While Athena takes a second nap, Carson washes the lunch dishes, puts the leftover soup in the refrigerator, and to fix himself another coffee before he leaves. He has been to Athena's house plenty of times and learned where she keeps her dish soap, reusable food containers, and coffee stash. Before he washes the dishes, Carson takes a Pyrex cup and measures out three cups of ice water. According to him, iced water makes for better coffee; plus, it is the way Luis taught him to brew coffee when he was a kid.
As the coffee water cools off and the dishwater reaches a lukewarm temperature, Carson locates pre-ground Pete's Coffee: dark roasted Holiday flavor. What an appropriate type of coffee to drink since New Years' Eve, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanza are coming up within a short four weeks. The 2007 Holiday Season shall be an interesting endeavor given the shifts and changes taking place in everyone's lives.
Once the last ice cube has melted, Carson sets a compostable coffee filter into apportions three heaping scoopfuls of coffee atop the coffee filter, chases the coffee with iced cold water, and hits the brew button. He can smell the dark-roasted aroma floating in the air while he scrubs the dishes clean. The once dirty soup bowls, cooking pot, and glass beverage holders are squicky clean and drying off on a dishtowel; just in time since the coffee has finished brewing.
After drying the dishwater from his hands, Carson grabs a to-go coffee mug from Athena's drink cabinet, pours enough coffee to fill the mug up to seventy-five percent capacity, fills the rest of the mug with ice-cold milk, caps the mug so his drink will not spill on his way home, and walks to the front door. The entire time Carson was cleaning up, Athena slept quietly upstairs.
She blinks her eyes open slowly and deliberately. An interesting dream engulfed Athena's brain while she naped. In her dream, Athen was working at a day camp for young cancer patients and asked a co-worker if they wanted to have lunch with her. The co-worker, Jane, declined Athena's offer. Awkward as it seems, Jane and Athena walked towards their cars simultaneously to grab their food: neither woman spoke to the other and eye contact was absent. After reaching their respective cars, Jane is greeted by the mutual co-worker, Athena watches the interaction between her two co-workers and feels left out. This is not the first time Jane has rejected Athena's offers to eat together and Athena decides to stop asking Jane to eat with her.
Athena's eyes are fully open and she says to herself, "why would I dream about working at a camp for children with cancer and spend time worrying about a co-worker who constantly rejects my offers to eat lunch together? I have never met a person named Jane in my life. Time to check on Carson before I sleep again."
She gets out of her bed, touches her toes, and lets out an audible yawn. Once her body and mind are awake, Athena walks downstairs to the smell of coffee. Carson's coffee addiction is quite hilarious to Athena. She calls out Carson's name and gets no response; instead, she walks into an empty kitchen with cleaned dishes on her countertop, freshly brewed coffee piping hot and ready to drink, and a note sitting by the stovetop. She picks up the note and reads it.
Note's Contents: "Hi Athena, I hope your second nap leaves you refreshed and recharged. I went ahead and cleaned the dishes and put the food away. For the record, your soup was delicious, I am going to have to get the recipe from you someday. I left some coffee in the pot in case the nap did not work and you require a boost of caffeine. I love you and will call you later this week." -Carson
The note touches Athena's soul and makes her feel more alert. She declines the coffee since her last cup of coffee she drank, after lunch while sitting on the sofa, left her stomach feeling crampy and uncomfortable. Instead, she pours the remaining coffee into an ice cube tray and puts the tray inside the freezer: creating coffee cubes for Carson to use next time he makes an iced coffee. Rather than having his coffee get watered down by normal ice cubes, his iced coffee will get an extra kick of coffee from the frozen coffee cubes. A genius way to show support for her fiance's love of coffee.
Athena puts a kettle of water on the stove to boil. She is in the mood for English Breakfast tea with organic honey and a splash of milk. While the water boils, Athena goes upstairs to retrieve her phone. She needs to solidify dinner plans with Hector before she forgets. Athena sends a quick text to Hector asking if/when he would be available to chat. She puts the phone in her pocket, walks back downstairs, nearly trips over Syrup, and removes the hissing tea kettle from the stovetop. A mug containing the tea bag, milk, and honey welcomes the boiling water with open arms.
Once the tea is brewed to her liking, Athena walks herself back to the sofa and sits down. This particular Monday has been mentally draining: visiting Dr. June, catching up with Julesa, catching two naps, and fixing lunch for Carson have left Athena feeling drained. Yet, at the same time, she can't help but feel unaccomplished. As if she did not complete anything productive today.
As if he could read her mind and soul, Athena's phone buzzes in her pocket telling her Hector is calling. She answers his call and puts of a smile.
"Hi Hector, I take it you got my message?" Athena's voice is still groggy from having taken a three-hour nap not too long ago. Nothing unusual, her body is still waking itself up. The tea has not kicked in yet.
"It sounds like you just woke up. Should I call back later when your energy is up?" Hector's voice is calm, reassuring, and light. He is quite intuitive and speaking from personal experience. While dealing with a brain tumor, Hector would nap up to three times a day for his body to recover. Sometimes the naps left him groggy, other times the naps left him feeling re-charged. It all depended on the day and sleep quality of the nap. Athena responds to Hector.
"Haha, now is a good time to chat. For the record, I did just wake up from a nap...and drinking tea with honey to wake up. What is new with you on this Monday afternoon?"
"I just got out of a session with three clients: today we explored expressing emotions through the theory of 'yes, and. How may I assist you, young lady?"
Athena smiles as Hector describes his line of work. He is a trained School Counselor, studies improvisational and dramatic theater, and started a non-profit that focuses on mental health support. Hector teaches his clients how to manage and express their emotions through theories of theater and improv. She continues their conversation.
"I wanted to ask what Carson and I should bring to dinner on Friday. Dessert? Beverages? A surprise? You name it, we shall bring it."
The tea is working its magic: Athena's spunk is starting to rise, a smile stretches from cheek-to-cheek and she is growing excited for what Hector has to say. Hector responds to Athena's question.
"Luis and I were planning to make grilled fish with vegetables and cauliflower rice. We would appreciate you and Carson bringing beverages that will pair well with the dinner menu. Nothing complex and keep your dietary needs in mind as well."
"I have the perfect beverages that go well with fish and vegetables! They should satisfy everyone's tastebuds, leave us all feeling refreshed, and leave my stomach feeling normal. I made the mistake of drinking coffee today, and...my stomach hurts." Athena mentions this while laughing at herself. Hector is also amused and glad Athena is in better spirits.