This is one of my Favorites!
Coffee #4
Margot struggled a little with the lid. A dent along one side seemed to hold it in place. She jiggled it a little and used her fingernail to finally get it off. Inside was a jumble of papers, awards and old photos. Margot glanced through them quickly, then decided to take everything out and have a better look.
There were a few worn and faded award certificates for things like Most Improved and Great Attitude with smiley stickers along the sides from elementary school. There was a folded single sheet of paper which seemed to be a debate rebuttal against no off-campus lunches.
The corner of yellow paper stuck out near the bottom of the pile and Margot pulled it out and unfolded it. She recognized it. It was a flirty note she had written to Paul when they first started dating. It was a candy-gram and the missing masking tape where the candy had been pulled off left the paper super thin in spots.
Hey Mighty Man (M&Ms) ~
You’re such a Sweet(tart) and so HOT(Tamales)!
Your Baby(Ruth),
Margot
Margot smiled thinking of the date they had had that weekend. It was their second date and Paul had taken her to go ice skating. It was so cold, they had been bundled up to a ridiculous level and had hardly been able to move, let alone skate. After falling down a thousand times and struggling to get up a thousand times, they decided to waddle over to the coffee shop across the street and sit in the warmth with a cuppa for awhile. They had peeled off layer after layer of sweaters and thermal pants, piling them on a chair until it fell over under the weight.
It had been so nice to be in Paul’s company. He was fun and easy to talk to and a great listener, too, not like so many of her previous boyfriends. Margot had made the candy-gram later that weekend as a thank you for the date. She had hoped to incentivise him into asking her out plenty more times, which he did. It worked.
Margot folded the paper back up but paused when she saw some scribbled writing on the back. Paul had written “This is the girl. She’s the one.”
Tears sprang to Margot’s eyes. She hadn’t known he’d written that or that he kept it and it was in this box with all his keepsakes. Or that he even had a box of keepsakes. She found some photos of his parents and one of him and his brother, Nick, when they must have been 6 and 7. Besides the couple of photos they had placed on the wall in the living room, she hadn’t known there were any others. The memories were just too hard.
There was also a red toy tractor in the box that must have been from the same time as the photo. She looked closer at the photo and saw the tractor on the grass near Nick. She wiped away her tears and started to place the rest of the items inside.
Margot’s thoughts went back to earlier that day and she was ashamed. Of all the stupid things to argue over. Book club? She didn’t even like most of the people there. She almost never liked the book selection, this time being an exception. What had she been so adamant about?
Margot checked her watch. 4:50pm. She was supposed to leave 5 minutes ago. It was her turn to help set out the food. But she wasn’t feeling like going. Not really. Earlier she would have made herself go anyway, just to prove a point. But now?
Margot thought it over. She looked at the pile of sweaters on the bed. The new pair of jeans on the floor. The high-heeled, brown leather boots she was going to wear. After a moment, she grabbed her favorite sweater and got dressed as fast as she could.
