Paper Ring
A Valentine's Cafe Story- Flash Fiction
A silver teaspoon slips from the saucer as a waitress places a frothy cappuccino in front of the man sitting at the table by the window, the heat of the afternoon sun pooling across his hunched shoulders, his attention focused solely on the street scape outside. The spoon hits the edge of the table and clatters onto the dark pine floor of the cafe. The man looks up briefly as the waitress apologises and he smiles politely, pulling the mug towards him. He taps his fingers against the ceramic and bounces his knee.
As the bell above the cafe door chimes, the man sits up in his chair, a bright smile widening across his face. Sunlight catches flecks of rust and gold in his closely shaven beard. A woman with long dark hair waves to the man as she weaves through the cafe tables towards him. He stands, bumping the table and spilling milky coffee onto a folded napkin.
The pair greet each other, pressing cheek to cheek, the man’s hand hovering over the woman’s back but not touching. They take a seat opposite each other.
“That’s new.”
The man gestures to an oval bezel-set diamond sparkling on the woman’s hand. She stretches her manicured fingers, admiring the ring.
“Spoiler alert.”
“Is that why you invited me here?”
She nods, her emerald eyes dipping to the floor. The man pulls the damp napkin out from under the mug and tears off the coffee-stained side, crumpling it into a ball. He folds the rest of the napkin and twists it into a long rope.
“Are you happy?”
“Colin, don’t.”
“No really. Does he make you happy?”
“You know he does.”
Colin curls the napkin around, shaping it into a circle.
“Remember our school camp? When we snuck into the cafeteria in the middle of the night to find snacks. I never laughed so hard. You told me all your dreams that night. I promised to come and find you when we were both thirty.”
“You made me a ring out of a paper towel,” she says, with a soft smile.
Colin slides the twisted napkin across the table, formed into a ring.
“I could make you happy too.”
She shakes her head and sighs. Colin leans across the table and takes her hand, she doesn’t pull away.
“It kills me to see you together. I’ve been holding it inside, but I have to tell you before it’s too late. I love you, Ivy. I have for a while now, probably since the day we met if I’m honest. I tried to push my feelings away, but I couldn’t. Ivy, I’m a fool. I should have said something before, taken the risk, but I was afraid. It’s not too late, is it? Don’t you feel the spark between us? There’s something there. Isn’t that worth exploring?”
She looks up at him from under her thick black lashes, eyes rimmed with tears.
“I can’t.”
He looks at her for a moment, a frown forming along his brow. He rubs his hand across his forehead.
“I don’t know how I’ll cope if you marry him…but if he is really who you want…”
“Colin, I….”
He sits back abruptly and reaches for the mug as a tall man approaches the table, features similar to Colin’s, only slightly sharper. The same portrait, painted in different shades. The tall man places his hand on Ivy’s back and leans down to kiss her before settling into the seat beside her. He smiles at Colin.
“Already ordered?” He asks, placing his satchel by his feet.
“No, I was waiting for you,” Ivy says, her hands cupped around the paper ring.
“We should get something to cheers with then. Has Ivy told you? We have exciting news.”
“Can’t wait to hear it,” Colin says, getting up a little too quickly, “my shout.”
The tall man watches as Colin fumbles his way past a row of chairs towards the counter. He turns back to his fiancée.
“What were you and my brother talking about?”
Ivy looks past him to where Colin is standing at the counter, his sad eyes focused on her, his shoulders hunched.
“Oh, nothing really,” she says, slipping the twisted napkin into her pocket.
For more delicious bites head to the Valentine’s Cafe:
Oooh! A punch to the gut! What a beautiful story.
Ahhh so good! Punched me in the heart. I love the small details in your writing.