Half Cup of Tea

submitted by Cynthia Beresford, UK

Jeremy, who was a very timid young man, had one or two little manias. One of these was that he never wanted more than half a cup of tea. Mostly, though, people were too thoughtless or too generous and they always seemed to fill his cup up.
This girl he met, the daughter of friend of his mother’s, she asked him:
“ Would you like a cup of tea?”
“ Just half , if you don’t mind”
She poured him exactly half a cup.
Over the next few weeks they got to know each other better and nine months on they got engaged.
When he had timidly given her the ring she asked:
“ What was it about me that……?”
He smiled: “I asked you for half a cup of tea and you gave me what I asked for”
She blushed: “It was a terrible moment, that was all I had left in the pot…… I felt awful.”