Late customer. Didn’t she realize it was Christmas Eve and he wanted to close? Harry set the coffee down.

“Anything else?”

“I’ll try the cherry pie.”

“Okay. Half price… been sitting there all day. Merry Christmas.”

“Thanks.”Merry Christmas, my ass. What’s so fucking merry about it?

“You want whipped cream?”

“Cost extra?”

“Nah. On the house.”

“Great, ’cause this’ll wipe me out till New Year’s. It’s my big Christmas Eve treat.”

“That bad, eh?”She’d be pretty, if she’d just smile. Hair could stand a good scrubbing. A shower wouldn’t hurt either.

“You tell me. No job, no prospects, eviction notice, and…”Christ, I’m gonna cry.

“And… ?” “My cat… he… he died this morning. He was old andand he died.”

“Sorry to hear that. Cats are cool.”

“Yeah. Don’t tell anyone… I buried him in the park. Ground was hard, but I buried him.” She held up her hands. “Used these and a serving spoon. I need to wash up.”

Harry shook the can. She heard the slurred spoosh-spoosh-spoosh.

“You could shower at my place.”

“So the whipped cream is extra.”

“Nope. Here you go.”

A frothy white cat sat on the pie wedge.

“Like I said…Merry Christmas.”

© 2012 Rose. B. Thorny. All rights reserved. Content may not be copied or used in whole or part without written permission from the author.