Work Text:
SCENE SIX
It was a relatively quiet morning in the coffee shop. Elisabeth Collins, an aspiring psychologist working on her doctorate in Jungian theory, selected a table in the back of the room. After spreading her notes and computer around the table, she took a crisp five-dollar bill from her wallet and walked up to the counter.
“What’ll it be?” asked the polite, albeit bored, college-aged girl behind the counter.
“Grande house blend, dark,” Elisabeth answered.
“Coming right up,” the girl replied. She turned to pour the coffee, then set the mug on the counter between them. “That’ll be two ninety-five.”
Elisabeth handed over her bill, pocketed the change quickly, and walked back to her table. She’d barely been working for fifteen minutes, and was thoroughly engrossed in Myers-Briggs typologies, when a shadow fell across her notes. Though she did not look up, the faintest hint of suspicion played across her face.
“I thought that was you, Elisabeth. Gosh, it’s been years,” said the rich, baritone voice that accompanied the shadow.
Elisabeth merely scowled at the unwelcome disturbance.
“Oh, come on. Surely you can spare a moment for an old friend! The Bitsy I knew would certainly have made time for me,” the man said. His eyes twinkled with laughter at his friend’s antics. He noted with some amusement that she was quickly losing the battle to maintain her scowl.
“Rotten ENTP!” Elisabeth fought valiantly to hold onto her irritation, but she ultimately broke down in a fit of laughter. “Sasha, my dear, it has been entirely too long! How are you?”
Sasha rounded the table in two steps. As Elisabeth had already jumped from her chair, he found it that much easier to catch her up in a tight hug. “Much better now, thank you. And yourself? Staying out of trouble, I hope.”
The noise Elisabeth produced sounded remarkably like a snort. “Well, I haven’t set fire to any bathroom stalls recently, if that’s what you meant. But I do have a few other pranks to tell you about if you’ve got the time.”
“Bitsy, I’ve got all the time in the world.”
“Then grab a cup of coffee and sit down.” Elisabeth set about cleaning up her work space, neatly arranging her papers and putting her laptop back in its case. Sasha returned from the counter with two steaming mugs of the freshly-brewed house blend. He sat down across from Elisabeth, and before they knew it, it was time for dinner.