Heart's Key

I pulled my jacket tighter around me, breathing out a puff of air that turned white in the crisp, October evening as I opened the door to a Starbucks that I would always go to after work.

It was Halloween and the weather was perfect for the occasion; cloudy, windy, cold, and it looked like it was about to rain any minute now.

I shivered as soon as the warm air that smelled like cinnamon and coffee hit my face when I stepped into the cheery but slightly cramped room. With a smile, I noticed that the place was decorated with miniature pumpkins that had glowing, fiery eyes, and delicate, paper bats which were hung on clear strings all around the tiny tables and fogged up windows.

This is why I liked this place, it was the smallest, coziest and friendliest Starbucks you would ever find in New York City. It was also the place where I did most of my work for the Rolling Stone, where I worked as a journalist. I didn't interview any bands that I liked, it was mostly crappy local ones, and they didn't pay me nearly well enough, but I was doing something that I loved while managing to keep a roof over my head, and that was all that mattered. Besides, it would be a miracle for me to be one of the 'top' journalists anyway, seeing that I was only twenty-two years old and still fresh out of Rutgers University.

"Hello, Dani," Brian, one of the clerks, greeted me as I took off my heavy, suffocating scarf, which had a couple of dry leaves stuck to it, along with my jacket. "The usual, I presume?"

I smiled and nodded, opening my purse for my wallet. Just when I was about to hand Brian $2.99 for my black coffee, the door opened again, making me shudder, seeing that now I was only in my sweater.

"Here you go," I said, putting three dollar bills into Brian's waiting hand. "Have a safe Halloween, Brian."

He grinned and I could almost read the thoughts in his head through his facial expression. Brian was around eighteen years old, and of course for him this autumn holiday meant a late night party and a splitting headache in the morning. For me this was just another day where I would stay in Sturbucks till their closing time, writing another article or editing one of my interviews, and then head back to my small apartment, where I would stay up till 1 AM doing further work.

Oh, the glamourous life of a struggling journalist, I thought glumly, thanking Brian as he handed me my coffee, something that I could not live without due to my late nights and early mornings.

With a sigh I turned around to go and get some napkins from the little table that held straws, sugar, creamers, and anything else that would make a caffeine addict happy, when the door opened once again, escorting icy breeze and dry, orange and yellow leaves.

I stared at the culprit. He looked like he was in his early 20s, with shoulder length black hair and pale skin that looked like porcelain. His gave off a relaxed and comfortable vibe in his faded jeans, beat up Converse, black coat and dark blue scarf.

Our eyes connected for a brief second and he gave me a small smile, which made my heart jolt somewhere deep inside my chest. Quickly breaking eye contact, I shook my head trying to rid myself of silly thoughts about strangers in coffee shops and I quickly made my way to my original destination.

I grabbed a couple of napkins and stuffed them into my backpack next to my trusty lap top where I kept all my work and stories that I wrote in my spare time. That was my dream; I wanted to be a novelist, but I also knew that dreams and reality were two different things and that I was better of with the latter.

A sudden vibrating in the left pocket of my jeans startled me out of my thoughts. Taking a deep breath to slow down my racing heart beat, I grabbed my cell phone, and glancing at the caller ID brought it to my ear.

"Hey."

"Dani," came my best friend's excited voice, "where are you, man?"

"Where I usually am at this time," I replied tiredly, playing with a sugar packet, "that Starbucks on the 4th street, doing my work."

"So you're not going to Amy's party, I take it?"

I cringed at the disappointment in Jared's voice. "You know I can't. I would love to, but I really can't, Jay-Jay."

There was silence on the other end and I could make out the faint sound of chatter and music.

"Are you still there," I asked desperately. The last thing I wanted was for my best friend and roommate to be mad at me for something that was beyond my reach of control.

"Yeah," came his bitter voice, "it's just that you said you would. Youpromised me, actually."

I put my coffee cup on the counter so I could run a hand through my dark brown hair in frustration. "I know, but I had another interview and my boss wants the article by tomorrow. I'm sorry."

"Hey, look it's okay," he tried to reassure me, his tone sounding anything but. "I know how work gets. Listen, I've got to go. Call me when you realize that you're slaving away your life."

"Jared," I started shakily, feeling my eyes glaze over from his unfairness and fatigue, "it's not my fau-"

I snapped the phone shut angrily as I realized that I was talking to a dead line, "damn it all."

Blinking away the tears, I put my cell back into my pocket and turned around to find a table so I could 'slave' away to my work, as Jared kindly put it.

Spotting a free table by the window, I took a step forwards, planning to make it my workplace for another four hours or so, but just as I was about halfway there, somebody bumped into me, causing my cup off coffee to fly from my hands and onto the clean, marble floor.

I closed my eyes slowly, anger and disappointment running through my body like an electric shock, could this day get any worse?

"Shit," someone besides me murmured, their voice sounding strangely melodic. "Are you okay?"

I turned around sharply, ready to take my anger out on the unfortunate person who almost knocked me off my feet.

"Actually," I started heatedly, but my voice faltered when I once again met the amber eyes which gazed at me with genuine worry and concern, "I'm fine. I'm okay."

The stranger who smiled at me before bit his bottom lip, not at all looking convinced. "You look like you're about to cry."

He was right, I could feel my eyes glazing over for the second time today. Not because of what he did, but just because I was having a really bad day from the beginning, and the wasted coffee just triggered my tears.

"N-no I'm not," I tried to protest, but a single tear that rolled down my cheek completely contradicted me.

The man looked at me in thought as I silently cursed myself out for being such a pansy. I wasn't even that upset, I was just...tiered.

"Listen," my ocean blue eyes darted to the man's pale face as he looked a bit uncomfortable, shuffling his weight from foot to foot. "I feel really bad about this, so how about I buy you another cup of whatever you were having and you can tell me what's on your mind. You clearly need to get something off your chest, and sometimes talking to a complete stranger helps."

I was taken aback. Out of all things, the last part was not something I expected him to say. But the hell with it, you should try everything at least once in you life, and if it helped me to get that sinking feeling in my stomach out, I was more than willing to do just that.

"Okay."

He looked relieved.

"Well, uh, there's a free table over there," he gestured to where I was walking before the incident, "so we could sit there, yeah?"

I nodded and started to slowly walk towards the table, thinking that the whole situation was a bit, well, bizarre. This wasn't me. The Danielle Thomson that I knew would never agree to have coffee with a complete stranger, never mind share her problems. But this was Halloween, and you know what they say, 'On Halloween, magical things happen', and this was clearly one of them.

"Uh," I looked up, only to be greeted with his nervous smile, "what were you having? I ran off without asking."

"Black coffee," I replied, laughing softly.

He grinned. "Right. I'll be right back."

I watched his retreating back, thinking that I didn't even know his name, He didn't look like Matt, Ryan, or even Jake. No, in my opinion his name would be elegant and captivating, something like James, maybe Daniel, or even-

"I'm Gerard, by the way," he interrupted my thoughts, sitting down across from me, and extending my new cup of coffee. "Gerard Way. I know that this is an, uh, unusual situation to meet in, but I hope that you don't think that I'm a complete moron."

I smiled, glad to finally place a name with his face. "I'm Danielle Thompson, but I go by Dani, and don't worry, I don't. I'm sorry that I overreacted back there, it's just that I'm having a really, really shitty day today. Which totally sucks because Halloween is my favorite holiday."

Gerard looked at me sympathetically, "I know exactly how you feel. Just remember, whenever you're down and think you hit rock bottom, things can only go up from there."

I took a sip of my coffee, feeling more relaxed as the smouldering liquid warmed me up from the inside and out.

"You're right, it's just that my boss is so hard on me sometimes, that I often end up," I gestured at myself, "like this. Plus I just had a fight with my best friend about a stupid thing like a party, so when you tripped me, I guess it pulled the trigger on all the emotions I kept inside all week."

Gerard toyed with his cup, while tucking a strand of silky, black hair behind his ear. "Ouch, sounds harsh. Who do you work as, if you don't mind me asking?"

"A journalist," I replied bitterly, "and since I'm not that high up in rank, I spend all my days working, plus half of the nights too, making me pretty much a social hermit."

He laughed, his warm, honey eyes twinkling with amusement. "I'm sure it's not that bad."

I shook my head, chuckling, "nah, you're right. It's way worse. So what is your choice of a job, Mr. Way?"

"Well," he started, pushing away his coffee cup so he could focus his attention directly at me. "I used to work for Cartoon Network, but I realized that the life I was living didn't exactly suit me after I experienced September eleven," Gerard shut his eyes, almost like he was reliving a memory. "Now I'm getting together a band with one of my friends, and I hope to change some lives through my music. I seriously don't think we'll make it big, but it's worth a shot."

I put aside my steaming cup as well, "Gerard, go for it. Seriously. Don't be like me and work your life away for companies like Rolling Stone and Cartoon Network. You never know, maybe you won't change just one life, but millions."

He smiled hopefully at me. "You really think so?"

I picked up my coffee again. "I know so."

"So wait a minute, nobody realized you were a guy?" I laughed heartily as Gerard finished telling me a story where he dressed up in drag for school.

"No," he chuckled, flashing me a wide grin. "I don't know if it's a good or a bad thing."

"Uh, guys?"

We turned around to face Brian, who was looking at us both with a small smile on his face. "It's closing time."

"Oh, crap," I looked at my watch, "I need to go! I have an article to finish."

Gerard looked at me with disappointment in his eyes as I hastily put on my jacket. "I know that you have a busy schedule, but I was wondering if you...if you wanted to grab some dinner or something, some time in the future?"

I let the scarf I was tying lay limply on my shoulders as my heart gave another jolt, and a pure, disbelieving simile formed on my face. "Are you serious?"

He looked down quickly. "I mean, that is if you want to, and if you don't already have a boyfriend, which I highly doubt when you look like you do, bu-"

"Gerard," I interrupted his nervous rumbling, "I would love to."

He looked up, the fire in miniature jack-a-lanterns eyes that were strategically placed around the room giving his pale face a warm glow. "Really? Oh, than you'll need my number. Or vice versa?"

I took out my cell phone as we started to walk towards the door. "How about both? I know for a fact I will be to chickenshit to call you first."

Gerard laughed and opened the door for me, letting the cold, windy air wash over us. "I love your honesty. You don't find that in many people nowadays."

I smiled, feeling lucky that I met someone like Gerard. Someone who I didn't need to act around and feel like I had certain standards that I had to measure up to.

We exchanged numbers under a streetlight, pitch black darkness surrounding us along with the sound of Halloween festivities that were raging on every corner.

"Well, till Tuesday then," Gerard smiled at me, sliding his hands into the pockets of his coat when we made sure that we had a way of contacting each other.

I nodded, following his example, feeling happiest that I've been in years. "Till then. Happy Halloween, Gerard."

"You too," he replied, and with a last heart warming look, he turned around to walk opposite direction than me.

I stared at his disappearing form, not quite believing that the last three hours were real. That he was real.

I turned on my heel and started my ten minute walk towards the subway, thinking about how he was gone with a gust of wind and dry, autumn leaves.

"Just like magic," I whispered to no one in particular, smiling to myself.