CHAPTER 1: COFFEE & CREAM

Flora turned the key in the lock and pushed the door opened. The aroma of coffee greeted her as she entered the apartment. Jessica, dressed in a robe, was in the kitchen, hunched over the coffee machine. She stared dazedly at it with her chin in her hands, still half asleep.

“My, someone’s up early this morning,” Flora chuckled. “You know, staring at the machine isn’t going to make it brew faster.”

Without looking up, Jessica absent-mindedly waved at her friend. Flora smiled and shook her head. That was Jess. Ever so ‘bubbly’ and ‘full’ of energy before her first cup of coffee, Flora thought sarcastically. The machine sounded a beep, indicating that it was done, and Jessica hurriedly grabbed the pot and poured the contents into her mug.

“Mmmm...” she mumbled, after taking a sip.

And a sudden transformation took place. Jessica’s eyelids fluttered a little and opened a teensy bit more. The frown on her forehead ironed itself out as a smile began to form on her lips.

“Mmmm...” she said again. Then, as if noticing Flora for the first time, “Good morning!” Jessica beamed at her friend.

Flora pretended to ignore her as she helped herself to the coffee. Jessica flipped through the morning papers, stopping occasionally at an item or two that caught her interest.

“Hey, we’ve run out of milk again. Weren’t you supposed to get some? You know I’ve got to have milk with my coffee,” Flora sighed in exasperation.

“You should try coffee black - without sugar, without milk. Au naturale, Mademoiselle,” Jess grinned.

“I don’t see you trying any other ‘black’ things, Mademoiselle Au Naturale,” Flora teased.

“Oohh...wrong side of the bed this morning. Didn’t you get enough last night?” Jess teased back.

“Har har, funny. What about you? Where’s he?” Flora retorted.

Jess gave her friend an innocent look. “Me? He?”

Flora rolled her eyes and pointed at the shoes (which were very obviously the male kind), jacket and tie which were strewn haphazardly around the living room.

“Oh. THAT he,” Jess grinned.

Flora snorted. “One thing’s for sure, you’ll never get the Best Actress Award at the Oscars.”

“Oh Romeo, oh Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo...” Jess drifted on in silliness.

“Ahem...”

Both girls, taken aback by the sudden interruption, turned towards the voice.

Why, hello there handsome, Flora grinned to herself.

Standing in the living room was one hunk of a man. Although one couldn’t say the same for his dressing. Then again, he had probably put it on in a hurry or he didn’t have a mirror. No, scrap the mirror reason. Jessica’s room was so full of mirrors, you didn’t know where the room started or ended. Anyway, this hunk...well, he missed two buttons on his shirt, he had one sock pulled up over his trouser leg, one shoe on (unlaced) and oh, his fly was undone. Still, not bad, all things considering. Flora smiled at him seductively and gave a little wave.

“Err...do you know where the other side of my shoe went?” he asked Jessica, trying furtively to avoid Flora’s eyes.

“It’s under the cabinet, next to the window seat, “ Flora replied instead. She still hadn’t taken her eyes off him.

Jessica knew what her friend was doing to the poor guy. In her desperate attempt to stifle a laugh, it came out sounding like a croak from a frog.

“Mmmnngghhhhbnmm...oops, sorry.” Jess quickly covered her hand over her mouth in case any further unwanted noise came out of it.

“Umm...okay, thanks,” the hunk mumbled shyly to Flora. Then to Jessica. “Err...I’ll call you...or you can call me.”

Jessica smiled at him.”Yup. Bye,” she waved as she held the door open for him.

Jessica and Flora both burst out in laughter as soon as she had closed the door.

“You were so mean,” Jess chuckled.

“Me, mean? What about you? Yup. Bye.” Flora laughed. “But seriously, where did you find him? He’s cute and that body of his...Wow, I can just imagine six pecs under the shirt. Did he have six pecs?”

Jessica looked at her friend mischieviously. “Six pecs and more...”

“Wooohooo...” Flora raised her mug towards Jessica.

“And what about you?” Jess teased. “Creeping back home in the morning.”

“I wasn’t creeping...”

“So?”

“So, what?” Flora asked.

Jess rolled her eyes at her friend. “Don’t play innocent with me, dah-ling. Who were you with last night?” she grinned.

“A member of the male species,” Flora replied nonchalently.

“Oh, really?” Jess said sarcastically. “You sure it wasn’t a monkey?”

“The same, the same,” Flora chortled.