The Coffee Shop by Lauren Hunter

country. The things you could do.”
    “Very funny.”
    “So you think it’s impossible for one person to really make a difference?”
    “Now, I never said that. Just not me.”
    “Oh, I see. Uh-huh.”
    “What?”
    “So you don’t think you can make a difference?”
    “I’d probably set the stage on fire by accident, or some foolish thing.”
    He pulled the door open, allowing her to pass through in front of him.

    “Mr. Sloane!”
    Derrick looked up to see the smiling face of a slightly overweight woman in her sixties. “Mrs. Giordano.”
    “Gina, please.”
    “Ah, then you must call me Derrick.”
    She nodded, the smile never leaving her face. “Annie? Oh my, Angelo, it’s Mr. Sloane and Annie.”
    Annie’s brows arched. “Oh, so you are Mr. Sloane , but I am plain ol’ Annie. Well!”
    Derrick laughed. He knew she was only teasing, but just the way she did it made him want to smile.
    “Annie! Oh, and Mr. Sloane. You are together?” Angelo turned to Gina, and they both smiled broadly.
    Annie leaned close to Derrick and lowered her voice. “The two of them are imagining us married, you do realize.”
    “No doubt. They were constantly trying to fix me up with someone. Mrs. Giordano couldn’t bear to see me single. To her it was a sin.”
    “But come, come, sit, sit.” Angelo pointed to their best table, the one next to the fire, and pulling out their chairs, he then waved for menus. “Here, you sit. Enjoy the fire, read the menus. Gina, our best house wine for Mr. Sloane, please.”
    Annie watched as they rushed around attending to their every need, the smile never leaving their faces. “So this is what it’s like to be a customer. I always wondered.”
    “You never ate here?”
    “Not as a customer. As an employee you would be allowed a meal with your shift, but I never knew what it was like to eat out here and be served.” Giving the room a cursory glance, she nodded. “I must say I prefer this side of the kitchen. Oh, not that they weren’t good to me, because they really were, but…” She sighed. “It’s nice to be the one being served for a change. You know?”
    “Oh yes. I know.”
    Bringing the wine, Angelo presented it to Derrick and poured a little for him to taste.
    Derrick nodded. “Very nice.”
    Mr. Giordano smiled even more broadly, if that was at all possible, and pouring wine into two glasses, he wrapped it in a cloth and set it aside. “What can I get you tonight?”
    “Why don’t you give us tonight’s special?”
    Mr. Giordano’s eyes lit up, and he nodded his approval, shouting, “two specials,” to Gina, who relayed it to the kitchen. “But you drink.” He stepped away, his gaze remaining on them as he disappeared once again into the kitchen.
    Annie stared across the table at Derrick. “Why do I get this feeling he’s still watching us?”
    Derrick laughed.
    “This is serious, I’ll have you know. If that man doesn’t have us engaged by the time we leave here, he’ll never stop hearing about it from Gina. I’m surprised she’s not casting hints about bambinos, as I speak.”
    Derrick laughed even harder.
    “What, you didn’t notice how full he filled both our glasses. If I didn’t know any better I’d swear he was trying to get us drunk!”
    Leaning both his elbows on the table, Derrick rested his head in his hands. “Had I known coming here would be so entertaining, I would have brought you here on the first date.”
    “By entertaining, are you referring to me squirming in my seat, or them trying to ply us with liquor and stares?”
    He thought on it for a second and grinned. “Both, actually.”
    “And if you had brought me here on our first date, and they’d pulled that, I’d have run screaming for the hills.”
    “These hills you are referring to?”
    “Oh, here we go, jabs at my small town origins.” She shook her head and sighed loudly.
    Derrick took a sip of his wine and leaning back, he looked around the room. “You do know