Philinda Forever - One Shots

Melinda's Christmas Tea

    Melinda stared at the last box of tea.

    She couldn't reach it. The box mocked her from the highest shelf, and Melinda glared. She wasn't about to climb the shelving. That was impractical, even though that tea was the only thing that would make her mother happy tomorrow morning.

    But while Melinda was above climbing the shelves like a child, she wasn't above asking someone for help.

    Glancing around the ahsile of this tiny grocery store, Melinda spotted a man reading the back of a coffee tin. Ah, yes. Perfect.

    "Excuse me, sir, I was wondering if you could..." Melinda started, and he looked up at her. Oh. He was handsome. "Uh, well, Could you please help me? I can't reach this tea, and..."

    "Of course." He answered, nodding as he set down the coffee tin and followed her back over to the shelf. "This one?" He asked and Melinda nodded, so the man stood up straighter and reached up, plucking the box off the shelf and handing it to her. Melinda smiled at him.

    "Oh, Thank you!" Melinda smiled, and he nodded.

    "It's cold outside. Stay warm." He smiled.

    "Of course. I'll be drinking my nice hot tea." She smiled.

    "Hey, coffee's not that bad!" He laughed.

    "Nah, I've never liked it." Melinda answered. She liked his eyes. They were blue, like a cold snowy morning. Like the ice on the pond behind her father's house. Like the feathery clouds after a heavy snow.

    "Can I get your name?" He asked, sticking out his hand to shake. She noticed that he didn't have a wedding ring. Oh, her chances just got better! Suddenly, he spoke, "I'm Phil. You are...?"

    "Melinda. Melinda May." She said to quickly. Melinda hoped she wasn't blushing.

    "Well, Mrs. May, maybe we should meet up for a good discussion on which is better," He paused and pointed to her box, "Tea, or coffee," and he referenced to the tin next to him. Ah, he was polite too!

    Melinda blinked. Ah, yes! "Of course. Definitely. I'd like that." Her mother was always saying that she needed a man...

    "That sounds perfect. Here's my number." Phil reached into his pocket and pulled out his business card. Melinda's eyebrows rose in interest. He was a History and Literature professor. Phil told her, "Well, I have to go. Merry Christmas, Mrs. May!" Phil said with a warm smile.

    "You can call me Melinda." She said without thinking.

    Phil nodded. "Merry Christmas, Melinda."

    Her heart skipped a beat when he said her name.

    "You too, Phil."