COFFEE SHOP REUNION

 

It wouldn't have been unheard of for him to run into someone he knew in a coffee shop; he knew plenty of people. He was just that type of person chatting up people he found interesting asking them what they did, as they set off an air that told him they were somebody. A perfect example of this was a woman sitting at his usual table next to the window, he liked to people watch, and this window was perfect for it. She was dressed in black and white stripes; her hair tightly pulled back so much that it gave her a natural face-lift. She had stern eyes and a look about her that spoke to her ambitiousness in life. She sat at the table, looking deeply into her Apple Air computer, possibly crunching numbers or reading something ineptly.

He stood outside, talking with an old-timer who was a regular and would tell tremendous life stories that could delight anyone. Yet, his primary victims were young college girls finding the coffee shop a great refugee when studying. He continued to wait patiently for the woman looking out of his peripheral to see her close her laptop. He excused himself from the old-timer and moved smoothly to the side of the woman, asking her what she did for a living and that he just needed to know. She explained that she was in real estate and that her first job was in marketing. He seemed fascinated as she talked, looking her in the eye nodding his head. The conversation was brief; they exchanged names and business cards. She began to glow, having a stranger want to know so much about her just out of innocent curiosity. She then exited the shop and walked across the street to another set of shops.

He set his sunglasses, book, and portfolio down on the table. Inside the coffee shop was cold, while outside was hot as the city went through a heatwave. He sat at the station, slowly acclimating to the new climate. His thoughts were between what to order and faintly on the quick conversation with this random woman. Just as he pulled out a bit of reading material to pass the time till his mind decided to proceed with an order, he saw an old friend from his University days through the window.

She looked nearly the same, maybe gained a little weight, but in the right places, which only enhanced her country girl curves. He remembered her glacier blue eyes now hidden behind a pair of dark bug-eyed sunglasses. Walking in, she scanned the shop as if she was looking for someone. She wondered if she would recognize him as he searched for her name, "Robin." He dare not say that name lest it is the wrong name, but as he continued to look in her direction, she removed her sunglasses, and with a smile, the connection was there as they recognized each other.

She walked around the table, and he stood up, and they embraced. He could feel the warmth from the heat outside still on her body, as well as her sumptuous curves. She sparkled from her Miss Me jeans, her shimmering blue top, and the impressive glint from her wedding ring. He had always admired her work from their time in school, feeling she was inaccessible; they never truly bonded. They continued to catch up. He looked her in her eyes that were still breathtaking, and he realized her smile was infectious, making him feel as if she was delighted to see him.

She informed him she was meeting with "Barbara," who was their professor at that time some ten years ago. He lamented on the thought of seeing her again, and within the flash of that thought, she was there. Everyone was smiles, he gave Barbara an embrace, a pro woman kind of professor short in stature, but a mind for design always dressed in black. The trio quickly caught up, and as soon as it began, it ended. He felt good seeing people from his past, letting himself know how far he had come. He never really knew how people from that period of his life truly felt about him losing contact with nearly everyone from that time.

He had taken another path, and it had been fruitful in its own right, but... there was no but's he was happy, and no one knows how life is going to play out or who are those you'll keep in touch with. This gave him an idea, and he ran with it. He grabbed his pen and began writing, and he let the memories fill page after page.