Anchor *scomiche*

Chapter 7 - Coffee

Bit of a longer chapter, sorry :) 

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"Ok thanks, Em." Mitch disconnected the call and pinched the bridge of his nose. He'd already missed a lot of work, so he had taken some scheduled meetings over the couple of days since the funeral. He looked at his watch and made his way downstairs to take Jess to the airport, smiling as he skipped the second to last step. He'd done it too many times than he cared to admit after coming home late many nights during his teenage years.

Jess and Nel were seated closely in the living room, heads together and talking quietly. He glanced at his dad's favorite chair that sat empty and a wave of nostalgia washed over him. The stinging emptiness was not lost on him, and his heart ached. One Father's Day they had gathered in the living room with his dad sitting in his chair with his signature crooked smile. When they were mere teenagers, he and Jess had given him an engraved pocket watch, watching him with anticipation as he opened it. He remembered the tears that came to his eyes as he hugged them both.

"I couldn't have asked for better kids. You just don't know what this means to me, thank you. I have no doubt that you'll both be good parents if you decide to have children. I will hold this to my heart for the rest of my life. I don't know where I would be without you, I'm so blessed."

They buried him with the watch inside his jacket pocket. He just stood and looked at the chair but not really looking at it, thinking of his father sitting in it and just smiling at him. "Mitch, are you ok?"

He broke from his reverie as Jess and Nel looked at him sympathetically. "Hmm? Yep. I'll just take care of this luggage."

Mitch took Jess's luggage to the car, and he sat and waited for her. His thoughts intrusively landed on Scott, and he took his phone out only to stare at it. An odd prickling feeling would overcome him every time he thought of texting, making him question if what he did at the funeral was a good idea. Sitting there in his stupor, Mitch wondered if Scott would ever have messaged him first. This is just coffee, get over it. He shook his head at the immaturity of that thought and put his fingers to the keyboard and typed out a message before he lost the nerve again.

Mitch: Hey, Scott... hope you're doing ok. If you're still down for coffee I'm free Wed and Thurs, just let me know :)

Mitch waited for a response with bated breath, almost expecting him to say no or that he was too busy. Seeing Scott inside of the hospital was fine, there were defined roles and parameters. He had been nothing more than Mike Grassi's son and Scott had been nothing more than his nurse. It had been an unexpected but pleasant surprise to see him at the funeral, but again those professional constraints were in place. He'd encountered many people that day and didn't have time for more than formalities. This would be a vastly different set of circumstances and it made Mitch feel confined in his own skin. He frowned and looked out the window as Jess approached the car. Scott had not responded yet, so he put the phone in his pocket.

"Hey, ready to go?" Mitch reached over and squeezed her hand.

"Yeah... yeah." She sniffled ungracefully. "I'm going to miss you and mom so much. I feel like I could sleep for ten years so hopefully I can on the plane. I still can't believe dad is gone, it's all so surreal."

Just then his phone dinged with a text message, but he wasn't going to look at it until he left Jess at the airport. Lost in his thoughts he didn't notice Jess turning to him. "Mom said you asked Scott to have coffee with you."

He glanced over and saw her look of apprehension. "Mmhmm, just as a thank you. I texted him earlier I'm just waiting to hear back. What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I... is that a good idea? He was dad's nurse, doesn't this feel weird to you? He came to the funeral, which was nice of him. He was there through everything, which I'll be eternally grateful for. Why did you ask him to coffee? It's not a date, is it?"