Life, Love & A Little Coffee

Chapter Thirteen- A Somber Sunrise

Ada's night was plagued with dreams, causing a restless sleep.

She'd dreamed of her meeting with the principal, saying just about every wrong thing she could say and Tom getting fired because of it.

Ada also dreamed of kissing Tom at night after the coffee shop closed. She couldn't remember the words spoken between them, but the kiss was incredible; the perfect combination of tender and needy. She awoke just as he lifted her onto the counter.

There were so many others, most of which left her feeling either guilty or confused or both.

By a little after five in the morning, coated in perspiration and shame after a long night of erotic dreams about someone who had no place in her fantasies, Ada gave up on sleep. As she slipped on her white fluffy robe, she debated between a cold shower or a hot cup of coffee. It didn't take much for coffee to win, and Ada made her way up to the steps to the kitchen.

It took all of Ada's self discipline to limit the volume of the yelp which emerged from her when she spotted Tom already awake and standing in the kitchen; coffee in one hand and a pen in the other.

Ada had gone to sleep while they were still outside from the bonfire and didn't remember if she knew he was crashing at their place or not. Either way, it took a moment for the shock to dissolve and for her breathing to return to a reasonable pace.

"Doesn't take much to scare you, does it?" he questioned as he set his pen down on a piece of paper he'd been writing on.

Ada had no trouble admitting she scared easily. She was a pansy and had come to terms with that fact a long time ago. But having someone in your kitchen at five in the morning seemed like an understandable shock to her. If she hadn't been so damn tired, she might have detected the aroma of coffee or noticed the light was on. But she wasn't observant this early in the morning or with this little sleep.

"What are hell are you doing up this early?" she asked rather than answer his question.

Tom shrugged. "I was just about to take off."

Ada walked toward him to look at the note he was writing. "Headed home. Furniture is coming today. Stop by after school and we'll cuddle the night away," Ada was too fatigued to be mortified. "I am so sorry about my mom. She's a little eccentric and super inappropriate."

"She's fucking certifiable," Tom corrected with a grin, "but in a good way."

Ada moved to get a cup of coffee, but Tom motioned her to sit down and got it for her, seeming to know where everything in the kitchen was already. "Your family's incredible."

She watched as he poured her French vanilla creamer in the mug before filling it with coffee and bringing it to her. Tom knew how she took her coffee, which baffled her, but Ada was too sleepy to care to ask. "I like them." Ada took a moment to take her first sip of coffee, letting the steam warm her face as she savored the taste. She gave the mug a satisfied smile. "And they seem to like you too."

Tom gave a sideways nod. "Yeah, it was a hit or miss there for a while, especially when I was hitting the pottery and missing. Woke up with a bruise the size of a baseball on my shoulder this morning. And I remember screaming 'fuck' at the top of my lungs by the river."

Ada winced at the thought, having forgotten about pottery baseball. "Well, I don't think you scared them away."

A grim look took over Tom's face. "Did I scare you?"

Ada shook her head. She worried for him and about him, but not scared. Remembering the line he spoke to her father at the coffee, Ada smiled as she spoke them back to Tom. "Not enough to end my friendship with you."