Bottle to Bottle

"Snowing again. Damn," Mr. Moore said when he looked out his window. He hated the snow and hoped to someday live somewhere that stayed warm all year round.

Everyone in Mr. Moore's life had passed away. He was left with memories of everyone who meant something to him at one time or another. He had photographs and nick-knacks that only reminded him of days when he had friends and family.

Mr. Moore owned a few rental properties. With the days fresh snow he had to go and shovel and plow. He didn't want to, but that was his responsibility.

He put on his long underwear, jeans, flannel shirt, winter coat, boots, and lastly his hat. He could hear the wind howling from inside his kitchen.

He stuck a bottle of brandy in his coat for lunch and took off to shovel out his tenants.

At the first house he plowed the driveway and shoveled off Mrs. Miller's front porch and she came out and talked to him. He hated talking to Mrs. Miller. She always had a hundred and one problems that didn't involve him or the house she and her husband rented from him.

His second stop was already plowed and shoveled. His renters, who's names he didn't ever remember were gone to work. So he pulled in and opened his bottle of brandy and poured a healthy amount into a coffee cup sitting in his console. He sat in the driveway drinking and listening to the oldies station.

His third stop was a two story house divided into four units by the campus area. This was his favorite house to have to work on because of the young people who lived there were always nice and never wanted to chit-chat.

Mr. Moore got out of his truck and started shoveling. He couldn't use the plow because everyone's cars were parked too close together.

As soon as Mr. Moore got done shoveling a young woman burst through the front door of the bottom front unit. "You bitch, I hate you and never want to see you again," the woman screamed to another woman who was trying in to wrap her arms around her. She grabbed the irate woman's arm and the woman punched her in the face. She fell to her knees crying.

Mr. Moore recognized the woman who got hit as his new tenant. "Now you girls stop this shit," he yelled. "I can't have this shit going on outside my building."

The irate woman got in her car and left. His tenant was crying on the porch.

"I'm sorry Mr. Moore. I'm sorry.."

Mr. Moore picked her up and dusted the snow from the porch off of her dress. He could see that she wasn't wearing anything underneath her dress, but he wasn't really attracted to this woman's boyishly shaped body.

"Hey, I can't have you causing this kind of ruckus out here. Now you want to tell me what was going on?"

"My friend and I got into it because she thought I liked some guy."

"Oh, did she like the same guy?"

"No, she likes me, but I like both men and women."

Mr. Moore suddenly felt his blood pressure rise. He had never came across a woman, let alone a girl like this. He laughed nervously.

"Well, I don't know what to tell...."

"I am so mixed up. Would you want to have a drink with me?"

"Yes...Yes I would."

Mr. Moore followed her into her unit. There were empty beer cans and cigarette butts everywhere. She went to the kitchen and brought out a bottle of wine and two glasses.

"All I have is wine."

"That's okay. I have something of my own." He pulled his bottle of brandy from his jacket.

They sat down on her couch and drank.

"You kids today. I don't even know about all this. In my day girls went with boys and that was that."

She laughed. "If it was only that simple."