Giselle

"Jonathan Shirley Raymond Finnegan!" I shrieked bursting through the back door.

I saw him jump in his seat all startled, his head whipping in my direction. The way his eyes bugged out almost cracked me up.

"Give it back!" I demanded as I secured my foot on the step plate of his delivery truck and pulled myself to his window. Holding my hand open right in front of his face, I continued to seethe through gritted teeth, "Give it back you thief!"

Jonathan decided to swallow his panic and presume the act of innocence. "What are you talking about? And why are you middle naming me for?" He glanced at me then looked away quickly.

He was never capable to maintain eye contact whenever he lied.

I knew exactly which buttons to push, "You know what you took and I want it back right now. Otherwise I'm calling Maya."

There it is! Sweet trepidation and pure terror that I hoped to see on his face. The audible gulp was a bonus. There was nothing compared to threatening a grown man with his seven months pregnant wife.

He squinted at me and scoffed, "You wouldn't."

I squinted back, "Try me, I dare you."

We stared at each other for dragging seconds with narrowly challenging eyes. I huffed my bangs out of the way and held my glare a moment longer.

Jonathan finally sighed in defeat and reached to the seat beside him to retrieve my small glass planter that contained my vibrantly blooming succulent plant.

He placed it in my opened palm but didn't let go, "Can't I have it?" he asked with begging eyes. "You have a lot."

"No, get your own." I closed my fingers on my plant and tagged it away from his grasp, "and stop stealing my babies. You don't see me coming into your house and stealing your pregnant wife."

Jonathan's eyes wistfully followed the planter, "But it's so beautiful and it grew flowers."

"Yes! And it looked better exactly where it was," I chided.

Changing his attention from my plant, I carefully swung my right that was carrying two cups in their holders. "Here, a caramel mocha latte for you and a decaf for Maya."

"You know you don't have to give us free coffee every time," he protested.

I shrugged, "It's the least I can do since you won't accept delivery fees from me."

Jonathan accepted the to-go cups and a kind smile spread across his face, "Don't worry, I will once the coffee house pick up." Then he looked behind me and jerked his head, "Speaking of which, how is business going?"

The waves of anxiety I kept at bay came crashing inside my chest. However, I held dearly to the bit of sunshine that had me remain positive.

"Still slow, but it's too early in the morning to be pessimist. Things might still pick up." I smiled, more to convince myself than to tell him.

Jonathan grinned, "This is why I enjoy talking to you. I love your optimism! You're a glass half full kindda girl."

Little do you know. I sighed internally, but brought out a shiny smile. "Aww, you're too nice."

I jumped off his truck not wanting to dwell needlessly on my 'optimism'. I was one compliment away from weeping my heart out. It was my tears that half filled that glass, and even that happened only because I was drained. Otherwise I would've been a full glass kindda girl.

The low rustle from the pockets of my apron reminded me of the tiny treats. I reached for the small box and handed it to him. "And here...."He literally snatched the thing off my hand before I could finish.

"Coffee bean chocolates!" he quipped.

His reaction never failed to make me laugh. Jonathan looked at those treats the same way he looked at his wife.

"Just that you know, there are a few experimental ones in there. So if you came across any caramel filled - don't be surprised."

"Will I be a bad husband if I told you that right now I'm thinking of places to hide these in so Maya won't find them?" His mouth moved and then swallowed, not looking away from the box. "I'm not sharing these."

He finally managed to drag his eyes away to look at me, "You really should sell these," and shook the box rattling the chocolate drops. "I will defiantly buy them every day."

"Maybe one day," I mumbled, "for now I need to have the coffee house up and running."

"Time to get back to work then," Jonathan glanced at his watch. His brow arched in surprise and he squawked, "I need to get going! I have a couple of deliveries to run."

"Give Maya a hug for me." I said and stepped back.

"Will do," Jonathan nodded then smile, "Later."

I waved him goodbye and watched as he drove off. He was still eyeing my plant to the last second so I hid my baby behind my back and scowl at him. His laughing reflection in the side mirror had me smiling. Jonathan stuck his hand out of the window waving back before he made his usual left turn.

I dragged a lung-full of morning air infused with Jonathan's truck exhaust and lifted my head to the skies. Taking a calming minute to admire the stuffy clouds above. The winds whimsically stirred the white fluffs in front of the sun and the coy shadows lasted for moments before they've gotten blown away for rays of warmth.

"Today is going to be a good day," I whispered hyping myself up with unshaken determination before marching my butt to work.

"You got your baby back?" Mike asked once I stepped inside. He was stacking the sugar sachets and napkins.

"Without a doubt!" I grinned in victory and returned my tiny floral trophy to where Jonathan stole it from.

"By the way, you really need to have someone fix that broken latch on the back door. I nearly cut my hand last night," he huffed.

"What broken latch? That's our security system!" I blinked at him innocently.

Mike rolled his eyes, "You call that a security system?"

"Yup!" I chirped, "That's a whole bank of DNA right there if we ever got robbed."

Mike's gaze lowered to band-aid around my thumb, "Yeah, and most of that DNA is yours."

It was I who rolled her eyes this time, but I didn't argue. Mike was right, however, I couldn't afford any extra expenses at the moment. I was barely able of keeping the place running and covering Mike's paychecks –and that was with him waiving his share of the tips. Especially after that new fancy café that opened right across the street.

I was in the middle of transferring the snacks Jonathan delivered from boxes to the display counters when I heard Mike curse, "What the hell is he doing now?"

Lifting my head I saw him standing in front of the window with crossed arms. He spun at me with glaring green eyes and jerked a thumb behind him, "Can you believe this guy. Now he's giving a free donut with every cup of coffee!"

I knew exactly they guy he was talking about. Who else than Mr. Tobias Wilbur to do such thing?

"He hasn't even opened yet and there's a line outside his shop!" Mike raved out in peeve. He spun around and gestured to the scene, "You should come and see this."

Do I have to?

It was a rhetorical question, 'cause I've already stopped what I was doing and headed in that direction.

I was sure - even before seeing what was on the other side of the window - it would irritate me, but I couldn't stop myself. I wanted to know what new tactic Mr. Wilbur was using this time to run us out of business.

And there it was- the big, bright 'free donut' stand sign. Not only that he had it written in bold letters, he also wrote 'The best coffee on this street'. Even that wasn't the last of it; Wilbur had the sign angled in a way that was mischievously yet directly facing my coffee house.

The nerves on this man! My irritation was triggered without fail. No, no, no! That was too quiet! "The nerves on this man!" I fumed out loud and clenched my fists. Why bottling things when I could blow up?

As if he heard us talking about him, Tobias Wilbur made an appearance. The doors to his café opened and people rushed to roll in to get their free donuts. He stepped aside welcoming them with an adulate smile ushering them in.

Both Mike and I ducked hitting the floor and stayed low before Wilbur could turn and spot us. I had no idea why we were hiding, the holes our glaring eyes pierced through the glass were evidence enough that we were spying.

"Can't we have him arrested?" Mike asked.

"For what, stealing customers?" I whispered in gibe, turning to him from under the table. Why was I whispering? I had no idea about that either.

A sanguine glint lit in his eyes, "That's a pretty damn good reason. Call the police."

"It won't work, you know why?" I found a joke in the situation and went for it when I saw the quizzical look on Mike's face. "Because he has the donuts."

I didn't wait for the joke to sink in and started laughing all by myself. Mike rolled his eyes but joined me. My attempts on making people laugh didn't always work, but it never stopped me from trying.

Crawling away from the window, I instructed, "We should get back to work." I could hear the shuffle behind me as Mike crawled too.

He decided to get wily, "Yes, because maybe someone's crush will come today."

Butterflies batted their wings in my stomach and my cheeks felt warmer. I climbed to my feet and busied myself with tidying up my outfit and tightening the apron around my waist. "What are you talking about?"

Yes! I will deny it.

"You know, the blond guy that comes here every other day." He started describing him for me.

I shook my head, "I don't recall."

"He always wears a cap and carries a laptop... sits over there," Mike went on and pointed a finger to where 'there' was.

I shook my head again and took my time to avoide eye contact by smoothing every crease on my shirt. Denial was my strongest suit.

The damn guy didn't give up, "The one who always orders cappuccino and banana muffin."

My brain struck a flaw and my head jerked up. That wasn't what he orders.

"No, he always orders a macchiato and either have a blueberry muffin or cream cheese and bacon bagel..." the last few words passed my lips in a distorted whisper now that I fell into his trap.

"Dammit!" I cursed under my breath.

I said it was my strongest suit, but I didn't say I was always good at it.

Mike gave me a side glance along with a smug smile. "You still can't recall?"

If he was planning to have me admit that I have a crush, then he was so wrong. Changing strategy I went to the voice of authority as his boss. Holding my head high, I dictated, "I think you better return to work before costumers arrive."

He knew I was pretending. Being friends for far too long stripped me from that privilege of telling Mike what to do. The look he gave me with the twisted lips expressed exactly that.

That was the other thing about being friends with someone for too long; I knew exactly how to make him do what you asked. "Please?" I had a sweet smile on my face and big eyes.

Mike threw his arms in the air and huffed as he returned to work, and not so quietly "Of course. God forbids we disappoint all of our twenty customers..."

Twenty? I tuned out Mike's yaps and absentmindedly returned to finish what I was doing. That can't be right. I know we were low in numbers, but not that low.

I had to stop myself from going down that road. It was still early to allow stress and anxiety to kick in. There would be enough time to have a heart-to-heart-to-heart talk all three of us; me, my stress and my anxiety. For now, it was a beautiful, new day full of possibilities.

A bright smile spread over my lips as two of our regular customers walked in.

Needless to say, even though I held on the cheerful front, my mind kept counting the number of people we served. Let's just say, I would be severely disappointed if Mike was right.

Halfway during the day – Mike shooed me off against my will to take my break. I grabbed my book, a sandwich and an iced latte before heading to the back door.

Crossing my legs in the middle of the bench I've had there for break times and spread my stuff around me. It was quite windy and a bit chilly, but that didn't bother me. For the next thirty minutes, I would hit the pause on all my problems and just enjoyed the calmness and read. The tight clench my empty stomach did when met with the cold brew had me reaching for the sandwich.

A low whine reached my ears and my head jerk up. My mind took a second to pull out of the fictional world written in front of me. My heart thumped in my chest in panic when my eyes first landed on it. Clenching my book tightly to my chest- I dangled my legs ready to flee if it wasn't for the another whine.

"H, heeey there boyyy..." I cooed softly yet terrified. "Are you a nice doggie?"

The black husky's ears perked up, but his tail maintained tucked between his legs and his body close to the ground.

Visions of my seven years old self being chased by a dog came gushing. I swallowed hard and glanced at the door calculating if I could make out if he decided attack.

The low whimper had my head swinging back to it.

Take your eyes off the dog, that's a smart move! I might as well let him bite off my face and get over with it!

'Not all dogs are bad.' Uncle Oliver told me that day my fears calmed and I stopped crying.

Well, Uncle Oliver, I hope that you're right. Otherwise I'll be seeing you really soon.

I didn't know where the calmness that dripped from my voice came from, 'cause I couldn't find a shred of it in me. "Sooo listen, I'm not that good with dogs so if I screamed just know it's not you, it's me... but I think we could work something out," I babbled.

Oh my god, even my heart is sweating!

He kept his eyes on me and I felt a gulp of fear slide down my throat. I flinched when it jabbed his muzzle in the air and sniffed. He swallowed too, but for a different reason.

Only then did it down on me.

"Are you hungry?" I asked and instantly tore a piece of my sandwich and threw it a good five feet far from where I sat.

I watched him snuff it a couple of times before he wolfed it down. His tale began to wag and so did me heart. Tearing another piece I threw it closer this time. All while chanting to myself in low whispers, "Face your fears. You're not a small girl anymore. Face your fears."

He gave a gentle bark and ate it up while wagging his tail more. To my surprise he got closer until his muzzle poked me in the knee. My breath was trapped in my chest and I withdrew farther until my back was one with the bench backrest. I think my heart retreated as well until it was stuck to my spine.

I've never approached or patted a dog before. I've always told others that I wasn't a dog person, I wasn't a cat person either- cats hated me. "Please be friendly..." my voice shook and so did my hands.

The husky didn't make any moves except for the continuous swinging tail and blinking brown eyes.

It's now or never. I told myself.

I saw a video once where you're supposed to hold a fist out so they could familiarize themselves with you scent. I did that, e-v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y.

Lick.

And shiver jolted down my spine. He licked my hand!

I wasn't sure if it was the turkey that he was smelling or he was just friendly, but I have all my fingers. Without a second thought I began scratching behind his ears. A happy bark was my reward.

"Who's a good boy?" I cooed as he licked my fingers, I've always wanted to say that. Then I went all crazy and tried feeding him from my hand and he carefully took it.

I squealed internally and my insides began to dance. Is this what people with pet felt?

I went on to feed him another piece, but he shrank away and barked jerking his head up. A kick of disappointment struck me that he stopped picking food from my palm. "I thought you liked it. Are you not hungry?" The way he ate up had me thinking that he might be famished.

My hand was still extended with remaining half of the sandwich. I saw his eyes lower to it before they returned to me, then he barked and drew closer.

Bewilderment engulfed me when his muzzle aimed at my hand thrusting it toward me, pushing my lunch closer to my face with every nudge. I paused in utter shock as he sat on his hind legs looking at me and I stared back.

"D, do you want me to eat it?" I was talking to a dog. Not cooing. Not baby-talking. Not even in squeaking words. I was actually speaking to the freaking dog.

He barked again.

He understands what I'm saying?

I wasn't an expert on the whole dog field thing, but this seemed strange. For some reason I really felt that he could understand what I was saying. Not the commands of 'sit', 'stay', 'shake-hands' and 'play-dead', but really comprehend. I knew dogs were smart, but this was some other level.

This would've been the perfect moment for me to jump to my feet and bolt out of here. I didn't. What was worse, and most likely moronically to think of -I didn't want to offend him.

"Um... it's okay sweet boy." I found myself saying.

Isn't this wonderful? I've finally gone totally doolally! Absolutely bonkers!

My mind was playing tricks on me, I was sure of it. The head tilt and what sounded like a quizzical whine where all in my head. "You can have it, I'm not hungry."

Why was I still running a presumed conversation? I haven't got the slightest idea.

The husky drew close and wolfed down the last bites. To my embarrassment, my stomach decided to growl right then. He paused and looked at me.

I laughed, "Let's pretend we didn't hear that."

Melting my heart, he placed his head on my lap. His eyes looked up at me as I scratched his head. "If you don't have a home I hope you'll find a good one; and if you're ever hungry - come by again."

He licked my hand and whined softly.

The back door busted open and Mike peeped out.

Currents of dopamine were coursing through my body when I turned to Mike with a wide relaxed grin, "Look what I found."

"What?" Mike descended the couple of steps.

"This cute dog," I chirped and returned my gaze to my lap.

Shock jostled my dopamine and replaced it with perplexity and mystification as I stared at my empty lap.

Mike got all excited and quickened his approaching pace, "Really, where?" He was searching around me and so did I. "Where is it?"

"He..." I sprang to my feet then crouched searching underneath the bench. There was no dog. I searched around me focusing on every corner. "He was right here, I swear! I was just giving him head scratches."

Disappointment colored Mike's features and voice, "He probably ran off."

Ran off in a blink of an eye? How? The dog had its head between my hands. The warmth of his fur still lingered on my finger tips. I didn't even hear him dart off. It was like he vanished into thin air.

"He'll probably be back again," Mike reassured. Then his voice took a teasing tune, "Actually I came to tell you that Mr. Macchiato and blueberry muffin is here." We might have been arguing, but my thoughts were still lingering over the husky's disappearance.

"I told you I didn't have a crush on him," I articulated with an eye roll and a huff.

Mike teased, "Tell that to your face..."

He rushed in before me to avoid getting hit with the book I've threatened to throw at him and closed the door behind him. I tailed after him and reached for the door.

"Thank you." A strange voice spoke close to my ear.

My heart nearly jumped out of my chest as a startled gasp escaped my lips. In a second, I spun on my heels and my fingers tensed around the door handle. My head whipped left searching for the source.

I was alone.