MINA [#Wattys2014]

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

"Go away..."

Tanya willed the person at her door to leave. She was not up to seeing anyone right now, and all those who needed to get to her knew how to reach her. They would have called first. But the person at her door was very determined. Whoever it was had been standing at her doorstep ringing her doorbell for the past twenty minutes.

"Fine I'm coming..." she muttered as she dragged herself off the living room couch and stalked to the front door.

She looked through the peep hole before pulling the chain back and opening the door just a crack.

"You're that kid from the school...the Principal's kid."

"I guess that would be me...did she talk about me?"

Tanya raised her eyebrow at this, as she took in his appearance. The kid looked like he had not had a shave in days, his eyes were red-rimmed and his clothes looked like all they needed was a nice hot iron then they would be as good as new, but even that he had neglected to do…

"Come in." she said, as she stepped aside to grant him entry.

"Thanks." he mumbled, as he accepted her offer, stepped inside and stamped his feet on the mat at the door.

Tanya observed this as she offered to take his jacket, and hung it on the peg at the door, then led him into the living room.

"You want some coffee, I guarantee that it's the best coffee ever, all the way from The Blue Mountains in Jamaica...sorry but I don't do decaf, unless you would rather something else..."

"No the coffee is fine..." he spoke, offering a small smile as he took a seat on the living room couch.

Tanya nodded then disappeared into the kitchen. The kid probably had not eaten either, so she dropped some bagels into the toaster as the coffee percolated, and scrambled two eggs. When the coffee was ready she poured them into two mugs. She buttered the beagles and arranged them neatly on two plates then added the eggs.

"How do you take your coffee Tank?"

It did not take long for him to realize that she had actually called him by his name, but he recovered fairly quickly before replying, "Cream and sweetened to taste please."

Tanya nodded as her mind registered that this was the same way Mina drank hers. She shook the thought away as it came, prepared Tanks coffee, then hers and arranged them on a tray to take into the living room.

"Thank you." he said as he helped her with the tray and set it on the coffee table in front of the couch. After he took a sip and smiled, he continued, "You know my name so I take it that there's an off chance that Miss Santra has done a little more than mention me..."

Tanya looked at him, "Oh she has, on numerous occasions. There's the one time when she couldn't stop ranting about how obnoxious you were, self-centered and full of crap..."

He visibly paled at this, and was about to say something but she continued before he had a chance to put in a word to his defense

"She even mentioned that you said she was a lesbian because of her decision to not date..."

At this some color did come to his face, settling in his cheeks as they turned crimson, partly because he couldn’t believe she’d told someone, even her. Also he never outright said it, only implied. And partly because of that night when she’d proved him wrong and he couldn’t it get out of his head…he still didn’t know how to describe it, except damn…."Miss Shay I..."

She put up her hand to stop him as a mischievous smile came to her lips, "Don't say another word; we had a good laugh about that one. If people say that about her I can only imagine what they would say about me, if they haven't already said it and I’ve been at it far longer than she has." she pursed her lips in thought for a moment, then shrugged her shoulders and took a sip of her coffee, encouraging him to try the bagel and eggs together.