Cup of Frank

"Well, I certainly know she has skeletons in the closet," I told my best friend, Catherine, over our shared love for cappuccinos.

We both took a giant sip of our steaming hot cappuccinos, made by Frank, our go-to man for a strong cup of joe. We both simultaneously burnt our mouths. But Catherine and I could never resist the foam on top; we gulped it down before it all melted.

"Ouch,"

"Double ouch!" Catherine shouted. She put her right hand to her mouth. We giggled.

"It's worth it! Thanks, Frank!" I shouted across the coffee place, and Frank saluted us.

"So, what did you hear? Penelope?" Catherine asked me. She was my best friend, my ally in our office full of witches. She knew how to get it all out of me. She egged me on for the gossip. With other people at work, I kept my mouth shut, but with Catherine? I knew I could trust her.

"Well," I started to say —and took another sip. Aah, beautiful cappuccinos; it was the little things like these that really made my heart happy—and quality time with Catherine in our favorite little coffee shop around the corner. And the name of the shop- I just adored- It was called "Oh, Joyous Java Baby," and it had the coziest, deep, red lounge chairs on the entire block where we both worked.

We worked in a doctor's office, and this was our heaven on earth.

We had peace away from our drama-infused office.

"I'm just so lucky to have you, darling," Catherine said, and pointed at me and gave me a wink.

"Darn tootin'!" I replied, with a wink and pointed my right index finger back at her in an 'I got your back' type of way.

"Okay, enough of that-" I said, and shook my head out of the routine of our own antics.

"So- what did you hear? Penelope- Come on! Spill! Give me the tea, and you know I mean the proverbial tea!!" Catherine said and hopped up and down across from me in her chair. She was all excited about the seventy percent chance that our boss was going to get fired.

"I heard- that-" And then all of a sudden, I see Catherine's face go stark white, her jaw dropped- every bit of color drained from her already pale face, she let her precious cappuccino drop to the floor, all of the precious foam Frank made for us spilled out onto the gray tiled floor. I was surprised she let that coffee cup fall; she had always said to me, "I gotta drink every sip, you know this is luxury coffee for me! I mean, ten dollars for a large!" But she knew it was worth it once a week to splurge with her bestie.

Then I noticed that our boss walked into the shop. WHAT! Ugh, she never left her office! She never once took a step outside to check in on us to see how we were doing! Ugh, of course, today she decided to come in here and do what? Get coffee with the little people beneath her? Ugh. Catherine and I also make sure that we never talk about our colleagues when we know people will be in here with us! But this was a complete and utter shock.

"Penne, DON'T look now, but, but, um, Wendy the Wicked just flew in," Catherine said in a hushed tone. I wanted to laugh because, during her spillage of the cappuccino, I already knew she was there.

"Ha, Catherine, I know, there is nothing to freak about- she didn't hear us!" I told her, and Wendy just walked in right before I could say anything!

"Hush!" Catherine now actually made a scene, over yelling at me to be quiet, even though I wasn't the one speaking. And Wendy, our boss, of course, heard Catherine's voice and turned her head to glance our way.

As paranoid as Catherine was, you would have thought she would have been more cautious. But she was oblivious to her loud, squeaky voice.

"Oh, darlings, hello, you two! I bet you two are enjoying the company over there. I see." As she glances over at Frank, who, by the way, was the most attractive male I have ever seen. Yeah, we didn't just come here for the coffee. Frank used to be a bodybuilder; he won a ton of championships across the states. Why did he work in this coffee shop now? I'll never know, but we didn't care- we were happy gazing at him. His muscular arms pumping the shots for the coffee's flavors was my favorite part of the day.

"Hi, darling!" Wendy the Wicked shouted across the damn place to Frank. She knew our precious Frank? EW. Now I was pissed. Frank was ours. Just Catherine and I's hunk of man to look at. How the hell did she know Frank?

"You two know each other?" Catherine asked confidently. Where was that confidence last week after she had a meltdown over a stupid little email from Wendy?

"Oh, yes, of course Frank and I go way back- we were young, and in love, or lust, I should say," Wendy said so dramatically. She was beyond extra. Ugh. She was the biggest phony on the planet. We all called her Wendy the Wicked for a reason. And every time she would fly into the office, Stan the security guy downstairs would whisper to me, "Something wicked this way comes." At least he made me laugh every morning with that one-liner.

Wendy's bright red lipstick was puckered up for an air kiss for Frank. EW.

Her dirty blonde hair was in a messy bun on the top of her head- and she still, of course, looked like a bombshell, even when she was disheveled.

Her tall, willowy frame angled towards Frank, and his angled towards her.

Hm, from their body language, they definitely had a history together. Interesting.

"Wendy, always good to see you, too, too," Frank stuttered. He never stuttered. I guess she really put some spell on him.

"Can I get a latte? I'm overdue for a pick-me-up," Wendy said to Frank.

"Sure, th-thing," he said and smiled.

"So, back to you two," she said, obnoxiously. She turned to face us.

"How do you know Frank?" Ugh, Catherine was still stuck on this. I had to get her out of the shock.

"Oh, darling, let's not go digging up the past, shall we?" I'm sure that you both have some secrets too, skeletons in the closet, no? Like, Penelope- I knew about you and Jason from upstairs, you two had a little rendezvous, a month ago, and that was why you were late in the morning last Wednesday!"

Oh, crap, how did she know that?! Ugh, there was just no privacy left in that office!

"Fine, I get it. Can we just drop it?" I said, now pissed, and embarrassed. And thank goodness Frank couldn't hear.

"What's in the past is in the past, that's where it should stay- history. Now, I have to get back to Dr. Cobner. He is the one who wanted the coffee and told me to fetch it." Wendy said with a snarky tone.

"Okay, um, bye," I said. Disgusted at her attitude.

Wendy the Wicked flew out of the coffee shop as fast as she flew in, and didn't even say goodbye to her past boyfriend, Frank. Rude.

"Well, that was uh, um, weird," Catherine said. She was in shock, still, because we hadn't seen Wendy the Wicked in over a month- she hid in her own office and scheduled everyone from her computer and texted us details throughout the day.

"Cat, it's over. Take a deep breath," I told her.

"Okay, okay, but you know how she gets under my skin!"

"I know, but she's like that with everybody- okay- like everybody except the doctors. And of course, now Frank," I said to reassure her.

"Okay, now we can't even talk about her because Frank is her spy!!" Catherine yelled. Jeeze, Catherine and her theatrical paranoia really needed to shut down.

"Oh, calm down, Frank didn't hear anything, and Wendy didn't hear anything. Okay? Let's just go back."

"Okay, I'm going to have a nervous breakdown now because I spilled my entire cup and I'm too shaken to ask Frank for a new one, or to go on any further with our conversation," Catherine said, her hands shaking. And she couldn't blame her shakiness on the caffeine this time.