The Coffee Shop

Belle's Coffee was the actual definition of a hole in the wall. It was nestled in an old downtown brick building, had only three tables, a bar along the window, and a quaint sitting nook for customers to sit at. Behind the bar were usually only two baristas. It defined cozy with its antique decorations.

On this Tuesday morning, Mary Rose sat next to the old wardrobe instead of the end seat of the bar, only because it was taken up by a college student who looked a mix of tired and panicked. The usual symptoms of midterms.

Mary looked at the laptop screen in front of her and sighed. These emails about the schedule for the company's retreat, the one where they would officially merge their business with another local marketing firm, wouldn't send themselves.

Like every other employee at Bridge's Marketing, Mary was stressed at just thinking about the merger. It was needed, considering Bridge's was absolutely bankrupt. Only one hundred of their three-hundred employees were moving to the new company. The others had quit or found new jobs to begin after Bridge's doors officially closed.

Mary was in that group of one hundred employees. None of her friends were. They thought her crazy for staying.

But that was Mary. Loyal as the sun to the sky.

Mary sent the mass email, then closed her laptop and pulled out her journal to continue outlining the fourth book of her children's book series. She took a glance at the wardrobe beside her. She was half-tempted to open the doors and go in search of Mr. Tumnus. Afternoon tea in a world that wasn't this one sounded more than necessary.

"I'm terribly to sorry interrupt."

Mary looked up at the gentleman who now stood on the other side of her table. All three tables only had two chairs. The tables themselves were about the size of quarters.

The man was six-foot-three, a linebacker's physique under his dark wool coat, with dark curly hair that was trimmed on the sides and longer on top.

"This may be a long shot." the man chuckled. "You may not remember me."

Mary crossed her arms and arched one brow at him. "If you tell me to take a lap, I will dump your coffee on you." They both laughed. She stood and hugged him. "How are you?" She picked at his coat collar. Winter had just taken up residence in middle Tennessee. "Can I assume bartending has treated you well?"

He arched his brow this time. "Yes. I bought this baby llama wool coat from tips I got over Christmas."

"I believe it, actually. You and Luke made the best team." Mary asked about a few of their old coworkers from the bar; Luke had moved back to London not long after Mary left, Deb was still wreaking havoc and making everyone want to quit, and Kylie had finally been made bartender after five years. Deb, wife of the owner, was as picky as could be when it came to who was behind her bar.

Mary rolled her eyes. "She will never change. I still can't believe it's been seven years. What happened with you?"

"I graduated a year after you left and got a job at the publishing company down the block. I'm an agent now." Jimmy ran his free hand down his coat. "Hence, the wool."

Mary laughed. "That certainly does explain it." Her smart watch vibrated multiple times. The screen told her that her boss was calling. "I should take this. It was really good to see you."

The sun broke through the white clouds and shined through the window. Jimmy's green eyes brightened. While he wasn't the most handsome man Mary had ever seen, his moss green eyes meant he was flirted with by nearly every server and every girl that walked into the bar. Even she had to admit that, on occasion, in the moments like this when the sun hit his eyes at just the right angle, she melted.

"I should go as well. I have a meeting." Jimmy checked his coat pockets then pushed aside his coat to check his pants pockets. "Are you still working on that children's detective series you were always talking about?"

Mary's throat went dry. "Um...yes. You remember?"

Jimmy pulled his wallet from his back pocket. "I still want to read it." He handed her a business card. "Send me the first three chapters of the first one." He winked at her. "I know you have at least that. You had started the second book when you left the bar."

Mary was still shocked. Truth was, she had the first two books written and professionally edited. She had just started thinking about self-publishing the first one.

Mary had run all her ideas by Jimmy, back when she was a server and he was bartender and they closed the bar together. He knew all about this fantasy sleuth series that featured three children who were pulled into different places in time to solve mysteries. The seven-book series would follow them from age ten until seventeen, with the books getting longer and darker. In the last book they would break the curse that involuntarily pulled them into different time streams, and two of them would fall in love.

Mary took his card. "Alright. The first three chapters."

***

Jimmy Collins took up nearly the entire couch in the sitting nook at Belle's. He was fairly sure the owner had bought this light blue couch from a doll house living room set. This was not a couch built for a former Big Ten linebacker.

Jimmy lifted his three-shot Americano to his lips as Mary Rose walked in. She didn't have to scan the coffee shop to find him. In an odd moment, they were the only ones here.

Belle's had become a popular spot over the past year, since Jimmy had started coming here regularly. To meet growing demand, the owner had purchased the building next door, knocked down the wall, and doubled the size of the coffee shop. Jimmy wished they would have doubled the size of the furniture as well. They had shut down for two months while the entire coffee shop was being renovated after all. One would that had been enough time to look for bigger couches.

Mary's long red hair brushed across her back as she walked in. She was a petite porcelain girl with a spray of freckles across her face. Her forest green eyes, when the sun caught them at just the right angle, like they did now, made Jimmy's heart stop.

She waved at him. He reached the counter as she did. He told the barista, "I am paying for her drink."

"Jimmy, you don't have to."

"Too bad. The journey to buying your third book starts with a cup of coffee."

"You're an author?" the barista asked Mary.

She smiled, the purest of light in her eyes. This had been her dream come true. "I am."

Jimmy hadn't been all that surprised when she had texted him, saying she was going to self-publish the first book in her series. It had been edited and her sister had hand painted a beautiful cover. Jimmy was a bit disappointed, but he offered to be on her marketing team. He believed in her book that much. She gladly accepted his help. Jimmy told every contact he had in his phone list, both those who were in the publishing industry, including some agent friends of his in New York.

Mary's first book sold hundreds of copies in her first week, then thousands by the end of the month, and was topping online sales lists three months later. Parents and children and even some teenagers were enjoying the books.

Eight months after the first book debuted, she uploaded her second book. Anxious readers of all ages had devoured it.

Jimmy paid for her latte then they went to the couch. They had continued working together over the past year. She reached success a lot quicker than she had expected. Too fast, was her exact words. Mary texted him each question she had, about which companies to use for hard covers and paper backs. Jimmy had learned that asking her to let him be her agent and let a publisher worry about all of that was out of the question, so he stopped putting the pressure on her.

The joke about buying her third book was just that. A joke.

Before they sat down, Mary was on her phone. She tapped the screen a few times then showed it to him. It was a sales statement from the company that distributed her hard covers. Jimmy nearly choked on absolutely nothing.

"Mary." Jimmy could only laugh. He had never seen numbers that high for an indie author's hard covers alone. He was left with no choice but to hug her. "That's insane!"

"I know!" Mary laughed. When she leaned back, there were tears down her cheeks. She wiped them with her thumb. "I have you to thank for some of those dollars."

Jimmy pointed at her. "You have you to thank. You took the plunge. It's clearly been more than worth it." He turned to face her, which meant half of him was hanging off the side of the couch. "I remember how nervous you were to quit your job."

"My last check for my eBooks was more than the salary I was earning." She looked at his leg, the one dangling off the couch. She laughed and the sound was like music. "Let's move to a table you can fit at."

With their coffee in hand, they moved to a table in the new addition of the coffee shop. It was a small table, but the chairs looked more fitting for a man his size.

Mary moved her skirt before she sat. Jimmy couldn't help but notice how happy she looked. She had never looked this happy when working at the bar. Granted Deb probably had something to do with that.

He lifted his mug in the space between them. "Cheers to a successful first quarter."

Mary tapped his mug with her own then they took a sip. "That number I just showed you is why I asked to meet." She looked nervous. "This is becoming too big for me to keep handling alone. I get regular emails from publishing houses in various countries wanting to translate and distribute my books." She lowered her voice this time. "And this morning, I received an email from a producer at Netflix."

Jimmy only smiled. He was ecstatic but not surprised. Mary covered his wrist with her hands and leaned forward. "A television series? Can you imagine it?!"

"I can." Jimmy turned his hand so he took hold of hers.

Mary looked at where their hands were connected. Her entire porcelain face turned red. She cleared her throat. "I...am not sure the process of asking you to be my agent."

"Well it's usually a lot more romantic than that."

Mary's eyes glowed with teasing now. "Should I have brought candles and rose petals?"

"And wine."

"It's eleven-thirty in the afternoon!" Mary rolled her eyes. "You are too high maintenance. I'm looking elsewhere."

Jimmy laughed this time. He released her hand and made sure his tone was professional. "You have gotten some pretty good offers from other agents. Agents who represent some big names and have much better connections. What about one of them?"

Hurt flashed across Mary's eyes, then she shook her head. "They don't know my story like you do. These books have become almost as dear to you as they are to me. I trust you, Jimmy. You're the one I want."

Jimmy knew it was meant strictly professionally, but somewhere in the past eighteen months, much to his own surprise, he had fallen in love with Mary Rose. She was nothing but a friend in their serving days. He had viewed her as nothing else. But over the past year, seeing her passion come to life and even being part of it, watching her go from her apartment to buying her first house, Jimmy had fallen hard and deep and fast.

It didn't escape Jimmy that things would be tricky if he became her agent. A fight at work meant a fight at home. A disagreement at work meant a disagreement at home. Some coworkers had warned him, long before he and Mary crossed paths again, not to get romantically involved with clients. One coworker had seen an editor friend of his marry a client then get a nasty divorce three years later. She had been a big client who brought in a lot of money, then moved to another publishing house after the divorce. The editor quit, moved back to his home state, and now did copyright and proofreading for a real estate company.

Mary searched his eyes. "Why do you look ready to say no?"

Jimmy took a sip of his coffee to buy himself some time. "You should contact one of the agents in New York. I know Brady. He's one of the best. He'll be able to take your books places I never could. One of his clients just signed with HBO."

"But I don't want-"

"I have feelings for you, Mary." Jimmy said bluntly. The professional excuses weren't going to work anymore.

Mary's mouth fell open. "What?"

The rejection terrified him but it was too late now. He'd already begun. Jimmy took her hand again. "I don't know how you feel, but I can't let you sign a contract with me, for those very reasons."

Jimmy stopped and waited. For what, he didn't know. Did she have the same feelings? Did she not feel anything like that for him? Part of her looked ready to leave. Nothing would crush him more.

"Jimmy...I had no idea."

Again, he waited. Again, he didn't know what for.

Mary blinked a few times. He didn't want to tell her the horror stories. He didn't want to imply any feelings on her part. All of their interactions, in person and over the phone, had been friendly. She didn't once flirt with him or show any sign of interest. He hadn't either, which explained why this shocked her.

She gave him a gentle smile. One that was sure to mean I am flattered but you are just a friend. Jimmy would rather be back in his college days as a linebacker, standing on his old football field without any padding, and the other team's linebacker coming straight toward him at max speed.

Mary placed her other hand over his. "I am glad you told me." Her words were kind and even. "Can I have some time to think about it? Your friendship has come to mean a lot to me." It wasn't a no and it wasn't a yes. Jimmy actually found it quite nice. "I will call Brady, tell him you suggested him."

Jimmy gave his best smile. She had valid points. Giving her time was the next right thing. "He'll take care of you. Give you and your books exactly what you deserve."

The goodbye fifteen minutes later was awkward. Jimmy didn't walk her to her car, like he had every time before. He walked alone to his SUV, drove back to the office, and kept his phone on him the rest of the day.