The Coffee Shop

Here is the inspiring prompt Right Here, Yo

The aroma of fresh coffee permeated the room, blending with a brisk October air entering through the front door of the coffee shop. Customers came in and were greeted with a ringing bell that hung carelessly from the glass door. After removing their coat, they would take a seat near the fire place to wait for their waitress and to shake off the cold rain from the chill New York morning. I watched them come and go from my seat by the window. I peered at the glass and studied the drops of rain slowly racing down the window. I searched for inspiration in my surroundings but came up devoid of anything close to a muse.

            I turned my attention back to my cold coffee, which sat untouched, and the empty pages littered in front of me that provided little to no relief. A deep sign left my lips and I closed my tired eyes, listening to the rain pellet the glass; a sound that slowly calmed my fraught mind.

            The bell from the front door rang through my focus. Opening my eyes I was stunned by the familiar man walking to the counter. I observed him carefully, raking my memories in hopes of remembering the man. Once again my attempt was fruitless and my optimism for finding an old friend was replaced with misfortune. Rolling my eyes, I pushed the idea out of my mind and immersed my thoughts in desire for the paper in front of me to miraculously fill with a plot of love, adventure, and excitement, an idea that will sell and pay my bills.

            Feeling curious, I took a glance up at the stranger for one last time. He smiled at the coffee shop clerk and laughed. My breath was lost at his smile. I knew that smile and memories flooded back to me which filled my heart with a deep sadness. It mourned for the loss of a man who once was my childhood sweetheart.

             Suddenly, the coffee shop setting faded and the distinct smell of coffee was replaced with fresh cut grass. Once again I was sitting on top of the rock fence that over looked our town park. Looking out into the distance and gazing at the setting sun as it fell behind a tall hospital building. Looking over to my left I saw him, a young dark haired boy with deep brown eyes, he smiled at me. His eyes bright, smile white, and dimples apparent. My heart melted remembering the days of warm afternoons, our time spent sitting on the rock fence in the middle of our small sleepy town, watching the football team practice in the summer heat, and when we grew bored, we would walk to the gas station for soft served ice cream. Our first kiss was in sophomore year on the elementary school play ground. I can recall the way it felt, my knees getting weak, my heart pounding from excitement, and the warmth of fulfillment. Four years back, when I when I first left my home town, I would crave for the late night conversations on the phone and falling asleep to the sound of his voice. This would have been a comfort to put an end to the lonely nights as a college student.

            We were young and in a relationship beyond our age, and as most relationships do, our ended with heartbreak and without closure. We slowly grew apart. I went away to college and became a writer. I moved to New York when my first novel published and hit the top seller list. My dreams were too big for our small town. I was brave and had the ambition to reach them. He was not as successful, during his junior year he turned to drugs to cope with family issues, he learned not to trust from heart break and became a womanizer. This thought had burdened me and though he broke my heart, I still cared.

He still felt like my best friend, but through time this feeling was forgotten. Soon after high school my life became busy, and my focused shifted to my future. I moved on, but sometimes I would look back and wonder what it would be like to see him again and to talk about where our lives had taken us, or if he was proud of me. If I had a reason to be proud of him.

            I wanted to know if he ever reached his dreams, or traveled to the places we talked about, if he ever found happiness. I wanted to see if I knew him as well as I used to and if he still knew me. I wondered if he missed the summer nights, as I do, and long for a better time when life was as simple as watching the sun disappear behind the horizon, buying ice soft served ice cream for the joy of doing so, or kissing someone who made you feel whole.

            Once again the bell rang, the front door closed behind him, and my train of thought was killed. I stared out the window, passed the drops of racing water, and at the man I used to know and love. As he walked passed me, he fixed his gaze on mine, and gave me the same smile he used to. I smiled back knowing he knew who I was and with a nod of his head, disappeared among the mob of people.

            I could have stopped him. I could have ran after him and asked every question that has crossed my mind in the six years we have been apart. We could be reuniting our separate lives right now, I would be meeting him all over again, or even meeting a new and hopefully sober man that I could love, but I didn’t. When I saw his smile, I remembered our happy summer days and in that moment I was reunited with the memory of a boy that held my heart. He knew that he had changed, as we all do, and that he was no longer that boy and I wasn’t the girl he used to love. Both of them had long passed through the growth of time and experience. That even if I had run out into the rain to stop him, I would not be reuniting with my love but with a man who has been through hell, fought his demons, and came back with only half of who he originally was. It was only through his never changing grin that I was reunited with the boy from my childhood, and in some twisted sense, we had met once again on the rock fence were we would spend our warm summer afternoons.