“I hope you’re right. I really like her, Noah,” Andi admitted.
“Then we’re not going to let her go, honey,” Noah assured her, giving her a quick hug.
The crowd rapped on the door, their restlessness getting the better of them.
“Alright, alright,” Noah groaned to the crowd. “You should really do something about your coffee addiction,” he half-joked as he unlocked the door.
“We are!” someone sniped back, as a line quickly formed at the counter.
“Don’t worry, Andi,” Noah called out to her. “somehow, someway, you’ll get another chance, even if I have to involve Gillian McGovern herself.”
Andi weakly laughed. She hoped he was joking, but deep down in her heart she knew Noah wasn’t above doing whatever it took to help his friends. Even if that meant soliciting the help of one of the most powerful women in the world.
BUSINESS was steady through the morning. With another day ticked down to Christmas, the crowds around National Brew grew more frantic, more in need of a shot of caffeine to power them through their pre-holiday madness than ever before.
Andi was glad for the distraction. If she could keep her attention focused on making drinks, she wouldn’t have time to think about how badly she bungled things with Sheila. How she had awkwardly dismissed the kindest, most beautiful, most well-spoken woman she had ever had the pleasure of getting to know. Sure Sheila ended their night by saying she’d see Andi around, but Andi was too much of a realist to take her literally.
“Excuse us,” a voice implored at the register.
Andi snapped out of her daydream. She turned her attention to the registers where Noah was flirting with a young Italian woman in a Georgetown sweatshirt.
Behind the young Italian woman, a gaggle of women in expensive casual wear clucked over the menu. Andi didn’t even need to ask them for their order to know that they were all going to want skinny cinnamon lattes. And if she were a betting woman, she would guess that they were chaperones for their children’s field trip to the Smithsonian.
“Skinny cinnamon latte.”
“Care to add a shot to that?” Andi asked.
“I’d better. It’s going to be a long bus ride back to Bethesda. You have no idea how challenging it is to keep a group of fifth graders in line at a museum.”
A knowing smile cracked across Andi’s lips. She could read her customers like a book. Now if only she could read her relationships just as well.
Andi grabbed a hot cup from a tower by the espresso machine and began the weary chaperone’s drink. By the end of the day, the cups would all be gone, all holding cinnamon lattes served to customers who had no idea what they were really drinking, only inexplicably feeling that their holidays had gotten merrier.
Me, a maker of merriment, Andi mused, now that was an odd thought. This year had been rough. So rough that she would absolutely be the last person in the city to be considered a poster child for merriment. But here she was, cheering up Washington with her beverages. What a strange world this was.
Andi conceded she hardly understood anything any more, and certainly the holidays only exacerbated that. But she did know how to make cappuccinos and lattes, americanos and mochas. And in the brutal days of summer she had made a commitment to herself that she would not let the devastation of the past year ruin her. She would persist. And if making coffee was the only way she knew how to do that, then she would make it.
Yes. She would force herself to be a better woman so the next time someone as exceptional as Sheila McGovern crossed her path, she would be ready for her. The only problem was, she didn’t want anybody else. Not even Elaine, Andi realized with wonder. Holding Sheila up to Elaine was like holding a blazing torch next to a matchstick. There could be no comparison. In fact, Andi didn’t even want to think about Elaine at all. She felt Elaine’s burden fall away, leaving her buoyant and loose.
So now that Elaine was no longer a vice threatening to crush her, how could she make her way to Sheila?
“Noah,” Andi began, not even sure what she wanted to say.
“Go for it,” Noah said, beaming a smile that he had been waiting all day to unleash.
“How do you even know what—,” Andi wondered.
“Because as your best friend, it’s my job to know what’s best for you.”
“But how do I do that?”
“You find her.”
“She hasn’t come in yet. She’s usually here by this time. I don’t think she’s ever coming back.”
“It’s a crazy time of year, Andi. I’m sure she has a good reason.”
“I don’t know.”
Noah gave her a stern look that told her to stop being so self-conscious. “That doesn’t mean you should just sit back. It’s time you take a hold of your life, Andi. I mean really take a hold of it.”
Andi nodded. Noah was right, of course. But how could she do that? How could she find Sheila McGovern, one woman in a city of over six hundred thousand people?
Noah, of course had the answer. “If you can find her sister, you can find Sheila.”
But he didn’t stop there. He lowered the Christmas carols on the speakers and shouted out to the patrons. “Free cinnamon latte to the first person who tells me the last known location of Gillian McGovern!”
A woman immediately yelled back, “according to her social media, Gillie’s currently having an impromptu meet-and-greet at the National Christmas Tree!”
Noah’s up-arched eyebrow said, what are you waiting for?
Andi knew he was right. She kissed her friend on the cheek. “I owe you one.”
“Seeing you happy is all I want. Now go get your woman.”
Hesitating no longer, a smile spread across Andi’s face as she ran out the front door.
Chapter Seven
ANDI didn’t remember her run to The Ellipse. She didn’t remember forgetting to take off her apron before she left National Brew. She didn’t remember the big crowd on the lawn parting as she apologized and made her way down the Pathway of Peace.
What she remembered was her heart pounding with excitement as she desperately searched among the polished political team poised against the lovely backdrop of the National Christmas Tree for Sheila McGovern. She scanned the inner circle of the company and found Gillian McGovern at its center, smiling her perfect smile as she posed for a photograph with a woman and her young son.
Yes, Gillian McGovern has Sheila’s same beautiful eyes, Andi thought, almost laughing aloud at the realization that she was comparing Gillian’s attributes to Sheila’s and not the other way around. Andi agreed with Noah that Gillian was a gorgeous woman, but still not even a powerful politician could compete with the beautiful speechwriter.
“Listening to my constituency is so important to me. And having her voice heard matters to this young woman so much that she’s rushed here straight from work. What’s your name, miss?”
It took Andi a beat to realize that one, she had gotten close enough to Gillian McGovern that the senator was talking directly to her, and two, that she was still in her barista uniform.
“Andi,” Andi answered automatically, refusing to be embarrassed about her appearance and hoping only to find Sheila.
The news cameras surrounding Gillian McGovern trained their lenses on Andi. A barista interacting with a woman who one day may be President was great footage to get in the can.
“So what’s on your mind, Andi?”
“Finding your sister.”
“My sister?” Gillian McGovern answered, taken aback.
“Yes, I want to apologize to her for last night. I’m afraid that she thought I was more interested in you than her, but it’s really my friend Noah who has a crush on you, Senator McGovern.”
“So you don’t have a crush on me?”
“No, Senator.”
A titter of laughter reverberated through the crowd, who were now silent and watching the interaction between Andi and their senator as the cameras rolled. Sheila quiet
ly joined Gillian’s side. Gillian turned to Sheila, clearly amused, before addressing Andi again.
“Do you have a crush on my sister?”
Sheila tilted her head. Andi met her gaze. Her gray eyes searched Andi’s for an answer.
“Yes ma’am, I have a crush on your sister,” Andi replied not taking her eyes off of Sheila.
“Sheila?” Gillian asked.
“I’m really glad I agreed to come out with you today,” Sheila said with a smile. She stepped forward and gathered Andi in a hug.
Sheila’s embrace was secure and comforting, like it was completely ordinary to be displaying affection in front of the cameras and the cheering crowd. Sheila’s cold cheek pressed against hers and with a warm breath, Sheila whispered, “thank you,” into Andi’s ear.
“And that folks, is my goal leading up to this next election—to help the people of this country realize and fulfill their dreams,” Gillian McGovern addressed her audience, expertly spinning the events to her benefits.
She placed her hands on her sister’s and Andi’s shoulders and took a photograph with them. Shaking Andi’s hand she leaned in and said, “I do want to hear more about your friend who has a crush on me.”
Sheila just shook her head at Gillian’s antics, took Andi by the hand and led her away from the flock.
“This is why I have a hard time dating,” Sheila explained. “These people, my sister...” Sheila’s voice trailed off.
“What people, what sister,” Andi said with a grin as they walked around to the far side of the tall pine, where it was quiet.
“Do you really have a crush on me?” Sheila asked, her gray eyes hopeful.
“Yes. Do you really have a crush on me?” Andi gently asked.
“Since the first time I stepped in National Brew,” Sheila admitted. “I’m sorry I was too much of a coward to say anything.”
“I’m sorry I was too much of a coward to notice.”
“I’m feeling braver, though.”
“Me too.”
Sheila leaned towards Andi and Andi let her. When Sheila paused a millimeter away from Andi’s lips, Andi made up the distance and pressed her lips against Sheila’s, kissing her at last. Andi closed her eyes and felt herself leaning in towards Sheila’s warm, soft lips while relaxing into herself at the same time. Sheila contentedly sighed, gently running her fingertips against Andi’s cheek.
When Andi’s eyes fluttered open, she laced her fingers through Sheila’s. At that moment, the lights on the National Christmas Tree switched on, sending a million beams of light over the city, its residents, its visitors, its families, its friends and its lovers.
That’s how I feel. Lit up.
Andi turned to Sheila. “So what do you say, can I buy you a cup of coffee?”
Sheila laughed. “A cup of coffee?”
“Maybe a glass of wine, then,” Andi replied, grinning. “I have a customer that’s been extra generous with the tips.”
“Maybe she has a crush on you,” Sheila playfully countered.
“I hope so,” Andi said, linking her arm in Sheila’s.
As the two women walked past the Christmas tree to their favorite tavern on 15th street, Andi thought about how unexpectedly—how amazingly—a place that held such pain could bring such hope. She would now forever remember the beautiful pine that proudly stood over the city as a place of cherished childhood memories and promising new love.
Copyright and Credits
© 2015 Lanai Juniper
All Rights Reserved.
First Edition: November 2015
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Holiday Perks Page 3