Printed Stories

Chapter 1.

The rustic look of the coffee shop where Theresa was sitting reminded her of home. The dusty, red brick walls made her remember the late-night conversations she used to have with her sister. That was the time when they used to get along, the time when everything was perfectly fine. All the things she used to worry about made her laugh: finding the perfect dress, the hairdresser cutting her hair too short. If only she had known.

If only I had known. She chuckled like a parent does after seeing their child with their face covered in chocolate. "Oh sweetie—" her chuckle said.

The smell of freshly baked pastries filled the small coffee shop. She closed her eyes and inhaled the exquisite scent of melted butter, honey, and sugar. She licked her lips and slowly opened her eyes. The considerable size of her coffee made her smile. In her head, she was reliving the memory of her and Dante visiting that very coffee shop.

"What can I get you?" said the young barista.

"I would like a—" Dante scanned the menu at the wall behind the counter. "small coffee, black, no sugar."

After he wrote it down in Dante's cup, he turned to Theresa.

"Iced coffee, extra-large with soy lactose free milk, please."

"Perfect" he said after writing her order down

Dante payed— He always did.

"Are you really finishing that?" he said motioning to her large coffee cup. "It's huge!"

"Well yes, that's the point."

She smiled like she did on that day. Her computer was open, and a blank document with the word "draft" stared at her from the screen, mocking her. The minutes passed, and she could feel the due date of the article rushing toward her, like a cannon ball at a wooden ship. After sighing in desperation, she pushed her big curly hair back into a pony tail.

"Don't worry darling, I'm positive that you'll nail this, the only thing you gotta do is find me a story, any story. It must be real, raw, pure... am I making myself clear?" her editor said.

"Perfectly clear, Fran. But, what happens if I can't find a person interesting enough? Like, what would happen if he or she is not what you're looking for?" she said, hoping Fran's answer was different from what she expected. Under the table, her hands were shaky and cold.

Fran became quiet, her always kind and cheerful smile wavered as she said, "Well, I'm sure you already know the answer to that." She simply placed her gold framed glasses back on her face and started typing something on her computer.

She sighed and closed the computer, defeated.

Her phone started to ring: The name Dante read on the screen. With a smile, she picked up.

"Hey!" she said with her first genuine smile that afternoon. "What's up?"

"Nothing much. I just called to tell you that I'll get home later than anticipated, my flight got delayed for like an hour. I'm sorry. You want me to pick something up on the way back?"

"Its's okay, it happens—" A girl walked out of the kitchen with a plate filled with brownies. Theresa stared at them for a moment, "get me something with chocolate"

"Fran gave you another one of her impossible assignments?" Theresa let out a grunt of desperation.

"Come on, the last one wasn't so bad," Dante said.