HWA Message Board: Coffee Chat

It’s early morning.

You’re stood outside on the back porch of your home.

You"d done your morning run, you"d showered. You"d hopefully not woken up anyone else in the process.

Now you were just zoning out, soothing the thoughts in your mind ahead of the coming days.

"Mornin" son. Sleep ok?"

You glance up, seeing your father in law standing in the doorway, already taking a step out into the morning sunlight and closing the door behind him.

"Guten morgen, jah, you?"

"Ah, can’t grumble. Had worse, had better. Always the same when it’s the first night someplace different from your own bed, y"know."

"Jah, I know what you mean."

He’s standing beside you now, handing you a fresh cup of coffee.

"Thought you might need one."

"Danke schön…"

You clink his mug with your own gently, nodding your head towards him.

"So what time do you set off for Glendale?"

You don"t answer immediately.

Not out of rudeness, but simply as the mug is already at your lips and you"re taking your first sip.

You raise your left arm up, tilting your wrist so as to catch the time on your watch.

"Later. Maybe 3 or 4."

"Driving?"

"Jah, been a while since I took mein McLaren for a proper drive, und not just in und around the city."

Your father in law chuckles with amusement.

"Well don’t speed son, don’t want you getting Vanessa all fretting more than she already does."

"Ach, I won’t."

Silence.

Both of you sip your respective coffees in peace.

A gentle nudge of an elbow into your ribs is felt.

"But if you do, make sure it's after Whitewater, you get a nice straight stretch of road there, know what I’m sayin’..."

You tap the side of your brow twice, as if filing that away for the future.

"Two nights away?"

"I thought it was my lot that asked the questions…"

Another elbow into your rib follows that as your father in law comes close to snorting out half his coffee.

You place one arm on his shoulder for support as he coughs and splutters, fighting back both them and the laughter.

"Well, y’know son, just want to know…"

You cut in, answering for him.

"You want to know how long you can have with your grandson und how long it is before I stop you corrupting him with your der scheisskerl games, jah?"

He has the nerve to look offended.

"Now don"t lie, you like the Saints."

"Like ist ein strong word. Tolerate."

Now he’s looking scandalized.

"For the sake of family unity, jah?"

"Oh don"t give me that hokum son, if me and his grandmother weren"t round, youd be dressing that poor boy in a Rams uni, or heaven forbid, a Chargers one just to mess with me."

"Who says I haven't done that already…?"

You side eye him and he side eyes you.

He stares out at the garden before him and the wider city below and in the distance.

"You wouldn't do that."

You just chuckle, before taking another sip of your coffee.

Another few minutes of general silence descends, both of you enjoying the relative peace.

Your phone buzzes in your pocket, a timer that you"d set so as to remind you to get set for your interview with Roderick coming up later that morning at the Academy.

"Urgh, best drink up."

You down the remainder of your drink swiftly.

"That this here interview first, yeah?"

"Jah, with Roderick…"

"... ah he seems nice. Vanessa says good things about him…

"... and we"ll talk about this und that. Und mein match mit Tobias…"

"... now he seems a piece of work…"

You nod at that.

It's true. You"ve got little time for him and his antics.

Especially with everything else going on right now.

"Do you know that we didn"t like you at first?

Your eyebrow arches up.

Where is he going with this?

"Yeah, you did make that clear. In fact you"ve said this several times over the last decade plus…"

"Yeah well, my point is we got to know you? You challenged our prejudices.

He takes a long sip of his coffee

"Can 't ever see that happening with this boy."

You snort with laughter, patting him on the shoulder as you turn to make your way back into the house.

"Enjoy your morning, cartoons for Kai only, no Good Morning Football…"

You dismissively wave away his protestations as you enter the house, mentally preparing for the day ahead.

The scene fades slowly to black.