One Cream, One Sugar: parts 3&4

Part 3: "Flynn"

Robert loved summer nights. Sitting on his porch enjoying a cup of coffee, just watching life. Strange how some people still enjoy a hot cup of coffee on a warm night. Others would have gone for an ice cold beer or pop, but not Robert. Something about coffee was just more relaxing, more comfortable, like a worn in pair of jeans or shoes. Robert went inside to get a refill as the phone rang. He made his way to the kitchen, set his mug on the counter and answered the phone.

"Hello?"
"Hey there buddy, is this Flynn? It's Jack."
This wasn't the first time Jack had called. Robert flipped through his book and stopped at a page with "Flynn Ottle" scribbled at the top. This was the third time Jack had called since they met.

~~~

It was a beautiful May afternoon. The April showers certainly brought the flowers in the city of Baltimore, and they were gorgeous. Robert was sitting in a small coffee house by the waterfront. A man, probably in his late 30's came in looking for a phone he could use to call his wife. Being such a small shop, Robert heard the man and offered his help.

"Here you go, sir," Robert said, handing the man his phone.
"Oh, thanks! I'll just be a second."
"No rush, I'll be here for a while."
The man tried keeping his conversation quiet, but being such a small shop, everyone could hear what was going on.
"Honey, I know, I know. But I'm not sure what else I can do, I've been looking for an hour...no...no...well not everyone is a saint like you..darling...okay...okay..I'm sorry. I'll keep looking...I'll see you when you get home from work...love you too...bye."
The man walked over to Robert.
"Thanks. I really appreciate it," he said.
"Not a problem. Is everything alright? I couldn't help over hearing."
"Well, my dog has seemed to have disappeared. He ran off after something while we were walking. I've been looking for about an hour but I can't find him anywhere."
"Oh geez. Well take a seat for a second, calm down a bit, you know?"
"Yeah, thanks."
"Name's Flynn."
"Jack."
"Nice to meet you. Your dog, he's got a collar with info on it?" Robert asked.
"Yeah. Name, address, phone number. He's a smart dog too. He'd find his way home if he had to, I'm just worried, obviously."
"Oh, I understand. I'm quite the dog person myself. Two German shepherds and a husky," Robert said.
"Sounds like a handful."
"It was at first. They learned real easily and are pretty smart themselves."
"Sam is a black lab. He was a gift to my daughter, but more a gift for me." Jack chuckled.
Just then something caught Robert's eye. A black lab, strolling past the window, headed for a tree in front of the coffee shop. He laughed.
"As crazy as this sounds, I think your Sam is under that tree out front right now," Robert said.
Jack looked, and smiled. He and Robert both stood up and went outside. To Jack's disbelief, there was Sam, laying down in the shade, enjoying the day.
"I can't believe it."
The puppy looked up at Jack with an expression that seemed to scream, "What were you worried about? I was just having some fun!"
Jack took Sam's leash and tied in around the leg of a bench under the tree and then sat down. Robert sat next to him.
"Good call, Flynn," Jack said, with much relief.
"He's a good dog, Jack. He probably smelled you from down the street and came to wait," Robert said.
"How about I get us some coffee?" Jack offered.
"Sticking around for a bit?"
"Yeah, why not? I could use the relaxation now."
"That'd be swell," Robert answered.
"Keep an eye on that pup," Jack laughed, "I'll be right back."

~~~

"Ah, Jack, my friend. How are you?" Robert asked.
"Doing just fine. I'm actually looking into getting a German shepherd for my wife for her birthday.."
"You mean for you?" Robert interrupted.
They both laughed.
"You caught me. I thought who better to get some advice from than Flynn, right?"
"Oh, but of course!"
"Lauren's birthday is next week and I went to a little family owned pet store and saw a beautiful little puppy for sale. What do you think?" Jack asked.
"Well, I can't say anything bad about them, that's for sure. Everything you'd want in a dog. I'd say go for it!"
"That's all I needed. I'll go in tomorrow and seal the deal. How's everything with you and your friends over there?"
"Everything is fantastic, really enjoying the summer this year."
"Next time you're in Baltimore you should bring the pups too!"
Robert laughed.
"You know I will, Jack."
"Alright, Flynn. Take care of yourself. We'll be in touch," Jack said.
"Sure thing. Good luck with the puppy, let me know how it goes."
"Will do bud. Talk to you later."
"Goodbye."

Robert hung up, jotted somethings down and refilled his mug. As he was going back to the porch he noticed Molly's food dish was empty. He gave her some fresh water and shook her food container before pouring some into the bowl. A tiny black cat came in from the living room and started eating.
"There you go, Molly," Robert said, petting her back.
He quickly washed his hands and went back to the porch, forgetting his coffee on the counter. He sat down, then realized what he was missing.
"Well, shit," he said, "Eh, I'll live."


Part 4: "James"

Robert came home to a package at the door. It was addressed to a "James O'Connor". He unlocked his front door and brought the package inside. He set it down on the kitchen table and turned on the television. The weather channel was on. Robert took out his little book and searched for "James O'Connor". Once he found the page, he opened the package. Out of the little box, he pulled a pocket watch and a postcard from Disney World.

~~~

"Hey mister. What are you drinking?"
Robert put his newspaper down to put a face to the small voice that had just asked him the question. A tiny, blond haired boy was sitting across from him at the table he was at.
"I'm drinking coffee. What're you drinking?" Robert asked with a smile.
The boy stopped slurping on his straw long enough to say, "Apple juice."
"Yum." Robert said enthusiastically, going back to his paper.
"Do you have a marker?" The little voice asked.
Robert put the paper down again.
"Would you like to draw?" Robert asked.
The little boy, straw in mouth, nodded.

Robert dug through his bag and pulled out a fine-tip sharpie pen and a sketch pad. He flipped to a blank page and slid the book with the pen on top towards the boy. His little blue eyes lit up. He set his apple juice down onto the table, picked up the pen and started to doodle.

"What's your name, kid?" Robert asked before taking a sip of coffee.
"Troy." He didn't even look up from his drawing.
"Nice to meet you Troy, I'm James."
"Hi James. Thank you for your marker," Troy said.
"You're very polite there, Troy. You're welcome. How old are you?"
"I'm 5. I'm going to Mickey Mouse World with my parents today. They are over there under the big number two."
Robert looked behind the kid and saw a man in a Hawaiian shirt on his laptop and a woman in a blue sun dress reading a book. They were sitting underneath a "Gate 2" sign.
"Well, you're going to have a lot of fun, buddy," Robert told Troy.
"I know," he said, holding up his picture of Mickey Mouse that he was drawing.
"Very good," Robert said.
"What's that?" Troy asked, putting the pad back on the table and pointing at Robert's vest pocket.
Robert pulled out his pocket watch by the chain connected to it.
"This?" Robert asked.
"Yeah, what does that do?" Troy asked.
"This is a pocket watch. It tells you what time it is."
"What time is it?"
Robert pressed the button on the side of the watch and it opened. Troy gasped in amazement.
"It is ten, twenty three," Robert answered. "Would you like to see it?"
Troy nodded.
Robert closed the watch up and put it into Troy's waiting hands.
"Wow!" Troy exclaimed.
"Touch the little button on the side," Robert told him.
The watch opened. Troy's eyes were even wider than before.
"Ten, twenty three," Troy said smiling.
"I'll tell you what, Troy, if you want that, you can have it. Just keep it in your pocket until you get on the plane, okay?"
"I can have it?" Troy asked.
"Yes. Just promise to keep it in your pocket until you get on the plane."
"I promise," Troy said, closing the watch just like he saw Robert do and put it in his pocket.
Robert smiled.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome, Troy. Thank you for being such a well mannered little man," Robert said.
"My mommy says I need to have manners, so I always say 'Please', and 'Thank you'."
Robert looked up and saw Troy's mother standing behind him.
"Troy," she said. "It's time to get your backpack and get on the plane so we can go see Mickey!"
Troy held up the drawing for his mother.
"Oh, how wonderful. Did this nice man let you draw on his paper?" She asked.
"Yes, his name is James and I said thank you. I have manners," Troy said proudly.
His mother smiled.
"Thank you for keeping him occupied. I didn't even realize he ran off," she said, picking Troy up.
"Not a problem. He's a great kid, ma'am. I hope you all have a great time."
Robert ripped the drawing out of the pad and handed it to Troy.
"Thank you," he said.
"You're welcome, buddy."
"Are you waiting for a flight?" Troy's mother asked Robert.
"Yes I am. I'm heading to Phoenix to surprise my girlfriend, Maggie."
"Oh, how sweet. Well, have a good flight and enjoy your time in the heat!" She said.
"Thank you very much, you do the same."
She smiled and started to walk back to her husband who was standing with his brief case waiting. Robert waved and nodded at the man, he did the same back. Troy's mother put Troy back on his feet and he looked over at Robert. Robert winked at him and waved.
"Bye James!" Troy yelled.
The family turned and got in line to board the plane.

~~~

The back of the post card read:

"Dear James, we got your address from engraving on the pocket watch and hoped it was yours. We thank you so much for giving it to Troy, but we cannot accept. We would hate to see such a keepsake go to waste in the hands of a 5 year old, who all weekend just kept opening it and saying 'ten, twenty three'. You're a very thoughtful man and we hope that us sending it back does not offend you in any way. We hope you understand. Thank you again, and write back if you'd like, we're sure Troy would love to hear from you. The Coren Family. PS, hope Arizona was nice."

Robert took out another small card from the package. It was a business card that had their address on it for if Robert wanted to write back. He picked up the watch and opened it. He looked at the engraved address on the inside of the cover, then at the time. It was ten twenty nine. Robert looked up at the television and listened to the weather reporter.

"Well Katie, the heat wave that has been devastating Arizona, New Mexico, and western Texas is far from being over. Phoenix is already at a high of 117 degrees today, with Albuquerque at 110, Las Cruces at 111, and El Paso at 113."

"Yuck," Robert said to himself, "No reason is reason enough to go to the oven that is Phoenix."