“Well, it was up for a while, but just for giggles. Before they took it down he rigged the Danny Deletes contest that was going on so that everyone who entered won a new laptop. They have a big fucking mess on their hands now.”

“Your brother must be a genius,” I say, incredibly impressed.

“He’s brilliant,” acknowledges Nick.

“Did you hear about the rest?” Dani asks, delighted.

“No,” I answer slowly. “There’s more?”

“Some of the stuff today was managed by other people. We alerted the media. I can’t wait to see if the news covers it.”

Joel nods, and Dani winks at Nick, and in that moment I feel so grateful for my friends. I hope they know that I will always stand up for them, just like they have for me.

I stop drinking after my second beer realizing that I don’t want to drive with a buzz. I’ve got enough trouble without a DUI to deal with.

When we finally head out to the nearly empty parking lot, I agree to meet my friends for Kevin’s birthday gathering at the miniature golf place in Sherman Oaks a week from Saturday.

“Please stay out of trouble,” I say sternly to Dani as I give her a hug.

“And miss all the fun?” she teases.

“Please watch her, Nick,” I say.

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on this one,” says Nick as he pulls her close. “I hope you and Brooke work it out soon,” he says.

“Me too. Thanks, man.”

“You still haven’t talked to her?” Dani asks, worried.

I shake my head no.

“You will soon,” she says, hugging me.

“Yeah, good luck with everything,” Joel adds, nodding in agreement, and then turns to me.

“DBA dude, DBA…I need you,” Joel chants, pointing at me as he slips into his convertible.

I nod, smiling, and give a wave before getting into my car.

I’m home and just letting myself into my front door when I sense someone is behind me.

“Hey…are you Nathan?”

I quickly turn to see a young guy wearing the green Starbucks apron and hat over the usual black pants and shirt, standing in my walkway.

“I’ve been waiting in my car for you to come home. I’m afraid your coffee is cold,” he says, holding the white cup out to me.

I shake my head. Is this a dream? I only had two beers.

“Sir?”

“Are you sure you’re at the right place?” I ask, confused. “I didn’t order any coffee. Besides, I didn’t think Starbucks delivered.”

“We don’t deliver. This was an unusual circumstance,” he confirms with a sly smile. “Nathan Evans, right?”

“Yes,” I respond. He steps closer and hands me the lukewarm cup. I lift it up, trying to read the markings on the cup sleeve in the dim porch light. “Venti cappuccino with extra foam.”

My heart thumps hard. That’s the drink Brooke got for me the first time she brought me coffee.

“Who ordered this?”

“I don’t know her name,” he replies anxiously. He seems in a hurry to finish this up. “She was really pretty, with long reddish-brown hair.”

“Big blue eyes and a beautiful smile?” I ask.

He nods. “Is she your girlfriend?”

“I think so,” I answer honestly.

“Well, she sure seems crazy about you, if that helps. She begged me to do this for her the moment I got off work.”

“Well, thanks,” I say, not sure what else to do. I don’t even want coffee. I mean, it’s time for bed.

I fish for my wallet. “Here, let me give you a tip.”

“No, that isn’t necessary. Your girlfriend paid me a hundred bucks to do this. I didn’t want to do it. I could get fired, and I told her no five times, but man, she was really insistent.”

“A hundred bucks?” I ask, incredulous.

“Yeah, and she said I had to keep on my apron and hat and that I had to give you this exact cup.”

“A hundred bucks?” I ask again.

“Please don’t be mad at me. She wouldn’t take no for an answer. My girlfriend and I even missed our movie for you to get this cup of coffee.” He shakes his head. “And you don’t even want the coffee…I’ll never understand the point of this. Can I go now?”

“Okay, sure. Tell your girlfriend I’m sorry you’re late.”

“It’s all right; she’s okay about it,” he admits. “She thought it was really romantic.”

I smile. “Well then, thank her for me.”

“Can I take this apron off now too?” he asks.

I laugh and realize that it’s the most relieving laugh I’ve had since Sunday.

“Sure, take it off.”

“Well, try to enjoy your coffee. I hope you like it…that’s the most expensive cup of coffee in history, I bet.”

He nods and rushes to his car, pulling off the apron and hat as he goes.

Once I’m inside, I turn off the alarm and flip on the lights. I’m overcome with curiosity.

There has to be more to this than just a cup of coffee.

I move into my dining room and set the cup down. I begin to study it. I never put the sleeves on Brooke’s cups, so I’d have room to draw on them. I carefully remove the lid and gaze inside. Most of the milk foam bubbles have popped and the liquid is a lazy brown. I sniff it and it has the oldish coffee smell from sitting so long, so I snap the lid back on and slowly turn the cup so that I can examine it further. I discover that on the edge of the sleeve she wrote start here.

I lean back in my chair and stare at it some more, delaying what I hope is the big reveal. Finally, I lean forward and carefully wedge the cardboard sleeve down to the bottom of the cup, as gently as a man who slides the panties off his lover.

My heart starts pounding. Sure enough, there’s a message hidden under the sleeve.

She wrote in small letters in the center of the cup:

I loved our sketchbook story so much. And realizing that despite everything, you still love me. It gives me hope.

“Oh, Brooke, after everything I’ve said to you how could you doubt that?” I say out loud.

There I go again, talking to myself like a crazy man. At least I’m a crazy hopeful man at the moment. I look back down at the cup and realize there are dots that lead me further around the cup…

There are things I need to tell you. Will you meet me at the Starbucks in Toluca Lake tomorrow at 4pm?

As much as that first line scares me, at least she’s finally ready to see me. Finally…I almost can’t believe it. Of course I’ll meet her—wild horses couldn’t keep me away.

One more twist of the cup reveals the best part of all.

See you tomorrow. Love, Your B-Girl

Love…my B-Girl.

My eyes instantly well up and I take a deep ragged breath. It feels like the first full breath I’ve taken all week. I cradle the cup in my hand and gently turn it to reread her words again and again.

Tomorrow I will see Brooke. She knows everything now and she still wants to see me.

She still loves me.

When I finally rise to go to bed, I stop in the kitchen, pour out the coffee and carefully rinse out the inside of the cup. I finish by gently patting it dry with paper towels. Before I crawl in bed, I set it on my nightstand so it’s the last thing I look at before I close my eyes to sleep.

It may have been the world’s most expensive cup of coffee, but it was worth every cent.

Animate Me / Chapter Twenty-Nine / Wounded Soldiers

“You needn’t be out there on the edge anymore. You needn’t be alone.” ~Batman^xxviii

Just past seven a.m. I wake up with a start and it takes a moment to remember where I am. The Starbucks cup on my nightstand grounds me, but also reminds me that I dreamed of Brooke.

In the dream, she was trapped in a cartoon and I was trying to get her free. It was like that trippy Aha! Take On Me music video that made an impression on me when I was a kid. I take a deep breath and move closer to the edge of my bed so I can read her words again, to remind me that Brooke isn’t trapped in a cartoon. I’m having coffee with her this afternoon. I smile and run my fingers through my hair.