A Lethal Sip.

Page No 1

"Coffee for those who are flat broke."

Shivering in the winter night of Pennsylvania, I reread the caption several times, written above the glass door of a coffee shop, before stepping inside.

Nothing in this world could be better than a cup of coffee in the freezing winter for a woman like me who had just lost her only job. Which means that I was on a point where I could afford only an economical cup of coffee and nothing more.

My eyes roamed over the small area filled with tables,chairs, a coffee corner and a small fire place. In this chilling weather this small coffee shop appeared to be a blessing in disguise. I sat on the table closest to the fire place and waited patiently for a sign of a waitperson.

The coffee shop appeared unoccupied. I couldn't witness any human being, just ordinary furniture was staring back at me.

"Hello! Is anyone here in the coffee shop?" I raised my voice a little to make sure that someone would hear me.

"Coffee Shop is closed." A man with bald head, round face and bulky body emerged from a room in the corner of the shop.

"Oh! But I didn't see any label of closed hanging on the door." I pointed my thumb in the direction of the door.

He raised his brown thin eye brows at me and without saying anything he turned towards the shelf of coffee corner and started cleaning it with a damp cloth.

It felt awfully awkward to stand right there and stare at the back of this bald head. I coughed to catch his attention and when he turned to me, I grinned at him.
He looked at me with a stony face clearly indicating that he didn't like my grinning face.

"You can't have a coffee tonight." He spoke in a heavy voice, coming out of his chubby round mouth.

"Ok. But why? I mean it is awfully freezing night and a cup of coffee will run my blood warm."

"Sorry but no coffee for tonight. I ran out of all the ingredients." He kept on rubbing the shelf vigorously as if he wanted to turn it into a mirror.

I sighed heavily on my misfortune. Not even a cup of coffee was in my fortune. I went back to the table and dragging a chair slumped on it.

"You should leave woman." He threw the damp cloth on the table in front of me with force and started his torture the way he did before with the shelf.

"I...I can't leave tonight. The weather is awful and I also don't have a place to go. Actually, I lost my job and could not pay the rent so they kicked me out. I have nowhere to go with my little bag." I saw him squinting his eyes like he doesn't believe me.

"Please let me stay here tonight. I shall leave in the morning without causing you any trouble." I pleaded to look at him with weary eyes.

"Ok. You can stay tonight. What is your name?" I beamed at his words. I was thankful to God for placing some humanity in this man's heart.

"Oh! My name is Cara Roger and I am 23 years old. I worked at a restaurant before but the manager of that restaurant was a big jerk. He fired me because I refused to abide by his nasty desires...."

"Ok. Stop." He shouted at me cutting me off in the middle of my chatter.

"You talk too much. Stay tonight and leave tomorrow." He picked up the damp cloth from the table and tossed it over his shoulder. I watched him leave with a closed mouth and wide-open eyes.

I brushed my ginger hair out of my face, put my arms over the table and rested my beautiful head over it and drifted off to sleep.

I could hear whispers and footsteps in a dream. It felt like I wasn't alone in the coffee shop instead there was a crowd watching me.

***************************************