FFF - Flash Fiction Friday

Ok, it's Friday. Time for "Flash Fiction."
This is where you start with a prompt and you write a micro-story in 150-400 words. I reined it in at 399 words, the prompt was "He frequented Jerry's Java Hut, but not for the coffee."

He frequented Jerry’s Java Hut, but not for the coffee. The dimly lit little out-of-the-way internet cafe was within walking distance of home and he rarely encountered anyone he knew. It was the only way Max could keep regular contact with Sofia without his wife of 12 years finding out.

They shared a computer at home and Sandra was the one who usually brought the mail in and paid the bills. Communicating with Sofia from home was just too risky.

Things had become routine and dull at home in recent years. They’d come to terms with the fact they could never have children and life just carried on. Days lead to weeks and weeks to years. They just existed and he couldn’t stand it any longer. He needed more excitement in his life. He wanted to experience life, not just survive it. Sofia was helping him to accomplish this.  

Only six more weeks and he’d meet her face-to-face on the shores of the Mediterranean. She’d take him to the condo he was just finalizing the purchase of. He could hardly wait to view the Alps and sail the Mediterranean. And he would call Versilia, Italy home.

As the excitement mounted in the final weeks, Max had a hard time sleeping and an even harder time spending his days at a job he’d come to resent. It wasn’t that the job was so terrible, but that he knew he no longer needed it. Yet he had to bide his time to be sure his plan was fail safe.

He could hardly wait for that morning in June when he would call into work and tell them he was on his way to the airport so he wouldn’t be showing up for work that day, or any other day for that matter. He couldn’t wait to wake Sandra up with a gentle kiss that morning and tell her happy birthday and that they were heading to Italy in three hours.

The flight would be long and he’d have plenty of time to explain to his dear lovely Sandra that he was the unnamed local who had won the lottery last fall. They’d go through the pictures and emails from Sofia. The Tuscan Real Estate agent had gone above and beyond the call of duty to help him find and furnish the perfect new place for him and Sandra to start anew.