I called Dan and told him I wouldn’t be able to attend due to my parents wanting me to come home after work. Which was true, they would want me to come home eventually. Dan may have head me, but I couldn’t tell due to all the yelling going on in the background. No idea what they were playing, but it sounded competitive. I drove a few miles to an area I was unfamiliar with, but I had looked up the address from the city map I had in the car. My parents were not willing to buy me a phone or allow me to purchase my own cell phone plan. I was driving on an unfamiliar street and I felt my body tense up.

The danger of getting killed or mugged, was high on the scale of “how will Chis meet his end, tonight?” However, the biggest fear I had was what Tony could say if this was all for a shock and awe.

“He kissed me,” I whispered to no one, “that has to be mean something.” I mean, he could have done it as a way to drag me into something. It was kind of a well-known secret at school that I was, different, in a way. I wouldn’t deny it if anyone ever asked, no one ever did to my face.

When Dan or someone else would ask what I thought about this girl, or that girl I would comment on what I thought about her. Did I think they looked cute? Some, yes. Did I want to berate another for her shortcomings and lack of any friend to help them with hair or make-up? No, I never allowed myself to take the crown of Bitchcess of Bitchland…I let Anna do that.

Anna, Tony’s girlfriend…or was she? Was he using her to keep up appearances? Was Tony bi and was she aware of this? Would Anna be at this clandestine coffee bar and be there to belittle me because she was standing next to Tony?
I pulled the car into a parking space on the side of Jacob’s Java Cabana. There were a few cars, but I didn’t know if one of those was Tony’s. I should have called him to let him know if I was going to be there or not but after all of the over-thinking in the car on the way it was time to just leave it all to chance.

The inside of the coffee bar had a strong aroma of roasted coffee beans and, maybe, a bit of pot lingering in the air. The lights were kind of low as if it was trying to emulate a pub. I walked up to the counter and asked for a double shot cappuccino—attempting to not use any terminology from Starbucks, as I assumed the barista would spit into my drink if I said I wanted it “grande”.
I looked around the main room which had several tables, bookshelves, and, strangely enough, a stage that could accommodate a guitarist with a drummer on a cajon. If all went well, I think I would be back to at least see someone play.

The barista called my name, and I walked back to the counter to take my cup when Tony walked in from a hallway.
“Chris, you came.”
“Sorry I didn’t call. I just decided to come and see what you were talking about.”
“What do you think. The cappuccino can keep you wired all night, ”
“Is that where you get your energy?”
“I’d love it if they had a place like this near the school, but it’s for the best it not.”
“What not, it would save time to get your fix.”
“Then all of this quietness, this tranquil place with the smell of beans, would be overwhelm by noise and sweat.”
“I understand.”

We sat down at a table on the far end of the main room, in a corner table.
“About what I said earlier tonight.”
There it was the death blow was eminent and I walked into it. I readied my hands to take off the cup lid, He could beat me into a pulp, but I’d ruin his shirt in the process.
“In just wanted to tell you how I feel. When I first saw you there was this tension I felt and then you just gave me the money my alter ego screamed about.”
“So, are living a double life?”
“Yes, yes I am. But I wouldn’t exactly say I’m living…its more of a surviving. I mean, I’m on the football team and I got the attention of one of the prettiest girls in school, but I don’t care about football and, as much as Anna wants me to, we haven’t done a thing.”
I almost choked on the coffee in my mouth as he said that which caused a coughing fit.
“You okay? Do you need some water?”
“No, no I’m alright, I just…I mean that’s not what’s been said in the halls.”
“You’re talking about the Space Needle make-out session?”
“Yeah.”

The story was Tony and Anna found a secluded area at the Sky City restaurant at the top of the needle: the restaurant’s linen closet. They were caught in a very compromising situation by a hostess who joined them for a bit before returning to her job. Tony and Anna then went into the restaurant in quasi-rumpled dress clothes.
The following Monday some of the guys who heard the story wanted to more details and others created details out of thin air. The news affected the girls as well as a few wanted such a date with Tony and the others were disgusted by the idea of a threesome.
“Never happened.”
“It didn’t?”
“It costs almost fifty dollars for a simple appetizer. No, we went to Taco Del Rey because The Pink Bear was packed.”
“I hope she liked the street tacos.”
“Nope, she wasn’t happy before, during, or after we ate because I wouldn’t take her to the far side of Kerry Park for a bout of parking.”
“Oh,” I replied as I looked at my cup and then to Tony’s face.
“There have been a few other stories, I’m sure you’ve heard about.”
“A few. None of them are true?”
“The one where we fell into the water at the mini golf was true. Do you like mini golf?”
“It’d been a while since I played, but, yeah, sure.”
“Great, great,” he replied and then quieted down. We looked at each other for a moment and I thought it was the second most breath-taking moment— the first one being the kiss earlier that I wish I could have been prepared for—but I knew I had to ask the question:
“Am I the other, girl?”
“No, I would say you’re the one I’ve been looking for.”
“I’m trying to wrap my head around all of this,” I said as I placed my empty cup on the table.
“Understandable.”
“I’m trying to think why you acted that way around me at school but at my job, you reach over the counter and…do it again.”
“Do what?”
“Kiss me again, right here. I don’t care if you have coffee breath.”
Tony took stood up from his chair, lifted me out of my seat with our hands entwined.
“As you wish,” he replied as we cuddled up to each other in a long kiss that slowly included our tongues. The barista could have thrown us out and we probably would have never noticed.