"Can You help Barry?" Jack Benis asked. His voice low. He looked over his shoulder at the closed door behind them. Jack didn't know how much time he had until their guests outside became restless, wanting to know where the bride, the groom and Barry was. The groom turned back to meet the eyes of his new bride. Lilly shook her head. She turned back to her task. 

"I don't know honey," Lilly Benis answered."But I'm sure going to try. " 

"We have to have him up and running before anyone gets suspicious."

"I know! I know!"  Lilly moistened her full lips and set to work. 

 The large black and silver coffee machine lay on its back on the hardwood counter of the large kitchen dead. It was the second coffee machine in two hours to break and they christened it Barry. She wanted its name to begin with the second letter of the alphabet. The first coffee machine was Abigail. 

Lilly lifted Barry from the table and turned it around in her hands. She examined it willing it to come alive. Jack and Lilly were two hours married. They were just called to the kitchen of the hall they rented for an emergency in the kitchen. It was an emergency. Lilly had a thousand people outside in the hall who only drank American black coffee from the corner deli. They despised the corporately controlled conspirators at STARBUCKS. Finding them corrupt and immoral. Four of their best friends from the wedding party have threatened to revolt after the last three coffee machines died. The hotel already put one of the coffee machines on the wedding party's bill to be paid for later and these machines were expensive. What was she going to do? Jack raked his long fingers through his light brown hair and wrung his hands. He watched his bride frown down at the dead machine. Lilly stood the coffee machine up on the table. She tucked her chestnut brown hair behind her ear and stared at it. Lilly swatted as a coiled curl escaped and fell in front of her eyes. Well, this is too much of an emergency to not at least try. So that is what she was going to do. She turned the coffee machine to face her. The machines smooth black panel stared back her. It was screwed closed by four little screws.

"Damn! We need a screwdriver," she cursed. Jack's forehead creased. He looked up at his beautiful bride and smiled.

"I have my SWISS ARMY Utility knife in my suit pocket," Jack announced. "That will work."

"Perfect," Lilly answered. Her face brightened. She was happy she married an Eagle Scout at that.

 Lilly watched as Jack fished out the SWISS ARMY knife from his pocket and slapped it hard into her small hand. Lilly folded her long thin fingers around the cold metal object. It was warm from being buried in his pocket. The white SWISS ARMY insignia embossed on either side of the red. She looked up into the dark eyes of her new husband and smiled.

"I knew it was wise to marry you," she whispered.

"I love you too," he answered. 

Jack leaned forward and kissed his new bride on top of her small nose. He pulled back to watch Lilly press her full lips together as she concentrated. Lilly unscrewed each tiny screw at the corners of the black large panel and placed the panel beside the coffee machine. She looked into the machine. Lilly blinked. It was pitch dark in the coffee machine. She couldn't see anything.

"You wouldn't happen to have your pocket flashlight in that pocket as well, Jack?" she asked. 

Her dark brown eyes lifted to look at her husband. a small smirk playing around the corner of her lips.

"Of course," Jack bragged."What kind of an Eagle Scout would I be if I didn't have one?"

He reached into his pocket once again and produced a small black metal flashlight linked to his car keys.

"Flashlight as ordered, madam." He slapped it in her hand.

"Thank you, new husband," Lilly whispered seductively. Her eyes darkened as she leaned over and placed a soft kiss on Jacks lips.

Lilly smiled to herself when she heard him whimper and sigh. She shined the bright white light inside the machine. The many colored wires, like colorful snakes intertwined around each other. It looked like a puzzle she wouldn't be able to solve. Lilly sighed. That thinking was defeatist. She had to fix this. She had to save her and Jack from the angry coffee lovers waiting outside in the hall; four of them already smelling blood in the water after the sixth death.

"Handkerchief!" Lilly ordered after a few minutes. She presented her hand to Jack once again.

Jack immediately pulled out the white silk handkerchief from the pocket of his suit and presented it to Lilly.Lilly plucked it out of his offered hand and softly patted at the sweat beads forming on her forehead. Shes always heard the term "Never let them see you sweat." Well, not when you are fixing coffee machines. She shook her head. Lilly raked her teeth across her bottom lip as she pulled out every tool that the SWISS ARMY had available. She selected a mini utility screwdriver and dipped slowly into the coffee machine to work on the panel behind the spaghetti wires. Sixty minutes later she pulled back from her work and swiped her arm across her forehead.

"Its no use," she sighed. "Barry's a goner like Abigail."

"No, No," Jack whined shaking his head. He turned his back to Lilly. He rested his hand on his forehead and shook his head.

She sucked in a breath and let it out slowly.

"I say we run for our lives," Lilly suggested. Her soft pink full lips stretched into a wide smile.

"Go through the back door and abandon them all in the middle of upstate New York?"Jack asked.

"Yes." Lilly nodded. Her chestnut curls bounced around her face.

Jack shook his head. He sucked in his lips and popped them out. His dark eyes grew large again and brightened when a thought came to him.

"Give me back my keys," he said. "I saw a STARBUCKS just a few blocks from here! I can go and 

get some and be back in an hour," Jack offered.

Silence.   

Jack stared at the blank expression on his wife's face.

"We are talking about our friends here, Jack," Lilly explained,"They dislike STARBUCKS coffee. They think STARBUCKS is a worldwide corporate conspiracy! you know this. we have to go. we have to save ourselves."

"You're right. Let's get out of here!"Jack answered. He grabbed Lilly's hand and took a breath. They ran out the back door of the Upstate New York hotel. They were greeted by four people outside.

"Is Barry alright?" Nicole asked. Her cheek now streaked with tears. She wrung her hands as she stared up at Lilly.

"Is Barry ok?" Tom asked. His full lips quivered.

"Can we see him?" Anna and John chimed. Both had long streaks of tears down their cheeks.

Lilly and Jack stared not believing what they were seeing. They were so wrong. Their friends were mourning the loss of their favorite kind of coffee.  Jack shrugged and Lilly turned back to the four. Lilly bowed her head and shook it.

"I'm sorry. Barry didn't make it," Lilly whispered.

The four let out a huge wail, holding each other for comfort.  And Jack and Lilly spend comforting their four friends the rest of the evening.

An hour later the bride's maid and best man presented a Cappuccino machine to the bride and groom. Lilly and Jack christened it Carlos. 

  The End.

(C)Joanna Lopez 2017