other's family and best friends. But when we do meet with more people that aren't Mark, Mark's best friend, Damon when he's in town or Lidia it would be Sam and Angela. They're some of the first people that I can actually stand being purely themselves. Now I try to come here as much as possible, especially on the days Lidia is not at home to make her amazing Colombian coffee. I'm completely aware I depend too much on coffee but when you don't sleep, don't have patience, and run a multi-billion dollar company, coffee is the only thing that actually keeps you alive and sane.

"Ok don't discredit me, I was here literally last week,"

"That's true, babe. She actually came twice in one day." Sam chimes, turning from behind the counter.

"Will you shut up, Sam? She still should visit us more often." Angela says shooting her husband a glare, his only reaction by putting his hands up. Yeah I wouldn't argue with a pregnant woman if I were him.

"Ok, I'll try to pass by more often then." I tell Angela and then look towards Sam, "Would you just get me my usual and a muffin if you have one, I couldn't catch breakfast this morning."

"Sure thing," Sam says, starting to prepare mine, Mariana, Luke and Alice's coffees. When I near the cash register to pay and get my wallet I see Angela smirking at me.

"What?"

"You had an eventful weekend?"

"I don't look that bad." I say smoothing my slicked back hair and looking down at my white trouser and my open oversized blazer which I paired with a beige bralet and white heels. I actually liked this outfit.

"No hun, you look gorgeous, but I've seen hundreds of your hangovers by now. I can sense them a mile away." I'm not that hungover but my head is still palpitating inside my brain.

"Yeah, it was an interesting weekend. Had meetings both days and ended up having too many but very much needed drinks." That's the least I could say. Mariana and I spent all of our Saturday night with the board which was horrible enough but Mariana forced me to go to Mark's dentist brunch Sunday which turned into a very late lunch. By the time we got out of there it was five, and we ended up going to get drinks after because the only thing they had were fucking mimosas which wasnt nearly strong enough to the amount of alcohol I needed to get through the brunch. The point is we went to a bar, then headed to my apartment to drink some more and eat and ended up falling asleep watching a movie. So to say that I needed coffee right now was an understatement.

"That's the only right way to spend your weekends." Sam says handing me the drinks and a bag with the muffin. I frown at him, I don't think many people will enjoy spending their weekends at work events, "the drinking I mean," he clarifies sensing my confusion.

"Yeah it had been a while since I went to a bar to have drinks." With work my social life hasn't been very booming lately.

"I'll take you to the bar even to the club if I weren't this pregnant," Angela says rubbing her seven month belly. Its weird to think Sam and Angela are having a kid, but somehow perfectly normal. We have stopped by the coffee shop for more than a year now. And Sam and Angela had already been married for a year, then a couple months later she told Mariana and I she was pregnant. But that's not why its weird that's how marriage is supposed to work, what's weird is that we're nearly the same age, actually Angela is you anger. Angela got married just turning twenty-five and pregnant before turning twenty seven.

"I would much better prefer to come here and have some tea with you and talk shit about your husband over there." I say pointing at Sam with my head. Not that I actually meant it; they are both some of the kindest people I've ever met.

"I'm the best husband ever, I'll let you know." he says, wrapping his arms around his wife's belly.Which makes me just shake my head laughing. "But I ammmmm." Sam says trying to convince himself more than us. He probably is everything that someone else would want in a husband. He cares for Angela, treats her amazingly, and loves her incredulously. He even quit his job to help Angela run the coffee shop when she got pregnant.

"Here" I say, handing my card to Angela, a smile still lingering on my lips.

"No, it's on us," she says, pushing my hand back.

"You can't keep giving me free coffees this is actually a coffee shop if you didn't notice,"

"We very much notice, and we're still not letting you pay,"

"Well she says I'm a bad husband, we should actually charge her more." Sam chimes in and I just smirk at him

"Shut up" Angela says, smacking him in the head. "Oww" he responds, letting go of her wife's hips to rub his head instead.

"Ok then," I say, putting away my card and taking out a fifty dollar bill and putting it in the tip jar as fast as possible.

"No wait," Angela says, noticing what I just did but before she can say something more I make my way to the door.

"So I'm a bad husband huh?" I hear Sam say in a defensive tone to Angela. "And why did you smack me so hard, women geez."

"Such a baby," I hear Angela say before the door closes behind me. Stepping outside with a smile on my face. A shrill goes down my spine as I realize how cold the weather is getting. The fall breeze of New York is starting to pick up, so I scurry to the car.

"Here you go Luke," I say, sliding in the backseat of the car and giving him his drink.

"Thank you Valentina, you didn't have to."

"I know, I wanted to." giving him a small smile. I've known Luke for years, he used to drive my mother around when I was just a kid meaning that he used to drive me everywhere too and when Evelyn was busy Luke even stayed with me and Aubrey. When I started Luxe I decided to look for him and tell him to work for us, and I couldn't be more grateful for the genuine smiles this gray-haired man gives me every morning.

"Is Angela bigger than last time? I feel like she's going to pop that baby out any minute now."

"Yeah she is way bigger and with her pregnancy glow. But don't tell her I said that, I would appreciate not getting my coffee poisoned."

"I will make sure I dont slip it out," He says with a laugh.

"To the office?"

"Yeah, it's going to be a long day."

"We both know it doesn't feel like that when you are actually bossing people around. I've seen how much you love it since you were little, telling people at your grandparents office to do things they weren't even hired to do." Regardless of my mother always telling me that I wouldn't last a day running a business, I knew it was something I wanted to do since I was little because I've always loved it. I've always loved being in control and deciding the next steps for everything.

"Yeah well, you can't deny I was a natural then and that I'm a natural now," I say with a small smirk and give him a slight shrug while taking a sip out of my coffee. I can only see Luke shaking his head while starting to drive to the office I've dedicated the past five and a half years of my life to.