Cara insisted on being the one who made the coffee, after dinner. First she busied herself making the regular pot of coffee, and then she began the task of making espresso. Joe Lanza loved espresso, and had even turned Cara into an espresso drinker, so one Christmas she bought him a state of the art espresso machine. It was one of Joe Lanza’s favorite possessions, only he had no idea how to use it. She was counting the tablespoons of coffee when the kitchen door swung open. She looked over her shoulder, not breaking her concentration, but just acknowledging who had joined her.
Luke carried in an empty Cinderella cup and headed towards the fridge, “We need a refill, for dessert.” He said, grabbing the gallon of milk and motioning towards the Cinderella cup. “You need a hand while I’m in here?”
She flicked the switch on the espresso machine, and turned towards him. “Nope, all done.” She smiled at him, watching him pour some chocolate syrup into the cup of milk. She leaned over and handed him a spoon.
“Thanks.” He said and smiled at her, taking the spoon from her hand, and dipping it into the milk, stirring in the chocolate syrup.
“No problem.” Cara said. “Did Jake come down yet?”
She watched as Luke shook his head and then eyed the mudroom, which had a staircase that also lead to the second floor, much like the one in the front of the house. “Why don’t you run up and tell him desserts ready. I’ll finish up in here.”
She bit her lip, contemplating, “Alright, if you don’t mind. I’ll be down before it’s done anyway.”
Luke laughed, but merely nodded his head. “Okay, Cara. No worries, I got this.”
Her eyes widened and she went to tell him that he had it all wrong, but figured it was pointless. Everyone assumed she and Jake were just kidding themselves, so they both gave up trying to explain their friendship. She hurried up the stairs and found his door closed. Never being one to just barge in on anyone, she knocked softly. “Jake?”
When he didn’t answer her, she turned to go back downstairs, but then turned back to face the door. He had excused himself so abruptly at dinner, she thought. She knew he was exhausted, he’d been complaining to her about it for a few weeks now, but to just leave the dinner table like that; wasn’t Jake. She turned the doorknob slowly and peeked inside his room. He was lying on the bed, peacefully. She stepped inside, and quietly shut the door behind her. She leaned against the door and looked around the room, and couldn’t remember the last time she had been in his room. She had spent years in this room. When she was a teenager, she would hide out from her father here, and when she turned twenty one she’d crash here after they had been out partying all night. She bet if she opened the bottom drawer of his dresser there would still be some of her clothes there, for the nights she didn’t make it home.
She found herself smiling at the memories, and strangely yearning to lay next to him, just like she did on those nights. She bent down and quickly untied her combat boots, not giving herself a chance to change her mind. She pulled the boots off and placed them neatly next to his. Just a minute, she told herself, just lay next to him for a minute. She climbed into the bed with such gentleness, careful not to wake him. She lay completely still beside him before resting her elbow on the pillow next to him, propping her head up with one of her hands. He still looked like that young man always rescuing her, just some changes, like the barbell that pierced through his left eyebrow and the tattoo that peeked out from the neckline of his shirt. She smiled down at him, for every tattoo that he had, she was there when he had gotten them done. She knew what each one stood and the order in which he got them.
The one she stared at on his neck was the same one she had on her hip. It read “Est. 1985”, marking the year the both of them were born. It had been her first tattoo, and she was nervous, so he offered to get one with her, and then he came up with the idea of them sharing the same tattoo. It was the little things Jake said and did throughout the course of their friendship that made him the center of her world. She loved him for everything he was to her and everything he ever tried to be, and always would.