Ria and Connor - A Coffee Shop

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RIA

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Connor parked his truck in a fenced in lot.

"Says it's free today," Connor said as we filed out of his car. We spent the next hour walking and talking through town. My hand would casually slip into his back pocket and give his butt a squeeze. He would occasionally wrap his strong hands around my waist and pull me close to him. The night was getting colder quickly and the fog from our breath became fuller. Connor tried to act like he wasn't affected, he even offered me his jacket, but I could tell it was even starting to get to him.

We decided to find refuge in a coffee shop, the only place that was open on the stretch of town. As we entered, we saw two older women talking at the counter. One was wearing an apron and counting money.

"Are you guys open?" I asked. "The sign is still on."

"Honestly," the woman in the apron said. "We close at 9 but I forgot to turn the sign off. What can I get you?"

"We don't want to impose," Connor said.

"Nonsense," the lady said, waving her hand at us. "Come on in. What would you like?" When we ordered hot chocolates the other woman said, "I've got it!" and slipped behind the counter to grab a few mugs.

"That's my friend, Missy," the woman with the apron said. "She doesn't work here but sometimes I feel like I should be paying her anyway."

We both smiled.

"First date?" Missy said, handing us two mugs filled with hot chocolate and whipped cream.

"Sort of," Connor said. He blushed and looked down at his shoes.

"Well, don't let this one go," Missy told him. "She is just beautiful." When Connor took our mugs and began walking to sit down, Missy tapped me on the shoulder and gave me an exaggerated "thumbs up" and a wink. I smiled and shook my head.

We would have finished the hot chocolates sooner but Missy kept interrupting, asking all sorts of questions about where we were from, where we met, and anything else she could think of all while her friend, who's name we found out was Karen, tried to keep her from "bothering us". We assured her it was no bother even though, to be honest, it was getting to be a little bit too much. We were grateful they let us hang out and served us hot chocolate and pastries though, so we couldn't complain.

"Let's head back to the car real quick," I said as we waved goodbye to our hosts through the window. "I need to grab some lip balm."

We walked back to the car with the intention of grabbing my lip balm and walking through the opposite side of town but, when we got to the lot, we noticed something unfortunate - the big chain-link gate that we had driven through to get into the lot was closed and had a chain padlocking it together.

"Let me see your hairpin," Connor said, putting out his hand. I pulled the pin from my hair and gave it to him.

"Fuck," Connor said, twisting a hairpin around in the lock. "I can't get it, the hairpin isn't going to work."

"So we're stuck?" I asked him.

"Looks like it," he said. "Either we break down this chain link fence or we walk."

"It's too far to walk," I said. "And I'm not trying to drive through a chain link fence."

"I guess we have to call Shane and Tracy then. See if they can come by and pick us up." Connor looked at his phone in disappointment as we both felt bad we'd screwed up, not just our private date, but Shane and Tracy's as well. Suddenly I saw something.

"Or we could call that number right there and hope someone answers." Connor looked up to see a sign that read "GATE IS CLOSED - IF LOCKED IN, CALL XXX-XXXX. $50 TO BE PAID UP FRONT".

"Do you have any cash?" I asked. Connor fumbled through his wallet and found enough cash to make $80.

Connor grabbed his phone and dialed the number of the sign hanging on the gate but we agree that I should do the talking.

The phone rang. And rang. Finally.

"Hello?"

"Hi!" I shouted, jumping for joy that someone had actually answered.

"Hello?" the voice on the other end repeated. It was a man with a distinct Russian accent.

"Hi, hi," I said trying to keep my composure. "I am so sorry but we got locked in the parking lot. Is there any way you can come let us out? I'm so sorry. We have money, like more than fifty dollars. I'm so sorry."

"It's almost midnight," the man said. "It's Christmas Eve."

"I know," I said. "It's a long story. I'm really, really sorry."

"I can come," the man said. My face lit up and I gave the air a pump of my fist. "But it will be a while. Maybe two hours or so."

"Two hours," I said. I looked at Connor and shrugged. He stared blankly back at me. "Ok. That's fine. We can wait."

I hung up and jumped into Connor's arms. "A Christmas miracle!" I shouted as I pulled him close to me.

"So what are we going to do for the next two hours?"