#STB Coffee Prompt Week 51 | The sneeze

One cold November day I ran into my friend Mike, I hadn't seen him in a long time. Seeing him approach me with a candid smile brought back memories of years gone by like cascades of experiences.

My arms were open waiting to receive my dearest friend from high school, a reunion with the past and with a part of my life implicit in crazy, sad, happy and nostalgic stories. When I saw Mike's face, I realized that the years had not passed in vain and some wrinkles marked his face. I wondered what stories he would have to tell me in his new life.

"Hi, Mike, it's good to see you again." In the warm embrace I sketched the words of affection felt in the past.

"Anne, look at you girl, how good you look, I almost didn't recognize you. I see life has been treating you very well." Mike's gaze had lost the light of those younger days.

Seeing his face with such decay it was inevitable to ask him about his life. "Tell me, how is life treating you, Mike."

"Well it wasn't what I expected, everything I said I would do, turned out to be harder to achieve." Mike's voice sketched a slight sigh into the air.

The cold was beating down on our bodies mercilessly, so I invited Mike to a nearby coffee shop to have a delicious coffee and recover the warmth that was disappearing through the pores of our skin. He nodded his head while smiling like in those school days.

The scent of freshly brewed coffee seduced our nostrils and invited us to delight ourselves with a very hot cup of black coffee. We sat down and ordered the waiter two cups of the dark exquisite, as we continued our conversation paused by the atrocious cold of that day.

"What's your job," I asked trying to satiate my curiosity.

"Right now I'm a chemical salesman," A look of disenchantment rimmed Mike's tired sockets.

"Sounds very interesting, well it wasn't what you thought when you were young, when you dreamed of being a famous painter, but at least you have a job for your livelihood." I tried my words to give him some hope and optimism.

A faint smile appeared on Mike's pale face, at that moment the waiter appeared with the coffee cups, and left them on the table with a cordial smile on his face as he walked away. Mike drank his coffee in a hurry, so much so that I feared he had burned himself. I was flabbergasted at his behavior and just said, "hey, Mike, you sure were cold, eh, buddy, hehehe..."

He apologized, then pulled a strange powder out of his pocket and shoved it up his nose. I looked at him quizzically and he smiled nervously at me. Then he told me, "don't be alarmed, it's nothing illegal, it's my company's new product, it's coffee powder, it has a lot more caffeine than regular coffee. I love it and it's not very expensive." His dilated pupils and fast talking appeared after inhaling the strange powder.

"It seems to me..." I paused to take in everything that was happening. "Great.... cool... I hadn't heard of that, hehehe." I was trying to disguise my discomfort with awkwardly sketched laughter.

"Try it Ana, it's harmless and it's a thousand times better for you than coffee." Mike's hand reached out to me holding the coffee powder.

I didn't know what to do, it was all a shock of emotions and strange situations that kept me in emotional shock, I had no control over my decisions. At Mike's insistence I agreed to try some, I took the powder in my hand and as I inhaled I felt the powder enter my nostrils.

A terrible burning I felt coursing through my nasal passages, and I took a sip of coffee immediately to eliminate the discomfort. Big mistake. The coffee powder upset my allergies and an explosive sneeze burst from my mouth, bathing Mike in hot coffee.

Mike quickly wiped it off and an unfriendly look came across his face. The only thing I could do in that moment where my body was shaking and colors were flashing on my face, was to run out of the store and leave Mike in the coffee shop.

I never saw Mike again, until one day I heard on the news that a group of dealers were mixing coffee powder with narcotics to create addiction to the substance. The gang was caught and to my surprise Mike was one of those involved.

I felt that my memories with Mike were already part of the past and that he was now a totally different person from the dreamy and charming boy I knew. after all that happened I was grateful to the sneeze and its appearance at the most opportune moment. Hehehe!