SERIAL FICTION
A Cup Of Tea To Silence The Nervous Butterflies
Shadows Of Mayday #17: Joe and Mattie #1: Neither of them could deny the spark
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Joe and Mattie were madly in love, but they didn’t display their love as openly as newlywed couples tend to do. They weren’t young people anymore. Joe was sixty-seven, Mattie sixty-five, and both of them were retired.
Joe had worked as a service operator for a chocolate factory for most of his adult working years. He was married before, to the mother of his four children. She died two years before he retired. They had so many plans for trips they wanted to make once he was retired and had saved up quite an amount of money to make it possible.
Joe’s three sons and one daughter were all married and had their own families, giving Joe six grandchildren. Two of his sons had two sons each, his youngest son had a daughter and his daughter had a son. They always spent family birthdays and all festive days together at Joe’s place. He loved having his children and grandchildren around him. Days were busy when they were there, but being surrounded by love was never a bad thing in Joe’s book.
When Joe’s wife was still alive, she always took care of the cooking and baking, making sure everyone had more than enough. After her passing, their daughter took on this task. Joe’s daughters-in-law helped too, but his own daughter always took charge of all arrangements.
He appreciated nothing had changed after his wife’s death. He had mourned her, but Joe lived from day to day and he was happy with his life as it was. Joe had a lot of savings, but there was nothing he wanted to use it for. He couldn’t fulfill his dream anymore, to go on trips abroad with his wife. His children would have to share his savings when he passed. Joe wasn’t looking for a life partner. His life was full and rich and he was content.
When his children and grandchildren weren’t around, Joe kept busy by making wooden furniture. He did this at his own leisure and once he had finished a piece, he put it up for sale. He wasn’t into it for the money, but for being able to create things with his hands, and not fall into the trap of loneliness.
Joe made furniture for all ages, but also toys for kids. His grandchildren all owned several pieces that ‘Gramps Joe’ had made. There was the furniture for his granddaughter’s dollhouse, but also the wooden cars and carts for his grandsons. Joe had made each of the grandchildren a small chair with their names carved into the backrests.
One day, Joe received a call from a friend who asked him if he could make a small dinner table for one of his female acquaintances. Joe didn’t enjoy working on order, but out of politeness asked how big the table should be and whether he would need to make matching chairs too. Chairs weren’t necessary and the table would have to be big enough for two people and preferably square. Since the table didn’t have to be that big and Joe was in-between projects, he took on the job.
Joe needed to know the exact measurements for the table. Instead of burdening his friend for this information, he asked for the woman’s telephone number so he could call her to make an appointment.
Several days later, he rang the bell at her apartment. Joe looked on in shocked silence when the door opened.
The woman in front of him was approximately his age. Her appearance blew his mind. She was beautiful, with her silvery gray hair and sparkling blue eyes. Despite her age, the skin on her face was smooth and well taken care of, as was the skin on her soft hands. She was immaculately dressed, but not in an ‘old woman’ way.
“I’m… er… uh… I’m… uh…” Joe stuttered.
“You’re Joe,” the woman said, “and you’re here for the table. I’m Mattie. Please come in,” she said in a soft and friendly voice.
Joe stepped inside. He was immediately in awe of this woman. There was something in her demeanor which attracted him in a way he couldn’t withstand. He didn’t want to resist it.
In fact, he was so blown away, he totally forgot about the table. Only one thought repeated in his mind: I want to get to know her.
For the first time since his wife died four years earlier, a woman awakened his interest again.
Even though Mattie had appeared to be confident when she invited Joe into her home, she wasn’t. For the first time in years, she had butterflies in her stomach. She noticed the way Joe looked at her and instantly recognized it as being more than just general interest. It flattered her he seemed to be overwhelmed enough to stutter, but it did nothing to quiet down her own excitement.
Thankfully, she knew how to hide her shaking hands and the fact she was as taken aback as Joe was: tea.
Tea was always the solution!
She ushered him to the living room, telling him she would make them some tea. Neither she nor Joe noticed she hadn’t even checked whether he wanted or liked tea.
In the kitchen, she busied herself with putting cups and saucers on a tray and teaspoons in the saucers. She put biscuits on a separate plate and the plate onto a tray and a small sugar bowl and a tiny milk jug joined the rest. By then the water boiled. She put a tea bag into the teapot that matched the sugar bowl and milk jug, poured water in it, and put the lid on. Mattie took the tray to the living room, where Joe sat in a chair, wringing his hands together.
Mattie smiled at him and put the tray on the small round table between the two armchairs. Joe sat right on the edge of the chair, his elbows resting on the armrests. He rubbed his hands and wrung them together as if washing them. Mattie still smiled, secretly enjoying the effect she seemed to have on him.
This surprised her.
She was unfamiliar with this side of her personality. Under different circumstances, she would chatter away and put a person at ease with her talking, but she couldn’t find any words. Mattie busied her hands with the tea, pouring each of them a cup.
“Do you take sugar?” she asked Joe.
“Sugar, no milk, thanks,” Joe said, and he was grateful to take the cup from her. He needed something in his hands to keep them still. Mattie poured milk in her tea before she held the plate with cookies out to him.
Joe ate a biscuit and emptied his cup of tea in one gulp. He looked at Mattie and then remembered why he was there.
Continued: Shadows Of Mayday #18
Find all chapters here.
This story is a work of fiction, and the author’s tribute to all victims of air crashes. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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