I Wonder If I Care as Much

Chapter Eighteen

"Whatever the reason, that's real thoughtful of ya', Sherrie." She returned the grin Angus gave her as she walked in the coffee shop first, Angus holding the door. It was a quiet Monday, and for that both were grateful. Sherrie had a lot to talk about and a loud atmosphere would cloud the point. They walked up to the counter and the man behind it hardly glanced up from his magazine. He reminded Sherrie of the first taxi driver.

"Can I get you anything?"

"Uh, what do you want, Sherrie, I'll just order the same," Angus said. The woman glanced at the menu, narrowing her eyes to see.

"Black is fine with me," she shrugged.

"The same then." The man set his magazine down and almost wished he hadn't. The flush in his cheeks was enough to boil water. His hands shook and his words came out like a broken hose.

"You're-you're-" His finger waved pathetically at Angus, who looked around the shop hoping the attention level was low. "You're-"

"Yeah, I get that a lot."

"You're him," the man said. He couldn't have been older than a teenager. "My G-god sir, it's an honor to meet you. I'm sorry if-if I've offended y-you in any way, or spit on you with my stuttering..."

"No, not yet," Angus smiled, wiping his face just to be sure. His head was lowered as he felt the whole shop staring at him now. "It's nice to meet you too uh-" He squinted at the name tag, "Elliot."

"You said my name," Elliot squeaked. "Sorry, my first time meeting f-famous people."

"It's alright, I'd react the same. Hell, I do every time I look in the bathroom mirror," Angus laughed. Elliot made sure to let Angus know he found his joke especially funny.

"So uh, will there be anything else?"

"Can I get one of those scones they cover in frosting? The lemon ones," Sherrie asked.

"No problem. Oh gee, I should be writing this down. Hold on..." A Styrofoam cup was picked up from a stack, the rest scattering all over the counter and on the floor. Elliot's hands were still shaking. "Uh, maybe you ought to write your name down, my h-handwriting's a little shaky." His voice sure cracked like a teenager. Angus took the cup and pen from Elliot and signed it, a perfect cursive signature. Elliot took it and stared at it, while the other two exchanged looks. "I'll have you order out soon, you can pay the other side." His voice was dull as he stared at the cup in his hand. Sherrie walked to the register to pay while Angus found a table.

There was one by a large window with a nice view of the street. Granted a bit of construction work was going on on the other side but the rest of it was pretty. Outside the windows were flower boxes nailed to the wall, nothing inside them. A brown bird perched on the box right at Angus' window, and he smiled at it. It hopped around and dug through the dirt with its beak but didn't find anything. A cup was set in front of him, the coffee inside steaming. "Lucky our drinks are quick," Sherrie smiled above him. An identical cup was sat on her side of the table and she sat down to wait for the scones. Angus turned his head to the window and saw the bird had flown.

The coffee was hot on his lips and tongue. He set his cup down and grabbed a napkin, a set of cursive markings in his line of sight. The cup he signed was the same one he was drinking out of. Elliot must not have been paying attention. "You're quiet," he noted at the woman across from him. She had hardly spoken a word, not even sipping her drink.

"Something wrong?" she asked him.

"No, nothin's wrong. But when you said you wanted to talk about somethin'...I don't know." He took her hand in his and just held it there. "Anything on your mind?"