A Cupp of Christmas Cheer by Katherine Moore

Author:Katherine Moore [Moore, Katherine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-22T00:00:00+00:00

Good to the Last Drop

Melissa wasted no time. Before I’d even finished the mocha I’d made myself, she’d posted on Instagram and made a quick TikTok video that featured Alexander making one of his fancy coffee drinks while she teased the upcoming event. Alexander already had an online store to sell his special coffee and tea blends, so Melissa quickly put up a landing page for online orders while I fielded calls and emails asking about it and Alexander manned the counter.

By the morning of New Year’s Eve, we already had more than six hundred dollars in our coffers, which was more than enough to purchase all the goodies we needed to serve, along with some last-minute basket fillers that a friend of Melissa’s was going to bring us from Seattle.

“That’s awfully nice of your friend,” I said. To my surprise, she blushed.

“Yes,” she said.

So, a good friend then, I thought. “Will they be staying for the festivities?” I asked, since I didn’t want to make any assumptions about the gender of her friend.

“Probably,” she said.

Interesting, I thought.

“And he’ll probably bring his brother,” she added. “Norm is chronically dateless.”

It cheered me up to know that she had a beau and was not in Alexander’s life that way. “He could meet someone,” I said. “In a no-pressure kind of way.”

“So now we’re doing speed-dating?” Alexander asked, sounding grumpy.

“A lot of people might benefit from a speed-dating event,” Melissa said, with a significant look at him. “And I’m including present company.” Melissa just could not help herself.

“I’m too busy to date,” Alexander said, but the tips of his ears got red.

“You could date a co-worker,” she said, and then it was my turn to blush.

“If a co-worker would want to go out with me,” he said, and I looked up. Alexander was gazing at me with a look I’d never seen on his face. Was it hopeful?

“Hypothetically speaking,” I said, “I’m pretty sure a co-worker would want to go out with you.”

“Perfect,” Melissa said. “Now you both have a date for New Year’s Eve.”

“No pressure,” I said, and Alexander laughed. It pleased me to hear him laugh.

***

Melissa’s friend Henry showed up on New Year’s Eve morning with the aforementioned Norm in tow. They both seemed nice enough, but it was clear that Norm was painfully shy. But he was wearing a t-shirt with the logo of my old gaming company on it, and I suddenly knew exactly who I wanted him to meet, if I could get her to drive from Seattle. It was threatening to snow but there hadn’t been any precipitation yet, so if she got on the road early, she’d make it here by noon. And the little room where I was living in my parents’ basement—Mom had turned my old bedroom into her crafts room—had twin beds, so she wouldn’t have to drive home with all the people who’d been celebrating.

It was still pretty early, but as I had expected, Bonita picked up on the first ring. “Happy new year,” she said as she answered.

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