Spicy Coffee, Sweet Love (A Contemporary Young Adult Romance)

by Andrews, Anna

  Alice shook her head, "No. I'd offer to check on her for you but honestly, I'm a bit scared of her. She's quite nasty you know. Just a heads up in case you didn't."

  Cody sighed, suddenly disliking Alice a bit, too. What sort of people trash talked their co-worker to the stranger who was on a date with her? He suddenly wondered if Alice wasn't such an innocent victim and was trying to appear that way so he'd like her. Of course, maybe India was really just that bad but if they thought he'd leave her because of it, they were sadly mistaken. It just made him think she needed a friend even more. He glanced at Alice once more, trying to judge her personality better and then shrugged to himself as he realized he didn't care.

  "She's alright," he said. "I like her."

  "Guess you haven't seen her temper yet then."

  Cody didn't respond. He had, but Alice didn't need to know that. That'd just be telling her that India acted the same way when she wasn't at work, and it was none of her business. When Alice saw that he wasn't saying anything, she seemed to give up and walked away leaving Cody on his own. He finished his coffee slowly and then wondered what was taking India so long. He was guessing there were no more than thirty people here, and she'd been nearly forty minutes by now. He headed over to the kitchen, determined to sneak in if he had to, and find out what was going on. He glanced around the room first but by now everyone had gotten over their curiosity about him and were mingling on their own paying him no attention, so he snuck inside.

  He found the drinks poured and left on the counter, but India was nowhere in sight. He turned to leave again and ran smack into Leann.

  "You're not supposed to be in here," she said pointedly.

  "Where's India?" he asked, ignoring her.

  Leann shrugged. "I told you she was trouble. Seems she already ditched you. She ran out of this joint a good half hour ago. Yelled at me to pour the drinks myself and just stormed off. I would've mentioned it, but I figured she'd have told you."

  "Right," Cody muttered, wondering if it were true but thinking it more likely that Leann was up to something. He turned and headed for the elevators. He went back down to the lobby to avoid the noise while he gave her cell phone a quick call. There was no answer. He headed back upstairs to look for her. After a while, he concluded that she really had left, and he frowned wondering why she hadn't come to get him first. And what had she done? Walked back? Called a cab? He'd been her ride. His next idea was that she was down a couple floors at her desk but when he checked, she wasn't there either.

  He tried calling her again but when he still didn't get an answer, he headed down to his car. He felt miserable, hating the idea that she might have left without him and wondering what on earth had possessed her to do so. On the other hand, he hoped she really had left or he was making a big mistake by leaving first. She'd be angry if that was the case. He opened the front door of the building and was drenched in hot rain almost as soon as he stepped outside. He gaped for a second at the sudden change in weather. It'd been hot when they'd arrived, but it certainly hadn't shown any signs of rain.

  A loud roll of thunder and a sheet of lightning told him that this was one of those summer storms that popped up when the weather got too hot, and he stopped gaping and made a mad dash for his car, covering his head with his arms in a vain attempt to keep dry. India wouldn't have walked home in this, would she have? Unless she'd left before it started.

  He drove to her house immediately, but her silver car wasn't parked in the driveway anymore, which told him that she had indeed left the party and come by to get it before going out again. He tried his house, though he wasn't sure she knew where he lived, and then Brad's coffee shop, but she wasn't at either place. He wondered vaguely if she'd gone out to his field again, but the rain was coming down so hard that he could barely see while driving and the idea that she'd purposely head outside seemed ridiculous to him.

  He knew he should probably just give up and head for home. Chances are she'd answer her phone if she wanted to be found, and he was realizing with a bit of hurt that she'd abandoned him on purpose. He wasn't in a sensible mood though, so he drove to the Extensive Care Home her dad was living in. He climbed out of the car and ran inside to avoid the rain again. There was a list of residents and what rooms they were in on the door as well as a pin code so visitors could get in, but the residents couldn't leave. He found the only Fisher on the list: a man listed by the first name Wayne in room 302, and then punched in the pin code and let himself inside.

  He walked quietly through the halls and nodded at a nurse working the nightshift. He didn't want to make much noise as he knew that a lot of elderly people went to bed early, but it wasn't that late yet and he was hoping that India would be here.

  She wasn't. He found Wayne Fisher watching a game show on TV from his wheelchair. He hesitated, wondering if he should ask Wayne if she'd stopped by. But he was worried that he was being a bit too forward, visiting her dad before she'd introduced them herself. Wayne made the decision by noticing his presence before he had time to sneak away.

  "You there, young man, bring me some water."

  Cody had obviously been mistaken for a new worker, but he fetched a paper cup full of water from the sink by the window and handed it to Wayne anyway.

  "Anything else?" he asked politely.

  Wayne frowned, "I've not seen you before. Are you new?"

  "No Sir. I don't work here."

  "Hmmph. Why are you here then?"

  "I was actually just looking for India. Did she come by here tonight?"

  Wayne suddenly looked far more interested in him, and he studied Cody closely.

  "You the man with the stars?"

  Cody smiled a bit. "I'm Cody. I'm the man with the field under the stars, but I don't actually own any stars myself, no."

  "You can buy them now, you know. I've seen it on TV. Or at least you can buy a star name and name it after someone."

  "It's a scam," Cody replied. "The names aren't official, and who can claim to own a star in the first place to say who gets to name it?" He winced thinking that arguing with India's dad probably wasn't the way to her heart.

  "Smart lad," Wayne replied, sounding pleased.

  "So," Cody asked. "Was India here tonight?"

  Wayne shook his head. "No, no. She never comes and sees me. She's too busy."

  "She came yesterday."

  Wayne raised an eyebrow, scrutinizing Cody and then nodded. "So she did. That means it'll be a long time before she comes again, you know. She used to like me that girl. Not anymore. Can't blame her; I'm pretty useless."

  "She still likes you." Cody insisted, knowing it was true. "Anyway, I'd better go. Nice meeting you."

  "Wait just one moment," Wayne protested. "You aren't going nowhere yet, Boy. You're after my daughter; I can see that plain as day but before you get any further, you and me is gonna have a chat. So sit."

  Cody sat.

  They stared at each other in silence for a few moments. It should have been awkward, Cody mused, but it wasn't. They were both merely interested in the other man because of his connection with India. That being said, Cody was rather anxious to get the conversation over with so that he could go and find the girl in question, but he wasn't about to be the first to speak. He knew his place.

  Finally, Wayne sighed. "You're gonna steal her from me, aren't you?"

  Cody shook his head. "Not the plan. I see no reason why we can't share."

  "The star thing, that used to be something special between her and I, but I can't go star gazing anymore. You've taken over."

  "I didn't know that when I first brought her out," Cody defended himself.

  Wayne shrugged with one shoulder again, "Never mind then. It's good she has someone to go with. She thinks I'm too hard on her. We fight about that a lot. She thinks that the stroke changed my personality."

  "And you disagree?" Cody asked, curiously.

  Wayne grinned mischievously. "You bet I do. I am harder on her, but it's intentional. I'
m still the same guy as before you know; although it does hurt sometimes to upset her like that."

  Cody stared. "Then why…"

  "India never was an easy child, you know. She was always somewhat demanding. She always blamed her siblings for things, and she always had a bit of a temper. I'm not gonna pretend she didn't get it from me because she did. It was my temper that drove her mom and me to split up, you know. Still, I think I understood her better than the others did. She and I had something special. She was needy; she just wanted a friend. She wanted to be loved for who she was. And she was genuine. I liked that. She and I got along great."

  "That's…" Cody paused, wondering what the appropriate reaction was and then finished with a lame, "good. I guess."

  Wayne glanced at him. "Is it? I suppose. She relied on me too much, you know, to get her out of trouble and such. I always stood up for her when she did something dumb in a fit of rage because I knew I'd have done the same thing. That was a mistake. It only let her know that her behavior was acceptable. I should have taught her to control her anger. After all, look where it got me. I lost my wife because of it. And India followed my footsteps. She scared away boyfriend after boyfriend in high school. I don't think she's dated anyone longer than three weeks, ever. She always came running to me when they left her and part of me was selfishly happy about that. She was still my little girl, and I wasn't going to lose her. Still, I knew it was wrong. She wanted someone. It'd be different if she was one of those girls who would be happy staying single but like I said, she's demanding and needy, and she longs for love and attention.

  Middle child syndrome. She didn't get enough as a kid maybe. I gave it to her, sure, but she didn't live with me full time. I remember even as young as three she'd tell me about her wedding plans, and we'd play pretend wedding. When she was little, I'd be the groom. When she got a little bit older, she informed me that it was my duty to give her away, and the groom became an imaginary Prince Charming or sometimes the dog, who was actually quite patient with her, good ol' Rufus."

  Cody wasn't sure if Wayne even remembered he was in the room. He seemed to be lost in memories. But then suddenly he turned back to Cody.

  "She's unhappy though and the stroke, well it made me realize that life is too short. I'm not gonna be around for her forever. I could be gone tomorrow and then who would she have? I've been selfish for too long. She's gotta find someone to take my place. So yes, I put a bit of pressure on her. A lot of pressure. I just don't want to see her wasting her life miserably. And maybe we fight about it, and she sees me less than I'd like, but if she can move on from me, then so be it and good. It's not about me now; it's about her."

  Cody nodded. He thought he understood. "So, your stroke didn't change your personality; it changed your perspective."

  "Right. But if she's got you, I can lay off the pressure and maybe she'll like me again. I daresay she'll be too occupied with you to visit an old man like myself, but I wouldn't mind if the visits she did make were happier ones. But what am I saying? It's too soon for all this chat, isn't it? She hasn't met you that long ago, and she'll scare you away yet. She always does. She hasn't dated anyone since I had the stroke. Even years before, she said she'd given up on men since they all abandon her, so I guess I got excited when she told me about you, but I'm probably jumping the gun here."

  "I've seen her temper," Cody responded. "I like her anyway. She's genuine, you know. She's real. I prefer her to the girls that mutter that they are fine when you know they aren't. You can never quite seem to get through to those ones because they don't tell you the truth."

  "Good. Yes, I've got a good feeling about you. I might be more than a little jealous that you've been taking her star gazing, but it's for the best. Well, go on now. You said you were looking for her, didn't you? Shouldn't you be out trying to find her then? What are you sitting around talking to me for? Get going."

  Cody laughed and stood up but before he left he reached out to shake Wayne's good hand.

  "It was a pleasure to meet you, Sir."

  Then he turned and left the room but not before he heard Wayne mutter under his breath, "Good lad; good lad."

  Chapter 5

  Cody had been visiting India’s father for quite a while, so he tried calling her phone again. When she still didn't answer, he drove by her house again. The car was still not there. Finally, he decided to head back down to his field even though the storm was raging on, and it seemed absurd to think she'd be there. Her car was there, and Cody frowned. Did she not realize how dangerous it was to stand in an open field during a lightning storm?

  He hurried out of his car and was just climbing the fence to go and find her when he got that uneasy feeling that someone was watching him. He whipped his head around and found her still sitting in the dark in her car. He gave a little sigh of relief and moved to the passenger side which she quickly locked.

  "Let me in, India!" he demanded, unsure if she could hear him through the storm he was standing in. Whether she could or couldn't, it'd be somewhat obvious what he wanted. She ignored him though while he pounded on her window and got drenched to the bone.

  "India!" he protested. "Would you please just unlock the door so we can talk?"

  She ignored him and started up her car, but Cody wasn't ready to let her leave like that, so he jumped up onto the hood and peered at her through the windshield. He saw her sigh and turn the car back off, and he felt a little relieved that she at least wasn't angry enough to pull away and let him fall off the moving vehicle, although he hadn't quite figured out why she was seemingly mad at him in the first place. The only thing he could think of was that girl, Leann. Maybe she'd passed on some sort of lie about him.

  "India, you should know that I just had a long chat with your dad," Cody yelled in an effort to get enough of her attention that she'd listen to him.

  It worked. He saw the stunned expression on her face, and he was pretty sure she was angry about it, but she opened the passenger door. He climbed in quickly as she asked, "You what?!"

  "His idea not mine, but it was alright. Why did you take off on me, India?"

  She ignored him as she asked, "Why were you even in contact with my dad?"

  "I was looking for you. I thought you might be there when I couldn't find you anywhere else."

  "I didn't tell you I was leaving and I ignored your calls. Did it ever occur to you that I didn't want you to find me?"

  "And yet look where you are," he retorted. "This is my property, and I told you I come here most nights so if you're hiding from me, it's not the best spot."

  "You said you didn't come when it rained. Anyway, it's the only place I'm happy, and I didn't know where else to go. Did you really talk to my dad?"

  "Yes. Well actually he did most of the talking."

  "He always does. What'd you talk about?"

  Her voice was a bit calmer now, not as angry and accusatory, but Cody thought she sounded more defeated now than anything, and he knew she was still upset.

  "You," he replied, "and him. A lot of stuff you'd told me and a lot of stuff you didn't. He loves you, India."

  "I'm a disappointment to him."

  "You're not."

  "No? Well he sure acts like it, and I think I know him better than you do, so…"

  "He's just worried that you're not happy and that you won't have anyone after he's gone."

  She didn't reply; she just stared out the driver's side window, looking away from him in silence. Cody reached out and ran his hand through her hair. "India, I really don't know what I did to make you mad at me."

  "I know," she responded quietly. "You couldn't know; I never told you, did I?"

  "So tell me now. I'll let you in on a secret. I'm better at fixing my actions if I know what I did wrong."

  "You didn't want me to pour the drinks."

  "What?" Cody asked, completely confused. "That's what upset you?"

  "You looked disappointed. I was trying so hard to keep my anger inside so I wouldn't g
et in more trouble and it doesn't help when you're standing beside me obviously wanting me to punch her in the face. It just makes it harder for me. Not to mention I felt horrible, like I was letting you down. Just like I let my dad down. I was doing what Leann wanted when I don't even like her and letting down someone I care about in the process. I guess I just need to blame someone for my failures once again, so I got mad at you for being the reason I felt that way. It's silly, I know but…"

  "But you can't help how you feel," Cody finished for her when she trailed off. "India, I am sorry. You never let me down though, not ever. I thought you were pretty strong not to blow up at her when you were obviously so angry, and I admired you for it. And maybe I was disappointed with how things were turning out, but I wasn't disappointed in you, I promise."

  India finally looked at him and then nodded.

  "You know, I'd deserve it if you yelled at me."

  "I know," Cody grinned at her, with no intention of doing any such thing.

  "Did my dad like you?"

  "Seemed to. He said he thought I was a good lad."

  "I can't believe you actually went and saw him. That's a little bit insane of you, you know."

  "So I get good lad from your dad and insane from you? I'm starting to think your dad likes me more than you do."

  "Or maybe I just really enjoy insanity."

  Cody leaned over and placed a quick kiss on her cheek and then narrated it with a goofy, "Mwah."

  She shook her head with a smile. "Charming, aren't you." And then she sighed. "Cody, I need to get home. You can be sure I'll be assigned extra work tomorrow, and it's getting late now."

  "Yeah," Cody sighed, too. "Alright, I'll leave you then."

  "I won't see you tomorrow."

  "Why not?"

  "I should… I think I'll go visit my dad again."

  "Twice in a week? He'll be pleased. Can I come?"

  "No, I need to talk to him about something."

  "Me?"

  India chuckled. "Very possibly. You don't think I'd let you get away without hearing his side of this story too, you know."