A cup of Coffee

A Cup of Coffee
Introduction
Sam was a young teenager, at the age of fifteen, he was very smart, kind and funny, and he had a few very good friends whom he cared very much about. But the one thing he wanted, he could never seem to have, a relationship. No matter how many girls he’d asked out, not a single one of them was willing to give him a chance. Here he was , fifteen, in high school, and he hadn’t even kissed a girl yet! Most of his friends were out busy with their dates, or at work, but he could only watch as he felt like life was passing him by. This is the story, of a true light in the dark, a real companion, and a true friend.

Chapter One
Sam had finally done it, he finally asked out the girl he’d liked for oh so long, but had never been able to ask her before, not because he lacked the courage, but because he lacked the chance! But his chance had come at last! The Winter Ball dance at his school was coming up, and he finally asked her!
Her name was Destiny, she had long black straight hair, dark brown eyes, and the most beautiful smile you had ever seen! Destiny said yes! He couldn’t believe it, she actually said yes! Sam was the happiest he had been in a long time! Once the night before the dance came though, she called, and said she had changed her mind, and that she was sorry, but she was going with somebody else instead. Sam was crushed, his heart broken. He felt so betrayed, he didn’t know what to do!
Sure enough, the next night came, and he decided to go alone. Sam started regretting it soon enough, and decided to leave early, tired of seeing all his friends with their dates, and the final straw broke when he had to sit out for the slow dances, and he saw Destiny dancing with one of his best friends. He had had enough, and decided to walk home, it was beautiful autumn night anyway, he might as well take a walk, it would give him some time to think. As Sam walked home, he decided to stop by a café he had noticed on his way home, to get something to drink, as well as stop and rest. Little did he know that his life would be forever changed that night.

Chapter Two

Sam had ordered his drink, and looking for a table to sit down at, found the only available seat next to an old man, on the sidewalk in front of the café. He sat down, politely asked the old man if the seat was taken, and the old man said no it wasn’t, and that he’d like the company. For a while, they were both silent, Sam drinking his tea, the old man just sitting there, watching the world pass him by. After a little while, the old man looked at Sam, and asked him, “What’s bothering you? You look upset. Your young, what could possibly be bothering you? ”.
Sam was taken aback, but answered him nonetheless “ I was supposed to be going to a dance with this girl that I really like, but at the last minute, she changed her mind, and I decided to go to the dance anyways. Once I got there, I saw her dancing with one of my best friends…”
“Ahh, I see, girl problems huh? Haha, I know what you mean though, It can’t be all bad though, can it? I’m sure you can find somebody else, if not to go to the dance with, but at least on a date, right?”, the old man replied.
“No, no matter who I ask out, the answer is always the same, ‘Your sweet, and I like you, but I think we should just stay friends’ or ‘Your like a brother to me, I wouldn’t want to ruin it’, it’s always something like that. I can never seem to get a chance.” Sam answered back.
“’One may have a blazing hearth in ones soul, and no one ever come to sit by it.’“ The old man said.
“Vincent Van Gogh said that, no?” Sam inquired
“Why yes he did, I’m surprised you know that! Do you like to read Sam,” The old man asked “ reading is a wonderful thing, don’t you think?”
“Yes, I love to read! It’s one of my favorite things in the world, I feel that reading lets you experience so much, it’s incredible!” Sam gushed
“Haha yes, your right! I love reading myself, In fact I have an entire library, with all the books I’ve ever read in it!” The old man chuckled a bit as he said it. It was then that he realized he was smiling, something that he hadn’t done in oh so long. He was happy.
Sam finished his tea, and noticed it was getting dark out. “I had better start heading home, hey, what’s your name?” Sam asked, as he stood up to leave.
“I’m Mortimer, and you are? “ The old man asked in response.
“Sam. Well it was great to meet you Mortimer, I hope I’ll see you around!” Sam said, as he pushed in his chair, extended his hand, and shoot Mortimer’s hand.
“I’ll be here!” Mortimer said, as Sam walked back home.

Chapter Three

The days went on, and every day after school, while walking home, he would stop, get a cup of tea, and sit down and talk with Mortimer. He was so interesting, he had seen so much! He was eighty-seven years old! He had served in World War Two, as a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne, and after that he traveled all over Europe, from France, to Germany, to Spain! Along the way he collected books, and he always made it a point to get one from every town he stopped in, he said that ‘The world is a book, and if you don’t travel, you only read one page of it’. Mortimer, or Morty for short, said that he considers each book a memory, whether happy, sad, or somewhere inbetween, he loved each one. He also knew French, German, and even spoke a little bit of Scots Gaelic! Morty also had a wife, named Lauren, and a son, named William. His son moved out many years ago, and had a family of his own now. They talked about everything, and both enjoyed each others company very much, even if it was just for fifteen minutes every day. They quickly became friends. As the days turned to weeks which turned to months, soon enough it was summer time! The two met for lunch, every day, at the same table. Many a afternoon were spent with the smell of coffee and a cigar every once in a while, mixed with the cool refreshing breeze of summer.
Soon enough, winter came, and Sam still hadn’t had a girlfriend, but it didn’t bother him as much anymore, he found comfort in his companion, Mortimer, he found confidence that he had in only a few rare others.

Chapter Four

Time went on, and the two became even closer friends; still meeting every day for a cup of tea or coffee. Sam had never seen Mortimer’s home, and had no clue where it was, but he didn’t care really. As time kept going, Sam was in his Senior year in high school now, and had just turned 18, and once again, the Winter ball had arrived. He had finally gotten his first date, and kissed her too, he was so excited! He ran to tell Morty, the day before the Ball, the day before the fourth anniversary of their meeting.
“Mortimer, you’re not going to believe it, I finally got a date for the Winter Ball, I’m so excited!” He said as he said down with Mortimer on that fine autumn afternoon.
“That’s great Sam, it really is!” He smiled, he was happy for him.
“I won’t be able to make it to meet you tomorrow though, I’m going to be busy.” Sam said, regretfully.
“Are you sure, can’t you stop by for at least a few minutes Sam, please?” Morty prodded
“Sorry, I really am, I’ll be here the day after tomorrow though! I promise!” Sam assured him
“Sounds great! Actually, how about the day after tomorrow, I take you to finally come see my library, I’m sure you’ll love it!” Mortimer offered
“I’d love that!” Sam said as he got up to leave.
When he left, Mortimer had seemed different, quieter than usual, unlike him. He shrugged it off, maybe he was just in a weird mood?

Chapter Five

The dance had went wonderfully, and he and his new girlfriend were getting along great! The day after the dance, Sam went down to go see Morty on his way back home from school. But Morty wasn’t there!
“Weird,” Sam thought “Morty has never missed a day before. Maybe he’s just busy? Nahh, he would have told me.”
Soon enough the cashier came over to him, “Are you Sam?” he asked, “ Your friend left this here for you the other day.” The cashier handed him and envelope with Sam, written on the front of it, underlined. Sam opened the envelope, and took out the note, there was also a key inside the envelope too. The note read: “ Dear Sam, I left this here for you because I wanted to thank you, for keeping an old man company, for being my friend, for all those times we sat there, talking, watching the world pass by, it felt nice to have somebody there for a change. If your reading this and you haven’t figured it out now, I have passed on. There comes a time in the end of your life where you know it’s going to happen soon, and you make peace with yourself. I want you to know that I did, and that because of you, I have died a happy man. I have left the key to my house at 143 Surefield Avenue here for you, so you can go see my library, feel free to read any of them, as I am leaving them with you. I didn’t want to disappoint you, after all I did promise you’d get to visit my library one day! I’m leaving the entire property to you, I feel you’ll need it!
- Your friend Mortimer
P.S- I wish the best of luck to you and your girlfriend! “

Sam sat there, astonished. He reread the letter over, once, then twice. He picked up the key and walked to Mortimer’s house. He picked up the paper on his porch, still there. He flipped it open to the obituaries and sure enough, there was Mortimer Baptiste, aged ninety, he died of natural causes in his sleep. That’s when it finally sunk in. Or rather, it sunk in when he was at the funeral. It was only him, and the son that Mortimer talked about every once in a while. As it turns out, his wife that he talked about sometimes, had died, nearly twenty years before, at age 70. Morty had always talked about her as if she were alive, he would have never guessed… that the reason they got along so well was because they were both lonely, and the most companionable thing in the world is loneliness!

Epilogue
Time moved on, Sam and his girlfriend, Lauren, ended up getting married and having kids, and they lived in Mortimer’s old house. Sam absolutely loved his library, and added onto to it, in much the same fashion Mortimer had many years before. Sam and his wife traveled around before finally living there, and having a family. He collected books, memories, and much like Mortimer, also went down to the café every afternoon for tea, in his memory. Also, much like Morty, his wife died as they grew old, and his kids grew up and had families too. Now, you can still find him sitting outside the café, every afternoon, waiting for somebody to come and sit down with him, and maybe even share a drink.