Coffee is the Best Medicine...

A Serial...

The Strange Happenings in a Coffee Shop...

Reaching up with a shaky hand, I placed the envelope back on the towel holder and raced from the tiny restroom. I'm certain I arrived in the dining area breathless with guilt shooting from my eyes. Self-doubt haunted me. Was it right to open that envelope and read the note? 

My insecure half stepped forward from its designated dark corner and spoke. "You have a right to be aware of your surroundings. Besides, maybe the note is a cry for help from someone."

Next, my other half spoke. "Privacy is privacy. You can be certain the note was not intended for you. You shouldn't have read it. End of story." 

Well, maybe it wasn't intended for me, but the message "Help! I think someone might be trying to kill me" spoke for itself.

I took my seat at the counter while searching the room with renewed interest. I wasn't certain of the gender of the note writer, since the restroom was used by all, male and female. Could one of these diners be my person in distress? 

A lively collection of people gathered in the shop this day -- the beautiful, along with the ugly; the old next to the young; the innocent-looking...and the guilty. Could one of these people also be a potential murderer?

The sea of faces offered no clue as I found my gaze resting on the fellow next to me. I noticed his hands first. Big hands, calloused, tanned from the sun, while stirring coffee the shiny spoon looked midget in his grasp. A dingy tan sleeve led the way up his arm to a huge shoulder and finally, his weatherworn face. Lively blue eyes twinkled at me as a smirk formed a tiny curve under his red bulbous nose. When he spoke, the hefty tone of his voice did not match the clown face.

"What are you lookin' at?" he asked.


To be Continued



Copyright 2005 JO Janoski