PART 2: YOU OWE ME TWO
Colonel Reed stared at Noah.
Noah stared straight ahead.
Sergeant Miller stared at the floor because he knew eye contact with anyone would make him laugh.
Reed lifted the cup.
“You drank almost all of it.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Without asking.”
“Yes, sir.”
“My coffee.”
Noah hesitated.
“Yes, sir.”
Reed took the final sip.
Then he made a face.
“This is cold.”
Noah’s exhausted brain betrayed him.
“It was warm when I stole it, sir.”
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Miller turned away.
One soldier covered his mouth.
Noah’s eyes widened.
He had actually said it.
“Sir, that’s not what I—”
Reed raised a hand.
Noah stopped.
The colonel stared at him for another three seconds.
Then—
he laughed.
The entire room exhaled.
“Carter, how long have you been awake?”
“Nineteen hours, sir.”
“That explains the coffee.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Does it explain admitting to theft in front of your commanding officer?”
“No, sir.”
That broke Miller.
He laughed first.
Then half the room followed.
Even Reed smiled.
But the colonel wasn’t finished.
He walked to his office.
Noah looked at Miller.
“Am I dead?”
“Professionally?”
Miller shrugged.
“Ask me in thirty seconds.”
Reed returned carrying a sealed bag of coffee.
He dropped it onto the table in front of Noah.
Noah stared at it.
“Sir?”
Reed pointed at the empty cup.
“You owe me two tomorrow.”
Noah blinked.
“Two coffees?”
“One replacement.”
Reed tapped the bag.
“And one interest payment.”
The room laughed again.
“Yes, sir.”
Reed started walking away.
Then stopped.
“And Carter?”
“Sir?”
“Next time you see unattended coffee in this building…”
Noah waited.
“Assume it outranks you.”
“Yes, sir.”
By breakfast, everyone on base seemed to know.
Noah walked into the dining hall and found a handwritten paper sign beside the coffee machine:
CARTER — ASK FIRST.
He removed it.
Ten minutes later, another appeared.
Someone placed an empty mug on his desk with a note:
PROPERTY OF THE GENERAL.
There wasn’t even a general on the base.
By lunch, Noah had acquired a nickname.
“Coffee Bandit.”
He hated it.
Which guaranteed it would survive.
The following morning, Noah arrived early.
He carried two fresh coffees.
One for Colonel Reed.
One as promised.
He placed them carefully on the commander’s desk.
Reed entered.
He examined both cups.
“Which one is mine?”
“Both, sir.”
“Smart.”
Noah nodded.
“I’ve learned.”
Reed picked one up.
Noah turned to leave.
“Carter.”
Noah stopped.
“Yes, sir?”
Reed pointed toward the second cup.
“You look terrible.”
Noah glanced at it.
Then at Reed.
“Permission?”
“Granted.”
Noah picked it up.
He took a sip.
Reed smiled.
“See how easy that was?”
For the next several months, Noah never touched an unattended drink.
Not once.
Then one morning, Sergeant Miller entered the operations room and saw a fresh cup of coffee sitting alone on a table.
He looked left.
He looked right.
Then reached for it.
From across the room came Noah’s voice.
“Sergeant.”
Miller froze.
Noah slowly lowered his newspaper.
“You know whose coffee that is?”
Miller looked at the cup.
Then toward Colonel Reed’s closed office door.
His hand retreated immediately.
Noah smiled.
“That’s what I thought.”
Miller pointed at him.
“Not one word.”
Noah raised his coffee.
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
Then Reed’s office door opened.
Both soldiers immediately became very interested in their work.
The colonel looked at them.
Then at his untouched coffee.
A small smile appeared.
He picked up the cup and walked away.
Noah waited until the door closed.
Then whispered:
“Told you. It outranks us.”