The Coffee House

Sitting it out! That's exactly what I'm doing right now. But sitting it out, not on a roadside bench, not in a subway vestibule and not even on my living room couch.

The blue pen, which I’m holding in my right hand, is spreading out ink on a white sheet of paper that is lying on a small round table, with a ceramic top. The table is standing in front of a wooden, bench shaped, semicircular, seat with a high back, which has a metallic rim painted in brown. Behind me the wall is laden with wood, colored with multi-toned brush strokes. On the left wall the lamps are mounted behind copper sheets, bent, cut and holed to let the light filter through. The walls and basic roof are painted in different shades of brown and green and there are multiple lamps throwing light on the carpeted floor, in the middle of which is a tiled walkway. There is a lower rim in the roof, painted in reddish orange and is dotted with lamps and ventilation holes.

In front of me there is another similar set of bench and table, which is behind another set of similar objects and so on. Across the walkway the floor is also occupied with chairs, benches and tables.

The walls all around are decorated with pieces of wood, attempting to convey the artist's message. On right wall there are two windows set in a wall depression and open at the top.

All the eleven tables are set with ashtrays on top and I guess you know what ashtrays are for! And since at all the busy tables, people are respecting the ashtrays, there is cigarette smoke hanging in the air.

A young waitress comes around from time to time and replaces the used ashtrays with similar, small, round, washed, glass ashtrays. 9 out of all the tables are occupied.

Right in front of me is the exit, which leads to a bigger room filled with same sort of small round ceramic top tables and polished brown wooden chairs, all along the windows, which open on the nevsky prospekt. Right across the room, opposite the windows is the counter, which stretches from one end of the room to the other. Behind the counter the wall is posted with menus, written in maroon on light brown.

The counter is laden with equipment used for preparing the menu items. There are also cups, saucers, glasses, fresh paper, a cash register and a glassed showcase, filled with pastry, on the counter.

Behind the counter, neatly dressed, in gray T-shirts and gray aprons, are standing young personnel with smiles on their faces, serving those who stand across the counter.

I know you're saying: "Enough of interior and all that crap!" and are sure that I'm sitting at some self service fast food, or a cafe in St-Petersburg, provided you know where is Nevski prospekt. But I have to disappoint you. I'm sitting in a cup. No fairy tales, I really am sitting in a cup: In an ideal cup.

No this ain't a Disney theme park.

Well don't strain your brain!

"Ideal Cup" or "Idealnaya Chashka" is the name of the coffee house, where I'm sitting right now.

This all happened here in this coffee house a short time ago. Around 7:00 pm one evening, while I was standing at the counter and waiting for my turn to order my favorite "Con Leche", my friend Neil came in through the main door, which opens on the Nevsky. Walking through the first room and the hub, from where you could reach for the service area, or the main hall or could even buy coffee at the minor counter, he came up to me, said :"Hello" and went to the smoker's room to put his bag. He came right back and stood by me. He was looking disturbed and had a look on his face as if a loaded truck had passed over his toe and the driver didn't even care to stop look back and apologize. That offended expression told me that he had gone through some real, at least, emotional disaster.

I asked:" What's up?"

Instead of answering verbally, he just pointed with his thumb downwards, showing distress and disappointment.

I said: "What? You mean this place?"

He said:" NO! This place is ok. I mean life in general."

I joked: "You've been Butt kicked? By whom?"

He shook his head saying: "Butt kicked isn't enough a word to explain this shit."

I readily uttered: "Butt fucked is comprehensive enough or is it even worse?"
He shook his head in a typical way from side to side, meaning that I couldn't get it. But his motion stopped once he turned his face to the right.

I followed his stare to notice that he was looking at the girl, who was standing right behind me.

Knowing that the people standing around us, couldn't understand the language that we were speaking I said: "Reminds you of your mother's youth?"

 He turned his stare towards me and with a sarcastic smile on his face he said: "Looks like my, to be, child's mother. I want to ask her to join us for coffee."

I said: "Permission granted! Go ahead and ask." And I smiled.

He frowned and said: "Damn you! You know I can't speak Russian."

I said:" give it a shot, may be she speaks English."

He followed my queue and the girl listened to him attentively either trying to understand his "proficient English" or at least trying to understand what language he was speaking. She probably just understood the second thing, because she responded: "No English!"

I couldn't hold back from smiling at that, because I knew that now he would be forced to ask me to act as his interpreter and that would give me a chance to ride on his nerves with my small talk.

He wasted no time and asked me: "Tell her please what I want."

I said: "I don't know what you want. And I'm really shy to tell a girl in the middle of a coffee house, what you exactly want, because you know that I don't talk obscene in public."

He got angry and said:" No big deal that you speak the commi language. After all it was your idea to invite me here, where even having very nice ears and tongue I'm still deaf and dumb." And there he got to his usual self, and started harassing me into doing something. He said:" Either you talk or I'm leaving!" knowing that I didn't like sitting alone in the evenings.

No choice. I had to give in, so I said:" ok I'll tell her." And turned to the girl and said:" izvinite devoshka! Vot drug moi khoteel bay priglaseet vas prisaedineetsa k nam dlia coffee."

She showed her understanding of my heavily accented Russian, by smiling and saying (in Russian): " I'd love to, but...  I have to ask my friend, before I can accept or deny."

I turned to Neil and translated the sentence. Hearing me Neil floated an expression of disappointment, which is typical to his face in such situations and said:" She's with a boy or a girl?"
Although knowing the obvious case, I started going through the probabilities. I said:" Well you see it's probably a boy 'cause girls alone on Saturday evening is not very probable. On the other hand, had she been with a boy, she won't be standing in the queue alone, most obviously they'd be together or she'd be sitting some where and he'd be standing here. Still maybe she's standing alone, because the boy had gone to the rest room or is looking for a vacant table. But this is not also a very bright chance. So this leaves us to think that she's with a girl and the other girl is sitting at the table and this one is here to buy coffee. But if her friend is sitting at a table, why is she standing here with her bag. This means that she's alone, but she wanted to slide away from your blatant offer for "COFFEE"."

Neil interrupted saying:" This ain't no solid argument. Girls normally don't part with their bags and probably she doesn't like to carry her money in her hands, like you do. She looks civilized."

I said:" OHO. Go ahead then and skip my uncivilized help. Talk to your miss civilization yourself."

He smiled saying: " I was just kidding. Don't dump me here. We need to hook her up."

"WE! Are we into communal orgies already? I never thought so!"

He said:" I meant I need to hook her up, whereas you need to help me."

"I don't need to. I can live without that."

"I meant that would you please help me in doing so?"
"Now that's more like it."
The line was moving and I was next in the queue to order, so I hurriedly offered:" let's just tell her where we are sitting and if she decides, along with her friend, to join us let them come along."

Neil nodded in approval of the idea and I told the girl where we were sitting.

She said:" Ok I'll see."

It was already my turn, so I turned to Artem, the Barrista, and wanted to ask him for coffee, but he stole my words and asked:" CON LECHE 2 or 1?"
Smiling and astonished by Artem's memory, I said:" 2", paid and taking my change moved on to the other corner of the counter to get my coffee.

While we were standing waiting for our coffee, the girl to whom I had talked, but didn't ask her name, came along and right behind her a guy came along and very acquaintedly said something that I couldn't hear or understand, but I decided to tease Neil. I said:" well here we go with the companion." And pointed with my head towards the guy standing by the girl and still saying something. I continued:" Look for new fish my fisher king."

Neil frowned at the supposed companion and then looked at me saying: " No she ain't with him. I don't know what they are talking about, but I'm sure that he is throwing his line just as we are. "

"Political and verbal correctness my friend! Not we are, but you are that is I am for you. Any way he is fishing and he knows his bait and line, but you can't even talk yourself. This means you are a blind fisher"

My words aroused a lot of emotion inside of him and he said:" I might be blind but I can feel my line and I know that this Tuna's mine."

"Lets see. Lets see."

In the meanwhile Phillip put up two cups of coffee with milk and cardamom and notified "CON LECHE"

We both took our cups and nodding in appreciation to Phillip we went to the back smokers' room and took our seats.

Neil was anxious to find out about his catch, so he readily excused himself and went out to see where the girl had sat down and with whom.

While I was sitting alone Irina, the waitress, the one who kept the ashtrays from vomiting over the edges, came along and looked at the ashtray first, which was still very clean, and then at me and that look ran all through me and I could hardly refrain myself from a lot of things. I just said:" Hello!" and she answered with a wider smile and that prompted me to ask her:" Today you working till the morning?"

She said:" No till late, but not till the morning." And with that she renewed her smile and turned away as if something didn't let her continue standing there and talking to me.

Neil went out to the adjacent non smokers' room, took a quick look and came back with a wide smile on his face and that "I got it!" look in his eyes and said:" See I told you she ain't with those guys."

I said:" That means she didn't want to take your hook."

"No she ain't alone. She's with another girl."

"So what?» but I could see in his eyes that he is asking me to postpone my evening paper browsing and company the Girl's companion (The other girl). And so it was. He said:" I'm going to go and ask her in. Can you please...........»

I said:" don't worry, I can do this, but since they don't smoke, they'd probably not come in here and don't ask me to leave this place and sit with you and the fishy, in that fresh air room. You know if my lungs would get an extra gulp of smokeless air, I'll die."

"No that's my problem to ask them in here. You just agree to pay some attention to the other babe, so that she won't get bored and won't ask to leave right after finishing her espresso."

I nodded in agreement and he set off with his hands in his front jeans pockets. He raised his left hand to brush his shoulder length hair backwards, walked his little jumpy walk and went out to his target and God knows what he said there, but when he re-emerged through the door he was followed by a girl in black trousers and matching half sleeves top. There was a black leather bag hanging over her right shoulder. She had long very dark, nearly black, let loose hair fondling her cheeks and going all the way to the middle of her back. She was holding a cup of coffee in her left hand and the other one was holding the bag strap.

The first girl twice looked around with an inquisitive look at the girl right behind, the one with whom I had earlier talked. She was wearing a camouflage print top, which seemed to be hanging on the tips of her breast if one couldn't notice the thin straps readily, which went over her strongly built shoulders, which looked so prominent because of her short hair cut. She was taller than the girl in front. She held a cup of coffee in her right hand and a sugar pot in her left. After her first friend's look the girl behind looked inquisitively at the guy with the newspaper, that is I, in his hands and near whom Neil had stopped indicating the girls to take a seat.

I took a quick look at the girls and replacing my diary from the left hand side to my right and myself moving a little to the right, offered the girl in black to take the vacant seat by my side and in the meanwhile extended my greetings nodding to both of them in turn.

The girls and Neil took their seats, with Neil on my right and the black beauty on my left, leaving the taller girl with no choice but to sit right opposite me.

Neil performed the short introduction ritual. The girls told their names, but I could get hold of just the taller girl's name. Her name was NADIA.

I got back to my paper right away, leaving the wondering stares wonder further. Now there was some convo going on between Neil and Nadia, but I could not quite understand it because of my forced attention to the paper, but I think the two of them couldn't also understand much of what they were hearing.

Then suddenly Neil turned to me and said: "God damn it! You have already paid for the paper and you can still read it when you are alone or when you go home. Don't do this to me."

I raised my eyes, without moving my head and said: "and what have I done to you?"
Very annoyed he said:" Because of your continuous inattention to the beauty sitting besides you, I'm unable to construct a dialogue with Nadia."

I readily put aside my paper and said:" Ok dumbo! Say straight that you can't talk without my help. I'm your mouth piece."

He frowned and adjusting his square frame glasses said:" Nothing like this! It's just that with my knowledge and proficiency in Russian it's pretty embarrassing to flow through two sets of ears."

I rejected his plea saying: "Don't bull me. I'll just help you by invading this no-man's land and time to time crossing over into your territory."

He laughed a wicked laugh, trying to tell me: "You gotta be kidding... Dare doing so."

I turned to the girl in black and asked her:" So! What do you do?"
She raised her glance through those silky, well kept, dark hair and opening her naturally pink lips said:" I go to college."

" And what college is that?"

 "The art academy"

"Oh! So are you a future Spielberg or Michelle Pfeiffer?"
"None"

"Interesting! Then what faculty are you attending?"
"Design."
"I hope it's not fashion design. Is it?"

"No we don't have such faculty at our school. It's graphic design."

"Computers and web and Corel and Adobe and all that stuff you mean?"

" You got it." And she just terminated the conversation, which I was trying to develop into a long talk.

Her voice was so tender and her words so well uttered that I thought to myself that I didn't lose anything attempting to colonize this heavenly Caribbean island.

And in the meanwhile Irina came around to change now already used ashtray. As she was replacing the ashtray, I took a look at her tender feminine hands, holding two ashtrays on top of each other, and ran my look up her arm and to her face and stopping at her bright, lively eyes. And yes those eyes radiated such energy that I couldn't help a smile coming out of me and I could feel myself floating in a cloud with those light-filled eyes looking over me and those beautiful hands swinging me around. And then as if with a big swing my eye contact with Irina broke-up and I came down to earth in that humming room among those earthlings, spending their time talking and talking and ............

I rewound the tape. Ok I was talking to Miss Black here. I was thinking that why; despite her lovely voice and pink lips and cloudy dark hair and lean, a little naked to the bottom, back and tender, soft looking, thin hands and nearly hairless, stretching out of the top's half sleeves, arms; was she so Un-talkative? This meant that to help my friend the fisher king I had to start and keep up every little or not little talk that I start.

So I took another shot at making up an interesting conversation. I said:" I hope this doesn't mean that you are some unsociable, tainted young computer freak?"
She said:" NO!» and probably thought it to be enough an answer. With this the burden of starting a convo, shifted back on me.

I quickly found the words to say something to avoid that uneasy silence that occasionally makes it senseless to continue a topic and said:" I said so, because My first college degree was in computer software development and noticing that computers demand total undivided attention, usually for long periods of time and as a result slowly make a person unsociable, I decided to go back to school."

She listened to me very attentively; looking at me all the time, with a little turned towards me head. Our eyes meeting from time to time and every time this happened she would very elegantly turn her glance to oblivion, trying not to make me feel that she was avoiding eye to eye contact.  I could understand that she couldn't stand the look of my naturally bright, laughing eyes. This brought a slight smile to my lips, but I controlled my expression, not to make her uneasy with an irrelevant smile, which could be taken as a mockery.

She again hurried through her answer saying:" No. We are not into computer programming or other such stuff. Our work requires attention, but not for such prolonged periods of time, which makes one unsociable."

I started:" Yeah I think your work is more creative than mathematical!"

She said:" Yeah."
Damn I say a thing and she just terminates the topic by agreeing or disagreeing and not spelling out that, so needed right now, line of continuation.

I had to keep up the talk, so I said:" and are you planning to work in your profession after graduating from school, or is it just a matter of earning a degree and then you'll go working in some other field, just as everyone does here in Russia nowadays, and would take up a job where you'll have nothing to do with computers and design."

She just waved her left hand in astonishment and said:" Oh! It's too early too plan any............» and as she was saying this, Irina came along to replace the ashtrays, but seeing empty cups and glasses asked:" Is it ok to clear the table?» with this she looked at the other three people at the table and then looked at me and I said:" Sure!!!! Do as it suits you."

She smiled, while picking up the cup from in front of me and that smile took me flying away again. I got lost in her deep oceanic eyes. I could see all the way to the bottom of her deep soul and could understand that I had a place in there. I wanted to go still deeper and see further, but she turned around and with that I was thrown out of her eyes and The black beauty's voice tore through my ears again. She was saying or rather finishing her sentence:» but I'm never sure if I could fulfill the plans." And as soon as I got free enough to listen to her further, she shut her mouth and started staring at me.

"Come on sweetie pie, don't test my nerve. Be a little talkative or at least ask me a question so that I could answer for the next half hour and tire your ears", I thought to myself, but with-holding my expression behind that same flat face (people say my face's never flat and expressionless), but I attempt, I said:" So you are also not a person of planning like me?"
She said:" Umhhhhh... it's not that I don't plan, but the thing is........."

I took a breath of relieve thinking "alright! Here we go! Now she'll consume a few minutes and I'll listen to her sweet, feminine voice (which is a rarity in Russia)."

She continued:»that I don't plan for years ahead, not even months ahead. I can plan the next day or the next week, but I know that long term plans seldom can be fulfilled."

Her voice died down, forcing me to panic in my thoughts:" Don't get quiet, please, please, please...» but as she couldn't hear it, she habitually terminated a continuable dialogue, by finalizing her position.

I tried to intrigue her into asking something about me, saying: "My job requires well done planning, but I'm not capable of doing so or at least I think I'm not capable."

At this point I expected her to ask me about my job or why I thought I couldn't plan or was I being humble saying so, or was I in fact so stupid or anything, which would give me a chance to prolong the regularly breaking conversation. But she either didn't have any interest in talking to me or the topic didn't interest her.

The conversation died out. During that tough silence I noticed that Neil and Nadia had absolutely opposite situation. She was doing all the talking and he was pretending to completely understand, what she uttered in Russian.

"Damn you son of a bitch! You got a chick, who likes to talk and you can't even understand her. On the other hand you're asking me to talk to a totally untalkative chick, who doesn't even show any ineterest in listening.» I thought to myself and then got back to my rod. I changed the topic, saying:" and what do you do in your free time?"

She glanced in mid air and thoughtfully said:" Not much."

I hardly kept my patience and said:" Probably I couldn't convey my message. Let me rephrase it. What interests you except for your studies?"

She said:" I like to surf.........in the net."

All right now this was development.

 I asked:" and what exactly interests you on the net? I mean sheer info or virtual conversations or games or what else...»

She said, with a little enthusiasm:" I like to find new friends over the net. I like to chat using my Yahoo! Messenger and ICQ. I have a long friends' list and I love talking to them."

Now this would build up into an avalanche, I could feel that.

I said:" your friends are Russians only or do you have any foreigners on your list also?"

Her face had brightened up talking about this. I could understand that she had some real interest in talking about her virtual acquaintances. So what! I was ready to talk about anything unless the conversation would halt.

She cheerily answered my question saying:" I have both, but more foreigners."

I grabbed onto the last words and asked:" So do you think it's fair to imply that you like foreigners more than your own people?"

I knew it was an irritating question, but at times such irritating questions are good to force introvert people into talking. I made my move and looked at her with an asking look.

She said:" No! I don't have anything against Russians. After all I'm a Russian myself and if I say I don't like or less like Russians this means that I don't like myself."

A little pause followed before she continued:" The thing is that talking to foreigners you come to know a lot of new and interesting things, provided that your addressee is a person with some guts and knowledge. Also when I talk to foreigners I'm forced to write and read English, which helps me in practicing my language skills."

"Oh yeah! That's great! You at least get something out of these often-aimless chats. Tell me more about it."

Now I had started getting pushy. I wanted or rather say was forcing her into talking.

She just took a deep breath before saying: "Well what can I tell you?"

And I could see the expression telling that she couldn't decide where to start from or where to end.

I decided to give her a little breathing space. I offered:" Ok! I have to make a telephone call. I'll come back in a jiffy and in the meanwhile you figure out what you wanna tell me about your virtual life."

With this I got up and took a look around and noticing a very sexy looking dame sitting right across the room behind Nadia, left for the corridor where the telephone was installed.

I made my quick call and started on my way back. On the way back I decided to involve Nadia into the conversation. On my way back I encountered Irina, leaving the smokers' room with a full tray of dirty dishes. We exchanged looks and her looks conveyed that deep felt feeling of satisfaction. I got back with a hurried step and going around Neil's chair, gave that sexy dame a real deep stare, which she probably noticed, because she looked back and her eyes said:" Hi there!» I got the message, but before someone could get hold of the situation, I sat down in my seat.

"So I hope you have made up your mind about what to tell me?» I asked the pink-lipped beauty.

She looked at me with an inquisitive look, which asked:" What the hell are you talking about?"

"Oh! Oh!" I thought and certainly correct, that she had lost track of what we had been talking about. I hurried in thinking up how to involve, now also sitting quietly, Nadia and asked:" Well excuse me for my bad memory, but your names just got slipped out of my mind.» and looked askingly at Nadia.

 

She said:" My name is Nadia. Which is the short form of the Russian name Nadezhda and her...»

Following Nadia's look the beauty in black continued the sentence saying: "and mine is Luba which in full is Lubov", and she asked me: "What's your name?"

I said:" I'm Alex", and Luba nodded in response.

Now as I was sitting, I time to time, looked over to catch the sexy, dressed in a mini with adorable legs, dame's continuous stare.

That stare started distracting me. So I decided to wind it up with Nadia and Luba and starting it out with that, asking for bait, fish. At the same time out of courtesy I didn't want to show to my companions that I had no further interest in building up unprogressive conversations with mysteriously untalkative Luba. I also remembered the proverb: "A bird in hand is better than two in the bush." So I turned back to the birds in hand and restarted the topic of virtual meetings. I asked Nadia:" Do you also like to make friends over the net?"

She said:" Oh! I love to. You know it's interesting, because you can simultaneously talk to different people. People from different places, with different views, of different age groups and sometimes with very conflicting characters. I just feel addicted to my virtual meetings. Normally when I can't get online, I feel as if I'm all-alone in the world. I feel the urge for those talks and I can't figure out how to pass my time. You see I have to talk and talk and talk and when you're talking to real people, sometimes you start getting the feeling that they are tired of listening to your never ending stories and this makes you feel uneasy. But when it happens over the net, I mean when someone starts feeling fed-up they cannot do anything, but to not answer for a longer interval of time. Anyway you have 2-3-4 or more windows open at a time, so you don't notice the delay so prominently. This gives the person on the other end of the line, enough time to swallow your crap and then again feel like talking more. That's why I prefer virtual chats. This doesn't mean that I avoid real contacts. It's just that virtual acquaintances have more fantasy, more romance to them. Sometimes you don't see the person with whom you talk, for a long time and this gives you a good opportunity to fantasize how that person might look like. I talk too much?"

She abruptly put forward an unexpected question, in response to which I wanted to get up and kiss her and say: “No honey! You're going just fine.» but I restrained myself from doing or saying so and said smiling:" NO! I talk too much myself and love to listen when somebody feels like talking."

I needed to encourage her into continuing the good work, so I added: “This is a very positive sign when you feel like talking, because this conveys some real positive energy and the company never gets bored."

After a short breathing pause, looking over Nadia's shoulder at the still staring sexy dame, I asked:" What chat room do you normally sit in?"

She started out, in the same energetic manner, with all her body, especially the hands, involved, in conveying her message and said:" No I don't like chat rooms. They are always very crowded and the people who normally sit their time out, in these places are more into fooling around rather than building up relationships or discussions."

I was ready to ask the obvious question, but she didn't give me a chance and added:" I use Yahoo! Messenger. It's comfortable. You can add or delete people with whom you want or don't want to talk. Every person is addressed in an individual window. Although this sometimes becomes a hassle, when you start sending messages to addresses to whom they are not meant to be sent. People start getting shocked with the messages sometimes, but you can easily excuse for the mistake and carry on. It does annoy those who demand total undivided attention and it turns them down, but I don't much care about such selfish people. Anyway as I was saying Yahoo! Messenger works fast with the messages. They go through faster and I think it is a better product then a lot of other such messengers", and with this she looked at Luba to ask for confirmation.

Luba nodded in affirmation and Nadia continued:" I also use ICQ. It's a cool product also, but still I like Yahoo! Messenger more."

I commented:" Yeah I also tried a lot of different messengers, but at last I've got stuck to Yahoo! Also."

As I was talking, I looked at the dame with the adorable legs and tender skin and catching her uninterrupted stare, decided to make a final check with Luba and Nadia if they would agree and above all if they could, continue the "COFFEE" away from the coffee house. I asked:" So do you guys live together?» and asking this I looked at both of them and the sexy dame as well.

Nadia took the initiative and said:" We don't live together. Our houses are not far apart..."

I interrupted:" and do you live with your parents or ......... alone?"

Nadia again answered:" We live with our parents."

For me this was the last nail in the all-ready coffin of "COFFEE" with Nadia and Luba. I was disappointed, after spending so much time and in the end knowing that the girlies lived with their parents, which meant that the chances of them staying out for an unplanned night were zilch.

I told Neil:" They don't have placed and most definitely they can't stay out for the night. So please don't ask me to spend anymore of my time on these babes. I want "COFFEE" and their grinder's empty."

He made an abandoning sign with his hand and said:" Don't rush! You always hurry with your catch. It takes time and effort to get a gem. I feel they're going ok for now. A little more time and they'll be in."

"How can you even say this? You don't even have any idea of the energies that I'm spending in keeping them talking and I'm not ready to spend my energies over a vacuum. They're not going and I'm sure about that."

Nadia was looking at Neil and me in turn, trying to express her lose at not being able to understand what we were talking about. At last she said:" Don't you think it's Un-courteous to talk in a language, which not all the people in a company understand?"

I said:" I was asking him if he was bored. I would most definitely ask him in Russian, but he can't understand Russian."

She replied:" Oh yeah! It's a pity. Because I also wanted to tell him that he had beautiful bright eyes and a very nice hairdo, but can't do this." While she was talking I could see in her eyes that she wanted to say:" I'd love to talk to him and ask him a lot of things and tell him a lot more and a lot longer, but..."

Despite all these positive signs from her, I couldn't comfort myself, when I could notice that sexy dame's demanding hungry stares. I needed to hit the iron while it was hot, but at the same time I didn't want to annoy Neil and the two babes by getting up and leaving them to get closer to those warm, painted kissable lips.

And then Irina came around after an extended interval of time. She performed that automatic ritual of ashtray change and I looked at her. She looked back, but instead of a smile her face portrayed seriousness as if she wanted to say:" you low breed cheat what do you think you are doing? You're cheating on me and right in front of my eyes!" then she left with that serious look and my eyes followed her out of the room. As I turned my attention back to where I was sitting, I again saw that long legged bimbo and that sight made me re-arrange my thoughts.

And then as if God heard my prayers and decided to help me out. A mobile phone rang and Luba readily reached inside her bag and removing a telephone, she switched it on and said:" Hello! I’m not far away................I'll be home in around 20-30 minutes..............don't worry I'll be back........... Yeah she's with me...ok...bye"

She replaced the phone in her bag and told Nadia:" Mom's worried. Let's go?"

I wanted to get up and dance a little dance of joy and say "YAHOOOOOOOO!» but I restricted myself to saying:" So early! It's not even 11:00 yet"

Luba for the first time without asking said:" I know, but my mother and especially my grandmother worries too much if I don't get home by 9:00."

Damn I was right. She isn’t going nowhere. She's a domestic pet. I asked:" So you guys are thinking about leaving? Don't you wanna company us any longer?» but inside of me I was saying:"Go on. Go on. Don't waste time"

Nadia said:" with me it's ok to stay longer, but I can't dump Luba. I'll have to go."

Ok or not, but I wanted them to go, so that I could go join the "Come on over honey!" saying staring sexy dame. I informed Neil about the happenings and he said:" Ask Nadia to stay if she could or tell her I want her to stay."

I did so but she kept her "friend dumping" line and I kept glancing at the busty babe trying to tell her with my looks:"I'm about free love!"

Then Luba very decisively picked her bag up and said to Nadia:" Are we going or are you not?"

Nadia started getting up saying:" Well it was nice talking to you guys and I'm happy that we met." As she was saying this I saw Irina passing by and looking at the girl and then at me she sarcastically smiled and went by. Nadia continued, looking at Neil:" I hope someday he'd speak Russian or I'd speak English so that we could talk to each other and know each other better and closer."

I translated the sentence for Neil and he answered:" I'd love to know her better and definitely closer.” and then he asked me:" Damn it ask her to stay. I'll get over the linguistic barrier if we would be alone."

I told Nadia what Neil said and then Told Neil:" They ain't staying."

He said:" In that case I'll walk them to the subway. I'll do what you couldn't. She'll stay behind."

"Go ahead. Good-luck Macho!"

And I told the girls:" Neil will be leaving too, so he'll walk you to the subway."

Nadia's face brightened up listening to this and she said:" That'll be great."

I told Neil. He readily picked up his small bag and got ready. As everyone was standing ready to leave I looked at the Blondie to confirm, "I'm coming babe."

As we were saying our good byes, I asked the girls to exchange e-mail addresses with me. We did so and then right before leaving Neil said:" I'll be back soon and hopefully not alone, but if I don't come back don't wait for me."

"Don’t worry. Take your time."

And the three of them left through the exit to go through the main hall and then through the main door out on the Nevsky prospekt, which as always, was jammed with traffic.

I sat down again to gather myself up, before going to the long waiting sexy dame. Irina came around to change the ashtray. She replaced a clean ashtray and looking at me with a queer smile said:"Friends left you?", and her eyes said : " That's how it should be with someone like you.", and before I could answer she was already on her way to the next table. I wanted to tell her that she had a special place in my heart. She wasn't one of those who infatuate me into a 1-night stand. With her I wasn't infatuated. It was more than infatuation, but I just couldn't tell her so, because I was afraid.

I got back to reality and looked to check if the sexy dame was still waiting for me or had she changed her mind. My luck rode high that day. She had no change of plans yet. I got up went to her and said:" Hi! My name's Alex. Won't you mind if I join you at your table?"

She looked at me as if saying:"What a silly question Alex?" and said in her juicy, low, warm, erotic voice:" loneliness kills."

Alright now this was my kind of catch. I excused and went to collect my things and completely moved over to her table.

I took the chair by her left side from where I could see the total magnificence of her physique without any obstacles. Her bulging, but not extraordinarily big bust was so arousing on top of a fat less tummy that disappeared into the jeans mini skirt. Her long, round, hairless, tender but muscular legs were so intriguing and seductive that I could hardly restrain myself from getting the feel of them on my bare hands. I kept looking at her from top to bottom and vice-versa trying to control my storming emotions. Infatuated! Yes I was infatuated.

Noticing my child like curious staring, she asked me:" So what do you do Alex?"

"I'm a writer. A story writer..."

"Oh how wonderful. And what are your stories mostly about?"

"About life, about love, about fantasies..."

"Your own fantasies, I believe!"

"Most of the time yes"

" So you fantasize?"

"Well I do fantasize, but I love to bring my fantasies to life."

"Now that's even more interesting. Do you often get a chance to materialize your fantasies?"

"I try to do this all the time. It's so great when you see your fantasies coming to life right in front of your eyes."

"Would you care to tell me more about your fantasies or maybe read me a story of yours"

I caught the moment and offered:" If I start narrating one of my stories, it'll take long. So why don't we get a cup of coffee and while we take coffee I'll read you one of my stories."

She said:" No I've already had enough of coffee for the evening."

"If that's so, maybe over a glass of champagne?"

"But they don't sell alcohol here. Do they?"

"No they don't.", and wasting no time I offered :" What we can do is to move to another place where they sell alcohol."

She gave a look of agreement and I advanced a little more:" Or even better if you're interested in my stories, we can buy a bottle of champagne and go to my place, where I have a whole collection of my stories." I looked at her to see if she was catching on it. I added:" I'm not only a writer; I'm a very good cook as well. I can treat you to some real Greek food."

She smiled and kind of thought for a while before saying:" I hardly know you. It's difficult for me to go right away to your place."

I wasted no time I said:" Well I'm a more trusting person. I can go to your place after knowing you as much as I already know you. Provided that you do have a place where I can tell you a story without any botheration."

I knew that with the second proposal I had cornered her. But it was a great gamble, because she could say no to it as well. As Neil would say my impatience and speed spoils a good game. Or as they say:" Hurry spoils Curry." But at the same time I was talking to a grown up person, with whom beating around the bush was stupid enough and it makes one take the chances of coming out straight. Or at least I thought so.

She was thinking, moving her head from side to side and with that tickling my nerves. I was waiting, waiting for her answer and had already thought of not giving-up. I would propose neutral territory, hotel, if she wouldn't agree to go to her own place as well. I wished that she could understand that champagne and food were just excuses and stories more so. I wanted her to understand that I was ready to materialize my fantasy of kissing her from bottom to top and the other way around. That my lips could hardly wait to feel her tender skin.

She was still thinking while I was lost in my wild fantasies.

She finally said:" No one would bother us at my place, but you said that you were a man of many fantasies and God knows what your fantasies are about. Maybe you have some fantasy of murder or even worse rape?"

I could understand her agreement and that very human cautiousness. So I said:" Well I do fantasize, but trust me I don't have any fantasies of murder or rape. I do it on regular basis."

I gave a little pause to see if she got the joke or not and then added:" It's a joke of course. Don't worry I'm a pacifist and the only things against which I use my knife are the vegetables. You can search me to see that I don't carry a gun and with this you can be satisfied that I don't have any means of hurting you. Champagne, we'll buy in the store and I won't mix anything in it."

Then I took a more serious stance and said:" In fact human trust is a very valuable thing and I don't like to lose valuable things. You can trust me."

My last phrase did go through, because she smiled saying:" I think it's worth giving trust a try in today's time and age of total mistrust."

This meant, "YES" and I took an unnoticed breath of relief. She was ready and I was long ready.

"Well let's not waste time then. Let's go! Lets start the bed time story.", I asked.

"Let's go."

We left the coffee house where I had come at 1:00 pm that day, had a lot of cups of coffee and was leaving with "COFFEE"

Next morning when I woke up at around 10:00 in the sexy dame's bed, I suddenly remembered Neil. After I got dressed to go I gave him a call and we decided to meet again at the coffee house.

Sitting at the same table in the same smokers' room Neil told me how he and Nadia walked by the Neva along the English embankment. How they held and kissed each other under the clear summer sky. How they had no problem in understanding each other. How she told him about her feelings of love for him. How they embraced each other and after all that how he dropped her off at her home in the early morning.

The last detail just shook me. I said:" What! You dropped her back home! Just like that!"

"Yeah", he said with astonishment.

"You mean after all that kissing and walking and talking and embracing you just dropped her home?"

"So what!"

"So what? Ah you gotta be out of your mind. You're what planning some sort of long standing love affair. Some emotional, plutonic, long standing cock and bull?"

"Not everybody's a stud like you."

"Stud or no stud, but last night I had the ball of my life."

"No wonder! Every time you succeed in hooking up a 1 night stand, you have the best time of your life."

"Yeah! I have the balls to have a ball baby."

This comment probably touched him deeply, because he grabbed his bag and got up saying:" Good for you."

I asked:" You're leaving without 'COFFEE' again?”and laughed.

He started walking saying:" Too much of coffee and ‘COFFEE’ makes a man......"

I added:" ......healthy wealthy and wise."

He said:" You're impossible!!!", and saying that he went to the exit.

I smiled to myself thinking:" How naive he is."

Anyway it was his life and his choice. I had nothing to do with that.

I finished my "KON LECHE" and picked up my things to go and check my e-mail at the central telegraph office, before once again returning to the coffee house, probably.

I received a mail from Luba telling me that she waited online to meet me last night, but since I never came online she decided to write. She sent me her telephone # and asked me to give her a call.

Coming back to the coffee house, I gave Luba a call and we agreed on meeting again in the same smokers' room that very evening. Just the two of us.

In the evening she came. We sat for some time in the coffee house, while she ate her ice cream and drank her coffee cocktail. Then we went back to my place, where I promised to treat her to coffee with garlic. That night as she stayed with me, her mother's worry didn't worry her and she didn't even care to call and tell her mother where she was and with whom or what was she doing and when on the following day would she get back home. Above all she told me a lot of stories. She talked so much that even I got drowsy listening to her.

Yesterday when I made my way out of the coffee house, accompanied by a petite, dark haired chick called Masha, Nikolai, the administrator, looked at me with a meaningful look and said :" Have a nice time!"

"Thanks !", I said, blinking him with my left eye and smiling.

Sitting here today, looking around for some appealing lone dame, I'm thinking about the term "Cup Of Coffee" as it is used in the Scandinavian countries. The thing is that when a woman invites a man or vice-versa, to her/his place for a cup of "COFFEE", it means an invitation to making love. Meaning that in Scandinavia they don't say " Let's make love", or " would you like to see my water bed?", or " would you like to taste my Lasagna made with a special family recipe.", etc. They simply ask you over for a cup of "COFFEE" and "COFFEE" is interpreted as "Would you sleep with me."

Thinking of this I have no trouble saying that "Idealnaya Chashka" is my cup of coffee and my "COFFEE" house.