CINDERELLA AND THE COFFEE SHOP ATTENDANT

BY DEYSE M.

*****

"We won’t stay out for a long time, wee one, I promise!", Monica said, holding a chubby black cocker spaniel puppy tightly in her arms, who wasted no time in covering the Irish angel’s face with lots of tiny ‘kisses’, "Oh, Joy, I love you too, sweetheart..."

Andrew was standing right beside her, in the living room of a small apartment. With his hands tugged in his pockets, the blond angel couldn’t help but smiling, finding the scene in front of him rather cute, as he always loved to watch his dearest friend’s love and affection for the animals, specially that one. And he was secretly grateful that he and Tess could also share the little puppy with her and spend really happy moments together. But they were ready to go out and the blond angel had to interrupt them:

"Monica, I’m afraid we’re late. You said you wanted to go to the coffee shop before we get to the movie theatre so we have to get there before Tess because... well... you know..."

She nodded her head understandingly:

"Yes, I know...", and turned to the little puppy: "I always feel a wee bit guilty when I have to leave her, specially now that we found out that she’s going to be a puppy forever."

"I couldn’t believe it when Sam came here on the other day to tell us this piece of news! She’ll never grow old is because she lives with angels and ended up acquiring this characteristic: she’ll always stay the same!", the blond angel said.

"We’ll have a baby forever!"

"Yes. But you shouldn’t feel that guilty, I’m sure she understands that we won’t be out for too long."

Monica ruffled Joy’s black fur:

"I guess you’re right. And, as a matter of fact, I feel really relieved with Sam’s visit, because I was already worried about her metabolism; she stopped growing at one month age! I was starting to think that there was something wrong with our precious wee baby!"

Andrew chuckled:

"Well, she grew up to the sides…", he spoke, referring to the small dog’s roundish belly, consequence of the hugest appetite a living animal could have.

"Yes… She’s the cutest, most adorable and cheerful baby in this entire world - and now in the entire Heaven too! It’s as if she was now an enchanted puppy!", practically melting at the puppy’s tiny face, she kissed her one more time, "And you behave yourself while daddy, grandma and I are at the movies, alright?"

A puppy bark was her reply. Andrew reached out and took the little dog, tickling her roundish belly:

"Hey little one, you’re gonna take care of the house while we’re out, aren’t you?"

Joy barked one more time and also covered his handsome face with lots of ‘kisses’, causing him to laugh:

"I think we can trust her!"

"Of course we can! She’s our baby; we certainly teach her to have good manners and how to behave like a lady!"

"Yeah... We... er... We do...", Andrew replied, not really wanting to go into that matter. Instead, he placed the chubby dog on the floor and held Monica’s hand:

"Let’s go?"

"Yes!", she replied excitedly, "We can’t forget that there’s a coffee shop at the movie house and the sooner we arrive there, the more coffee cups we’ll be able to drink!"

Chuckling, Andrew rolled his eyes and opened the door for her:

" ‘We’?!"

Slightly embarrassed, she lowered her eyes:

"... you know what I mean... Besides, I’m eager to see Cinderella! I love cartoons, Andrew!"

"I know that. In fact, you and Tess choosing the movie is becoming a habit!"

"Well... It can be the best movie in this entire world, you know, but it wouldn’t be interesting without you, my friend!", she stated, smiling broadly at him. Equally pleased, the blond angel wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kissed her temple:

"You know that the same goes to you, Angel Girl!"

*

Andrew crossed the coffee shop carrying a tray with two extra large coffee cups and one can of ginger ale, and made his way up to the last booth, the one with a view to the park. With her elbow propped on the table and her chin on her right hand, Monica was looking outside and admiring the lovely sunset on that cold autumn day with a slight smile on her meek face. Two empty large coffee cups lay upon the table and when Andrew placed the tray in front of her, immediately drawing her attention, her smile became wider than before:

"Thank you!", she said, grinning first at him and after at the content of the tray. The blond angel was smiling too but when he saw the two empty cups, he frowned with concern:

"You finished the second one while I went there?!", he asked, with amazement in his green eyes.

"Well... It’s a long distance until the counter and the attendant isn’t very fast...", she replied, with the most innocent face in the world, and, as he sat down in front of her, she wasted no time and quickly grabbed on of the cups, eagerly drinking its content. Andrew couldn’t help but chuckle at her childlike manners:

"Don’t you forget we have a deal about it!"

She nodded her head like an obedient little girl:

"I won’t tell a word about this to Tess, I promise!"

"And please be fast. Tess will be here in 5 minutes."

"Don’t worry, Andrew. I won’t need 5 minutes...", the Irish angel replied, with a wink.

*

Some minutes later, while Monica delighted herself with the last cup of coffee, Andrew quickly collected the empty cups and threw them in the dustbin:

"I never thought I’d be erasing evidences!", he said, shaking his head disapprovingly, "I feel almost like an ‘outlaw angel’!". Unaware of his concern, the Irish angel sighed:

"Cappuccino and double mocha latte in only 5 minutes! I can’t think of anything that tastes better than this!", she exclaimed, practically fascinated with the flavour of her favourite drink.

"I can!", the blond angel replied, staring at her somewhat defiantly. But she ignored his comment and continued to drink.

"Well, at least you’ll finish it before Tess arrives... I wouldn’t like to see her face if she saw this..."

"Have I heard my name here?"

Rather startled, both angels looked up and saw the supervisor staring at them with her hands on her hips:

"I can see you wasted no time, huh, Miss Wings! And I wanna know how many cups you had right now!"

Monica and Andrew exchanged a quick glance:

"C’mon, Tess, we’ve just arrived...", he said, and stood up, "And we only stopped here for a few minutes, we were already leaving, right Monica?"

But the Irish angel couldn’t answer to his question as she was desperately drinking the coffee that remained in the cup:

"Oh, please, let’s get outta here!...", Tess commanded, not pleased at all with the scene in front of her. She walked over to the door but was followed only by Andrew, who turned around when he realised that his dearest friend was left behind: Monica was practically shaking the cup in order to get the last drip of coffee:

"Monica!", he half whispered. Only then, the Irish angel threw the cup in the dustbin and joined him. And it was then that he noticed that, besides the pleasure on her face, Monica also had a ‘Cappuccino moustache’:

"Wait...", he made her stop and took a handkerchief in his pocket, cleaning her face afterwards:

"You see? Here I am again, doing this! Why am I always the one who erases the evidences?!"

The Irish angel looked at his green eyes with all her love and affection and smiled warmly:

"Because you’re a very compassionate angel and friend, who is always taking good care of me!...", standing on the tip of her toes, she placed a tiny kiss on his cheek, "Thank you!"

"C’mon you two! The movie is about to start!", Tess impatiently called, and her two charges quickly joined her.

*

The audience was enchanted by the classic Disney animated film; Monica and Tess were delighted to watch such a charming story, with captivating characters and a lovely ending, and even Andrew, who was somewhat reluctant to watch "such a girlish movie" ended up enjoying it as much as his friends.

The 3 angels left the movie theatre and came back to the apartment they were renting together, being warmly greeted by little Joy:

"It’s a pity you couldn’t come with us, wee one! You would love the story!", Monica said, holding the puppy, while Andrew and Tess looked at each other and rolled their eyes, trying to hold their laugher:

"Monica, I don’t think she’s upset for not coming with us...", the blond angel had a teasing tone in his voice, which made his dearest friend stare at him not pleased at all:

"That’s not funny, Andrew! I feel bad for going out and leaving her here all alone! You should feel the same, she’s yours too!"

Tess reached out and took Joy in her arms:

"But this baby will have a reward for behaving so well while we were out!"

The supervisor placed a bowl full of dog food right in front of the little animal and Joy attacked it without mercy. Seeing that, Andrew placed his hand on his stomach:

"I’m starving too!"

"I’ll prepare something for us, babies.", the supervisor announced.

"Do you want some help, Tess?", Monica asked, nearly scaring the oldest angel.

"Er... No... No, Angel Girl, that won’t be necessary. I had already prepared something in advance, I’ll just have to take it out of the freezer and heat it..."

The Irish angel smiled warmly:

"Tess, it’s amazing how you always think about everything in advance!"

"Well, in fact, I’m a very prudent angel, Miss Wings!", she replied, pleased with her charge’s comment.

"We are very blessed to have you taking care of us, aren’t we, Andrew?"

"Oh, yes, very, very blessed!", he emphatically replied, secretly grateful for the supervisor’s extra care concerning the food.

*

After the dinner, the 3 angels gathered in the living room to talk and, some time later, Monica ended up sleeping on the couch:

"It seems there’s a little angel here who has already said goodnight!...", Tess remarked. Andrew smiled at the image of his dearest friend sound asleep:

"Yes, that’s true. And I think I’ll do the same, Tess. I’m tired."

"Me too, Angel Boy. But let’s wake her up, first, it’s not comfortable in here."

Tess came closer to the couch and gently shook the Irish angel:

"Angel Girl, wake up and go to your bed, it’s much warmer there!", she said, but there was no reply. Andrew kneeled beside the couch and placed some strands of her hair behind her ear:

"Hey, sweetie, wake up..."

This time, Monica stirred slowly:

"...Tess is the fairy godmother...", she said, in a low voice, but without opening her eyes. Andrew chuckled at those words, while Tess frowned a little concerned:

"What is she saying?!"

"You’re dreaming about the movie, aren’t you, Angel Girl?", he asked, gently rubbing his thumb on her temple.

"... you’re the prince, Andrew...", she murmured, completely unconscious. That made him smile even more, as the asleep angel continued to talk: "...you’re so handsome..."

Blushing deeply, he leaned closer to her:

"I bet you’re Cinderella..."

"Oh, please, for Heaven’s sake!", Tess mumbled, distress all over her face.

"No... that’s Joy... I’m the coffee shop attendant..."

"I don’t remember this character in the movie!...", Andrew said, finding all that conversation really funny.

"... My shoes were hurting my feet so I took them off..."

"And did I find them?"

"...You found one..."

"What happened to the other?"

"...Joy ate it..."

Frowning with disapproval, Tess shook her head:

"What a bunch of nonsense..."

Monica stirred slowly one more time:

"... It’s midnight... the coffee is over... Could you bring me some more, Andrew?..."

Now the supervisor placed her hands in her hips and stared at the blond angel with a stern expression on her face:

"Alright, how many GALLONS of coffee did you give her, Mr Halo?!", she asked, with an inquisitive and fairly annoyed tone of voice. Rather embarrassed, he stood up and gathered the talkative sleeping angel in his arms:

"Er… I... I think I’d better take her to her bedroom..."

"... they were four...", the Irish angel responded, causing Tess’ eyes to open widely:

"What?!!!", she stormed, even more distressed. And Monica didn’t stop talking:

"... but don’t tell Tess..."

Nervously, Andrew looked at the supervisor:

"She... she’s dreaming, Tess!..."

With that, he quickly left the living room carrying Monica in his arms along the corridor up to her bedroom:

"Tomorrow you and I will have a little talk, Monica!", the tone in his voice was serious and somewhat upset. But a slight smile appeared in the corner of her lips:

"I love you too, Andrew...", she snuggled against his shoulder, "... but don’t forget to bring the coffee..."

THE END