Tea Time
by Jerry Guarino
Tony poured 32 ounces of
hot water over loose Earl Grey tea into his clear
glass teapot. He toasted a fresh slice of
homemade brown bread and spread raspberry jam on
top, then took both to his writing desk where his
computer was playing new age music. Summer
vacation was his favorite time of the year, away
from the classroom, with time to catch up on
diversions and fantasies.
The sky was cloudy and the cool air glided
through his window, the weather he liked best.
Tony closed his eyes to capture the full sense of
the cool air.
The doorbell interrupted his peaceful state. Who
could that be? Tony opened the door and was
greeted by a beautiful young woman, maybe 24.
“Excuse me sir. We’re collecting money
for people in need. Would you like to make a
donation?”
Tony wrinkled his face. People in need.
Everyone is in need. “I’m sorry.
Can you be more specific about your cause?”
The woman held out an identification badge. It
indeed said her name was Becca Toscana,
representing People in Need International. The
name suited this lovely woman with Italian looks,
dark hair and dark blue eyes. “I’m
sorry Becca, but I’ve never heard of your
charity. What do they do?”
“We provide food to hungry children by
supporting other charities set up to do that. You
know, Save the Children, Christian Children’s
Fund, Unicef and others.”
Tony was still suspect, but Becca’s smile
kept him interested. “Would you mind if I
looked up your group on the computer?”
“Certainly sir. What was your name?”
“Tony Mariani, Becca. Do you think you could
come back a little later?”
“Not at all Mr.
Mariani. I’ll be around again this afternoon.”
“Fine, thank you.”
Becca went out to the next house while Tony
looked up the charity in question.
Well, I’ll be damned. This charity does
exist. Tony decided to contact the receiving
charities to verify that People in Need
sent money to them. Within an hour, he received
three emails from legitimate charities supporting
their good work. He was about to write a check
when he heard the doorbell again.
It was Becca. “Hello Mr. Mariani.”
“Becca, come in. I was just about to write
you a check. Please sit down.”
Tony used the piano top to write out a check.
“You know, you should get a better name.
People in Need sounds like a scam.”
“I know. We hear that a lot.”
Tony turned and gave Becca the check.
“One hundred dollars! Thank you so much.”
Then Becca put her arms around Tony and kissed
him slowly. Tony held her close and before long,
they were in bed for an afternoon of lovemaking.
When she left, Becca smiled and waved. “Bye
Amante.”
Tony dreamed about Becca all that night. I
wish I had gotten her number. The next day,
he brought his tea and brown bread to his
computer again, hoping to have channeled into
some worm hole of fortune. He was about to write
down the experience in his journal when he heard
the doorbell. He looked up, and then rushed to
the door, hoping that Becca had come back.
“Hi. My name is Annika Setterlund. I’m
collecting money to feed hungry children.”
Sure enough, Annika had a badge with her name and
representing People in Need. Tony wondered
whether he should mention that he already donated.
“Please come in Annika. Let me get my
checkbook. Have a seat.”
“Would one hundred dollars be all right?”
Tony smiled at the Swedish girl with blond hair
and blue eyes.
Annika took the check. “Thank you so much Mr.
Mariani. I can’t tell you how many children
will be fed by this generous donation.”
Annika put down her backpack and sure enough, put
her arms around Tony. They made love all
afternoon. She smiled as she left. “Bye
älskare.”
Tony had a quick supper and got to bed early. An
old man like him needed his sleep for energy. His
dreams were as vivid as the events of the day had
been.
The next morning he
repeated the routine of tea, brown bread and
sitting at his computer. He had forgotten what he
was going to do there days ago, but anticipated
another doorbell. Guess it was just some
quirk of the universe. But the memory will last
forever.
The doorbell rang. Tony pinched himself, ran with
his checkbook in his pocket and opened the door.
“Hi. My name is Carolina Munoz. We’re
raising money to feed hungry children. Would you
be interested in donating?”
“I see you’re from People in Need. Is
that a real charity?” Tony waited patiently
as the beautiful Latina explained about her cause.
He decided to continue pretending not to know
anything about the best charity he had every
contributed to.
Tony smiled and handed the check to Carolina.
“Here you go Carolina.”
“Mr. Mariani. One hundred dollars. This is
most generous.” Carolina unbuttoned her
blouse, put her arms around Tony. They made love
all afternoon. Just like the others, she left
slowly, smiling and with the same goodbye. “Adios
amante.”
Tony sat back down at his computer. The cool
breeze coming through the window was interrupted
by a crack of thunder and suddenly his wife was
tapping him on the shoulder. “Honey. Are you
all right? I called but you didn’t answer.”
Tony sat up at his desk,
noticed his phone was on silent. “Sorry dear.
Guess I nodded off. Why are you home so early?”
“I wanted to tell you that tea you bought
was confiscated from the store. Apparently it
contained some sort of hallucinogen. You didn’t
drink any, did you?”
Tony pushed the bag of tea into his backpack.
“No dear, I’ve been writing up some
lesson plans for next year. Thanks for thinking
of me.”
Tony had flowers delivered to his wife at the
office that next day. She came home early and
reciprocated his romantic gesture. Afterwards,
she brought two cups of tea to the bedroom.
“Tony, where did all the brown bread go?”
Tea
Time by Jerry Guarino
Copyright July, 2013 – All Rights Reserved
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