“Drinks will be right up, girl,” hollered Lilley, owner of the coffee shop Cori stopped in at every morning. It wasn’t unusual for them to see her walk in or already in line and start her drinks for her so her wait time was minimal. She was a regular, and they were just that good to their coffee loving customers.
“Here ya go, Cori,” Lilley said, placing two to-go cups on the pick-up counter, along with a small card.
“Oh. I don’t think this is mine. It’s two larges,” Cori said in confusion as she looked at the little card with her name on it.
“Do you drink white chocolate mochas?” Lilley asked sarcastically.
“Yes…every morning.”
“Do you order two at a time?” she quizzed.
Nodding, Cori answered, “Always.”
“Your name Cori?” Lilley’s smile was contagious, and her question ridiculous enough to draw a chuckle from Cori and the other baristas.
“Last time I checked.”
“Then these are yours…order was called in last night. This was ordered, too. You better stick it in your purse, like now. Don’t want to lose it.” Lilley winked and wiped down the counter around where the drinks were still sitting.
“Last…huh. I didn’t call it in.” Cori reached for her wallet to pay for the drinks, an obvious mix up, but she wouldn’t stiff Lilley nonetheless.
“Put your money away. It’s paid for; took it off the card,” Lilley said, gesturing to the small card that had been sitting on the counter with her name on it.
Cori wasn’t sure what Lilley was referring to and why there was a card with her name on it. “I don’t understand?”
“All part of the order – two large white chocolate mocha’s and a good-sized gift card – all for you.”
Brows furrowed, Cori opened the gift card and saw that her name was written inside as well, and under total is said, $5,000. She choked on the air as she read that number over and over. “Uh, Lilley. I think this…this can’t be mine…this is obviously a mistake or fraud or something.”
“No mistake. The order was for two larges, from now on, and that card.” A wink and knowing grin crossed Lilley’s face. She knew something, and she wasn’t saying what that was.
“Who? This doesn’t make any sense. Who could have…”
Tossing her hands in the air, Lilley cut her off and said, “Confidential, my dear. The buyer wished to be anonymous. I’ve been sworn to secrecy. A $5,000 sale will buy my loyalty any day.”
“Um. Okay. I understand, I guess.” Cori tucked the gift card in her purse and grabbed her drinks before heading out the door and right to Tony. Looked like they were getting larges from now on.
After telling Tony the whole ordeal, she couldn’t help but notice a pleased grin, leaving her a little suspicious. Surely Tony didn’t do this. He had a big family and only his income – there was no way he could afford such an extravagant gift.
“So, what do you think, Tony?”
“I think someone did something quite generous,” he replied, taking another sip of his coffee.
“Definitely, but who. All of the gifts lately have to be from the same person, right? I mean, I have been getting them for months. It could only be Phillip, don’t you think?”
Tony shrugged, “You can’t think of anyone else? No one at all?”
“Just you, but I know it wasn’t. Nobody knows me as Cordelia, or calls me that, for that matter. That’s the thing.”
“I suppose time will tell. What would it change anyway?”
She was suspicious of him. He definitely knew something, and for some reason, he wasn’t sharing. Tony wasn’t a fan of Phillip’s, in the least, but would he keep his secret? Maybe – if he was trying to keep the excitement of it all going for her. But if it was Phillip, it wouldn’t be so exciting. It would be a disaster.
“Nothing would change, really. I just don’t like surprises that much.” She sat and thought for a few moments, drinking her coffee while Tony assisted another employee.
“Kiddo, I think whatever is going on will come out eventually. I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Enjoy it.” Tony was her biggest cheerleader, and it showed. “You seem happier these past few days. Is there a certain fiancé contributing to that?”
“Pfft. You know none of that is real, right?” Tony was starting to sound like Nick. If she didn’t know any better, she’d think he was rooting for something more than a ruse. “Today is the cake tasting though. That should be interesting.”
“Interesting how.”
“I don’t know. Nick is really taking this thing so seriously,” she laughed. “He made sure I had new dresses and everything, just for the occasion. It’s pretty funny.”
“Why do you suppose he’s so interested in this…ruse, as you call it?” Tony asked, brows raised as if he already knew the answer and was checking to see if she did.
“I don’t know. Old beef with the Chancellors – Phillip is a Chancellor.” Cori chuckled, thinking back to the day before and how hard he was trying to make everything right but hadn’t a clue what he was talking about. “It’s nice to have someone on my side though. I mean where they are concerned. Maybe they’ll just leave me alone after all of this.”
“Maybe. Are you sure this is just a game though, Cori? To him…”
“Of course. What else would it be? Why would he spend so much time getting to know me and invest in lavish things? Oh my God.” Her hands covered her mouth as the answers to her own questions started flooding in. This wasn’t just about the ruse or a game for him. Not at all. This fake engagement and his willingness to play along was more than that.
“He said he knew who I was even when I didn’t know who he was. Tony. I think this is more than a game to him. He isn’t bored at all, and looking to give a little ribbing to Phillip and the rest of the Chancellors, is he?” Tony’s grin widened; she was finally starting to see what he saw all along, or was she? “It’s about the proposal! He’s secretly interviewing me, isn’t he? That’s what all of this is about and why he wants to get to know me and see how I do in uncomfortable situations.”
“Oh, dear, Cori…” Tony’s head dropped, and he began to shake it. “Not everything has to do with work. I think this is more personal than that. I think he…”
“Oh, no!” she shouted, as the bulk of her white chocolate mocha spilled all over Tony’s feet, causing him to squint in pain as she liked her coffee extra hot. She grabbed a nearby roll of paper towels that Tony kept behind the counter and went to work on the mess.
The doors swung open, and Nick strolled in, turning right to Tony’s desk. When he saw the man’s strained red face and head tossed back, he became concerned. Especially as he got closer and heard the “oohs” and “ahhs” escaping him.
That is until he saw Cori pop up from behind the desk, right in front of him, on her knees. That concern took on a whole new meaning in that moment. Three mornings in a row now, he found the two of them in some awkward state. He reminded himself that their relationship was innocent, a father-daughter type.
“Do I even want to know?” Nick asked.
“I get my coffee extra hot,” she replied, still making no sense of the situation.
“And the relevance of that is…”
Tony turned to Nick, his sweat glazed brow glistening in the light, “She spilled it. She spilled it all over my ankles and feet.”
Though laughing wasn’t appropriate in the moment, Nick couldn’t help but chuckle inside, “Should I send for ice? I can have Eve send some down from my office.”
“I’ll be fine. Couple of ice packs in my first aid kit back here. I’ll dig those out. I also have an extra pair of socks and shoes in my locker. Raquel will be pleased to know she was right and that having an extra set was handy,” he said of his wife.
“Hey, Cori, you may want to get up,” Nick said.
She looked around at the spying eyes, realizing just how precarious their situation looked, and launched to her feet. “Oh, no. Oh, my…how embarrassing.”
Tony disappeared through the doors, behind his large security desk, to the locker room where he was likely cleaning off his feet and getting fresh socks and shoes together. That left Cori and Nick to talk.
“It’s cake day – meet you down here around noon?” Nick asked.
“Noon? The tasting isn’t until two though.”
“I thought we could grab lunch on the way and go over…last minute details. Get prepared,” he said.
“Right. Prepared. Sure. Meet for a nooner, then cake. Got it,” she said, realizing what she just said when Nick’s eyes went wide in surprise. “I mean meet at noon, not have a nooner because that would be…weird…and totally…inappropriate. And, I’ll just stop talking now. You know what I mean.”
With a blushed smile and wink, he headed for the elevator that led to his executive suite, but not before saying, “I’ll see you then.”
She buried her face in her hands and said to herself, “Why do I make such a fool out of myself in front of him all the time?”
Tony had stepped back behind the desk, “Cordelia Daschel, did I just hear you offer your boss a nooner? What has gotten into you?”
“Ugh.”