One Man Standing

Steaming, Piping Hot Coffee

I raise my cup of coffee to Connor sitting across from the polished hardwood coffee table. "Did I ever tell you about the time Courtney got mad at the waiter on our date and dumped hot boiling coffee on her head?" He laughs and I laugh along.
                  "It seems, I dodged such a big red flag," I snicker and sip from my cup.
                     Suddenly, I hear knocking from the door and I rise from my seat. I make a move towards the door and open it to see a familiar face. "Why aren't you wearing what I bought for you?" I ask and scrunch my face.
                     "We need to talk," Courtney says.
                     "Listen, we can't talk when there is nothing to talk about," I respond and hesitantly close the door, but she stops the door.
                     "We need to talk about us," she says, looking up at me and the waves in her eyes crash.
                     "Us?" I scoff, "We are nothing!"
"You think, buying me like a really pricey diamond tennis bracelet from Graff and a beautiful bouquet doesn't mean anything?!" Courtney yells. "Remember what we had like last month in the hotel room while my boyfriend was out on vacation and you were holding me in your soft silk embroidered robe?"
"It was just a fling and this date was an accident," I grumble and narrow my eyes. "My gift was nothing more than an apology for standing you up last night. Now, go and tell your little friends about your new gift. Do me a favor and forget about me."
                         She grasps my hands and raises up to her breast. "Can you feel my heartbeat, Austin?" Courtney asks and positions my hand to feel her chest better. "Feel how fast it like beats for you."
                          "These feel like rocks," I mutter and whisk my hands away. "Please, never come here again and if you do I won't hesitate to call the police."
                           "Nobody dumps me!" Courtney frowns and says, "You know why, because I dumped you first!"
Courtney slams the door on me anyway and I walk away from the French-style blue door. Passing the carousel of autumn colors making up the walls and the paintings watching my every move. Closing all the blinds from each window I pass and I open the door to the kitchen. "It was her wasn't it?" Connor asks and stares into my eyes.
"No, just mail," I say and avert my gaze.
"I heard a lot of yelling," he says and sips his cup of tea.
"Must have been the neighbors," I respond and sit myself down on the seat accompanying the coffee table.
                              "Yea, must have been," Connor mutters and stares in the tea, the depth stares back at him.
                               "Why don't you try to leave me?" I ask.
                               "I'm curious how things go," he responds. "Obviously, you can't keep torturing me forever."
                               "You don't know that," I grumble. "I hurt you the first many encounters and I can do so again too."
                                "All those antics leave you friendless," Connor says, nonchalantly.
                                 "I never wanted to be friends and we never will!" I yell and push my cup of coffee off the table.
Steaming, dark liquid streams down from the cup and buries in his lap. He hastily reaches for the napkin on the table and attempts to wipe off the mess. I reach for a napkin and get up from the table. Walking to Connor, I push him off the chair and smile. I reach for the tea and pour it all over Connor. His eyes widen and he squirms from me like a worm in deep soil.
I lean down to him squirming on the ground and listen to his soft whimpers. "Let me ask you this, Connor," I say in a parental voice. "Do you friends do this?"
Aggressively, I wipe him and kick Connor multiple times. I rise from below and smile, watching him attempt to soothe his own wounds. Suddenly, I kick him in the stomach and he coughs, "Then again, you're not just anybody."
"I have lots of friends too, don't forget it," I say and rub my shoe against his face. "There is no reason for me to be talking to you if I have so many friends! You must be really stupid for assuming otherwise."
"Hey, I–I never assume anything!" Connor admits and defensively raises his hands in the air. "In fact, I hate you as much as you hate me!"
"Good, so the feeling is mutual," I smile and let go of his face. "You know I saw Courtney earlier."
                             "She is such a whore," I laugh and cross my arms. "You know, she even let me touch her one more time to try to reel me back in. Of course, you know she isn't the one I want, so I broke it off first like a real man."
                              "I thought you wanted to keep her around to piss me off?" Connor asks.
                             "Well, I'm not committed to anything and it was too much effort to keep her for your reactions," I respond. "Not my type anyways and you didn't even look sad. The whole time you were upset about my artisanal whole grain bread and extra virgin olive oil."
                             I lean back down to him and study his appearance. "We are going out tomorrow and don't think of escaping now!" I laugh and smile.