Coffee At Midnight In Seattle by Patrick Councilor
To their surprise, as they walked into Café Nervosa, they found just a few customers. On the busiest shopping night of the year, one would think shoppers would need to refuel.
Daphne was leaning into him for support. She surely didn't need this support, but Niles insisted. He asked her to sit at a table by the front door, while he went to the counter. "Excuse me, my wife has taken a fall. Do you have a first aid kit?"
"Sure," the young 'custodian-of-coffee' replied. "Let me get it for you."
When the young man returned, Niles explained that he was going to take her into the bathroom to clean the wound and they would be ordering coffee shortly after.
He helped Daphne to the washroom and knocked to make certain it was completely unoccupied. He helped her inside.
"Honestly Niles, it's just a small cut. I don't need all of this."
"Now-now. I don't want it to get infected." He set the first aid kit on one of the sinks and helped his wife to sit up on the other two sinks. He washed her cut with soap and water then retrieved the antiseptic from the kit. He informed her, "This might sting a little bit."
Daphne didn't even flinch. "You see, it's not that bad at-tal." She noticed a runaway tear fall from his cheek. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Niles, are you alright?"
"It's just… I can't help think of what could have happened."
She kissed the top of his head. "Don't worry. It wasn't that big of a deal." But she knew differently. She had just fallen, torn her slacks a tad and had suffered a very small cut, but to Niles, it was so much more than that. True, she didn't know what she would have done if he hadn't of come along. However, she was able to take it for face value for what happened rather than what could have happened. Perhaps Niles was thinking too much into it, but she understood where he was coming from. She was glad that she allowed him to call the police just as they departed Post Alley. Niles had given them a detailed description of the attacker.
He had dabbed her cut with small cheese-cloth squares from the kit and applied Neosporin to help it heal. He then put on a Band Aid. He actually wanted to wrap the entire ankle in bandage, but he held back. He didn't want to make a bigger deal with it than she was willing to allow. "There you go," he said, forcing a smile, "as good as new."
"I've never seen you like that before," she said as he put the kit back together and closed it.
"What?" he asked as he turned back to her.
"You're me hero. You were a regula Chuck Norris, back there." Her smile brighten the room.
"I wouldn't say 'Chuck Norris', but I can rise to the occasion, if the situation dictates so." He lifted her leg and leaned over to kiss her wounded ankle.
"Oh, you're so sweet," she said with sincerity. She put her hands to the back of his neck and held onto him. "Thank you."
"I will always take care of you."
"I'm not just talking about the bandage. Thank you for rescuing me."
"You're so welcome." He put his hands on her hips and moved in to kiss her nose.
"It's a good thing that you called me when you did." She regretted the words just as they left her lips. She was trying to steer clear of what might have been, for Niles' sake.
Niles wanted to tell her about his sudden premonition to call her when she needed him. He knew that she needed to hear it, but he would tell her over coffee. He helped her down from the sinks. "Yes," he said finally. "I have so much to be thankful for this evening."
He reached for the first aid kit, but Daphne stopped him.
"Wait a bit." She looked longingly into his eyes. "I haven't been in this men's room before. It makes me feel a bit naughty. It's like sneaking into the men's locker room. Maybe we should make out."
He smiled at her comment. Giving her a quick kiss, he announced, "That's about the extent of kissing I am going to do in the men's room." He took up the kit and they headed out.
There were so few people there, that they had their choice of tables. They chose one over by the bay window. He pulled out her chair and wiped it down for her.
"Thank you sir." She sat.
"I'll be right back." He gently slapped the first aid kit as an explanation that he had to return in. "Are you up for a decaf, or do you want something else."
She nodded her pretty head. "That's fine love."
Niles returned the kit and placed their orders. He tipped handsomely when asking if the server could bring the drinks to the table. He returned to her and wiped down his own chair before taking a seat. "Daphne, there's something I wanted to speak to you about."
"Sure."
"It's about the call I made to your earlier… Wait a minute. What?!"
"What's this?" she asked as she shot him a puzzled look.
"When we were back in the men's room, you said, 'I haven't been in THIS men's room before'. Care to explain that one?"
"Oh." She grinned. "It's me brotha Billy; the ballroom dancer. I had to go into the men's room at a pub back home one New Year's Eve night. He got his pantyhose caught on one of the stalls and I had to go in and fish him out."
"Ah." Niles smiled. He went on with what he wanted to say. "After I made a trip out to the car this evening…" His phone went off. He retrieved it. "Hello?"
"Niles, it's Roz. Is everything alright? You sounded like something was wrong earlier and Daphne isn't answering her phone."
A disturbing look crossed Niles' face. He covered the mouth-piece of the phone. "It's Roz," he whispered.
"Niles, be nice to her," Daphne instructed. "She's not at fault to what happened. I was the one who insisted that we separate for just a bit to save time."
He took a deep breath and went back to his phone conversation as the server brought their coffees. "Yes, we're fine. Daphne is right here with me. We're about to enjoy some coffee at Café Nervosa."