Life as I Know It

Connie sat down at the corner table.  She put down her coffee and looked around the place, a wistful smile on her face.  She used to be a regular at this coffee shop.  It’s been a while…

She looked at her streaming coffee.  She didn’t know why she came here in the first place.  The place was just so full of memory.  Yes.  The tab used to be for a cappuccino and an Americano.  She used to be sitting across him, talking and smiling like it was the last thing in the world.

It all started here.  In this coffee shop as ordinary as the one at the next corner.  A random encounter turned into a short-lived affair.  So short there wasn’t even a decent ending.  He just vanished.  What ever happened to the “20 + 10 contract”?  What was really on his mind? 

Has it been only a year?  Barely.  What was that all about?  So many unanswered questions, haunting, hurting her.

Connie was roused from her revelry.  From across the street she was seeing something she never expected.  Not around here anyway.  It’s him!  He looked the same as the last time she saw him.  He wasn’t alone though.  Despite the sickening feeling, she had to admit that they look good together.  Man, wife, kid and baby.

She looked at the now stale coffee.  Slowly Connie stood.  She stepped back and once again looked around the coffee shop, taking in all the details.  She closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of the place, all the memories flooding into her senses.  Reluctant, she opened her eyes and turned to the window.  She looked at them again, taking a mental picture.

Connie left the coffee shop.  Slow footsteps taking her away from it and away from him.  She looked back once.  Twice.  And then walked on with a steady pace.  There’s life in her footsteps now and a smile on her lips.  She’s free and at peace.  At last.

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Curtain Call

September 15, 2007

83 p cruz