Eitilt: Catch a Falling Star

The coffee shop was a small one, brightly lit in the morning sun, as the light filtered in through the wide paned windows that faced the street. I had been here before, enough times to be a regular. After all our town wasn’t that big, there was four coffee shops, and seeing as half of them were franchises, the two that were left un-commercial were visited often. Sally’s was actually my favourite, as the man who owned it was our neighbour to the south, and our families were close. I smiled, and waved at Jim the owner, as I scanned the small shop.

My eyes drifted over the overstuffed chairs and lounges of the far side of the shop, were bookworms and morning gossipers resided. Not seeing dark hair and hazel eyes, I quickly scanned the side closest to me, over the small tables and chairs and the heads down over newspapers and cellphones. My heart sank a little as I couldn’t see Nicholas, and just as I turned to leave, I heard him call out.

“Jane! Over here.” I spun around, and saw a smiling Nicholas sitting at the counter. He had a small black leather bound book in his hand, and I noticed a large ring glisten as he waved me over.

“Hey,” I smiled, walking over and taking a stool next him, “Here,” I handed back his coat, and felt his fingers trail along my hand as he took the soft grey fabric. I held back a shiver, as his fingers left my skin.

“Thanks,” His grin was luminous, and I felt small gooseflesh rise on my arms. Oh my God, what was wrong with me? I was just devastated over McKenna and Ashton, and now I’m acting like some preteen with a school crush…

I cleared my throat, “Did you want a coffee or something?”

“It’s on me,” His smile never fell, “Get whatever.”

A soft smile traced my lips, as I looked down, “Uh, ‘kay.” He laughed, as Jim came over to us.

“What’ll it be, Missy?” Jim was a heavier set man, in his early forties. Kind, although people often jumped to conclusions about him, as he had a thick beard and loved to wear suspenders even with his coffee stained white t-shirt. But he was a good person, in fact I remembered when I was seven and had the flu, he drove all the way through a snowstorm to the next town over to get me medicine, because my mother was at work and my father couldn’t leave us kids. Yes, he was a good man.

“The usual, Jim.” I smiled, brushing some loose hair out of my face to the rest of my ponytail.

“One black coffee, coming up. And you, Son?” Jim asked, turning to Nicholas.

“I’ll take a double,” His voice was kind, and the way he talked to Jim made me smile bigger. He wasn’t thrown off by his appearance, and that made the difference to me.

“Thanks Jim!” I called, as he went to get our orders. He waved over his shoulder, and I smiled.

“You look lovely today,” Nicholas’ voice was quiet, but sweet. I felt the crimson creep onto my cheeks.

“Thank you,” I laughed off my embarrassment and grabbed the closest thing to fidget with.

“Of course, Jane.” Nicholas chuckled, and watched me with curious eyes as I ran my fingers around the base of the glass sugar container. “So tell me,” He started, and I raised my eyes as my ‘hmm’ accompanied my interest, “How does a shop keeper, like Jim, have a coffee shop named ‘Sally’s’?”

I laughed at that one, “Good question, actually.” I continued to toy with the glass container, “Jim got the coffee shop about seven or eight years ago, from a lady named Sally Walters. Now Sally was very adamant that when Jim bought the place, he had to change everything. Sally had some hard feelings over having to sell, but she was elderly and just couldn’t afford to keep Sally’s Tea House open anymore,” I paused, looking over to Jim who was laughing with another neighbour over a cup of coffee.

“Anyways, Jim being the man he is, felt bad for poor Sally. She had to sell the place she knew better than her own home, and loved more than she knew was possible. And Jim wanted to make it better for her, anyway he could. So when he reopened the coffee shop, he invited Sally to the grand re-opening. And when they yanked that cloth off the sign, Sally never looked happier. Jim had changed a lot, but he kept the thing that mattered, her legacy.” I smiled, looking down at the sugar shaker, and then up at Nicholas, “He dropped the ‘Tea House’ but promised it would always stay as Sally’s, and that she was more than welcome any time to come over for a cup of peppermint tea.”

“That sounds truly noble,” Nicholas looked at Jim, his eyes full of respect.

“Yeah,” I trailed off wistfully, “That’s Jim for you.” Moments later, Jim looked up and caught my eyes. He smiled a genuinely happy smile, and went back to the coffee machines and whir of the shop.

“You admire him a lot, don’t you?” Nicholas’ voice interrupted my little spaced out moment.

“W-Well yeah,” I laughed, turning to Nicholas, “Y’know, good people are a dying breed.”

“Don’t I know it!” His chuckle was deep and full of amusement, but a small tinge of something else held to his words, and made me pause. I looked him over carefully, and saw the warm smile on his face. But he also looked so much smarter than his years, and the wisdom in his eyes made my chest squeeze. I didn’t know what it was, but I felt so comfortable around Nicholas, like he was always meant to be beside me, in this moment at the coffee shop, or in any other moment.

“Two coffees, one black, one double.” Jim’s voice broke me from my reverie.

“Great, thank you!” I giggled, taking my giant saucer from him, and took a gentle sip.

“How much will it be?” Nicholas asked, opening his little leather book to reveal a money clip.

“It’s on the house, this time.” Jim chuckled, using his hand to close Nicholas’ book.
Nicholas smiled, and nodded appreciatively as Jim went on to the rest of his business.

“You don’t seem very surprised,” Nicholas said slowly, lifting his mug to his lips.

“Jim never lets me pay,” I laughed, feeling a little guilty for not mentioning it, “It’s almost ritual by now.”

Nicholas laughed heartily, “I see.” His laugh continued, “Granted, I also didn’t take you as a black coffee drinker.”

It was my turn to laugh, “Putting anything else in just takes away from the flavor!” I wiped a dribble of coffee from the rim of my cup, “If you put anything else in your coffee, you’re enjoying the taste of the stuff not the coffee.”

“Well then I suppose I enjoy the taste of two sugars and two creamers.” Nicholas’ voice was infectious, full of light and laughter, and it made my stomach tighten, “So tell me about yourself, Jane.”

I blushed, taking another hot sip of my coffee, “What would you like to know?”

“How about you start from the beginning,” His voice was curious and warm, “And then we can go from there.”

“Well, let’s see. The beginning is a very long time ago,” I set my cup down laughing, “Uhm, where to begin? Well, I have two siblings. Two very annoying, time consuming siblings. There’s McKenna,” I almost choked on her name, and Nicholas noticed as he shifted in his seat. I cleared my throat, “But you already met her. I also have a younger brother, Peter. You’d like him, he’s of the dying breed of good people.”

Nicholas smiled, and I folded my hands on the counter, “And then there are my parent’s I suppose; my mum is a nurse at the hospital a town over, and my father is a farmer. We all our, I guess. Farming is in my blood, not that I’d ever accept it.” I said off hand.

“Why not?” Nicholas asked curiously.

“Farming isn’t what I want to do with my life, not by a long shot.” I smiled, suddenly enthusiastic, “I wanna do something that means something, y’know? I wanna paint and travel the world. I want to drink Italian coffee on an island shore, or dance to reggae music in the heart of Jamaica. There is so much I want to do, and I can’t do that from the fields around here.”

“You don’t like it here?”

“Well I wouldn’t say that,” I picked at my fingers, “I like it enough, but I don’t want to spend the rest of forever here. I have family here, friends here, I mean I grew up here. But I don’t want to be trapped here, I want to see the world and find myself…”

“Finding yourself is awfully hard to do,” Nicholas was quiet, and I paused thinking for a moment.

“Have you ever had that feeling, that overwhelming feeling that you just wish you could get up and fly away from it all; to soar above everything, and feel free? Feel like everything you have, everything you want is all you may ever need. That the goodness of people, the safety of yourself, the appreciation of art, and beauty and love is real and tangible. That the world is full of peace and serenity, and just…” I looked down, smiling to myself, “Just full of magic.”’

Nicholas seemed to be away, floating on his own thoughts, “Flying isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”

I laughed, “So maybe flying is impossible, because I’ll never have wings.” Nicholas smiled at me, “But being able to enjoy the world? I’ll do that someday.” I continued, wistfully.

Nicholas reached over suddenly, and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear gingerly, “I’m sure you will.” I blushed hard, when Nicholas rested his fingers against my temple.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

Nicholas fingers swept gently down my temple, and to my cheek before he pulled away. He cleared his throat, “Of course, Jane.”

I felt a shiver rise on my spine, and I shook it away gently, “So what are your plans for today?” I took a sip from my coffee, and dutifully avoided eye contact with Nicholas.

“Well, that depends.” Nicholas started.

My curiosity got the better of me, and I peeked up at him from beneath my bangs, “And why’s that?”

“Because I don’t know what you’re doing yet,” A grin broke out on his face, and I couldn’t help but smile in return. Those tingles on my spine came back again.

“Didn’t you have errands to run?” I giggled, feeling light and happy.

He drained the last few sips of his coffee, “I did them all. I only have to meet up with my brothers and give them this, later.” He gestured to his leather bound book.

I desperately tried to think of something, “Well we could meet up with them now if you’d like. I haven’t got any plans, and if it’s all the same to you, I’d rather not head home.”

“Because of your sister?” As soon as the words left his mouth, it felt like a cold wind had picked up, and slapped me hard across the face.

I drew in a shaky breathe, trying to push down the rising emotions of torment and sickness. Wiping a hair nervously from my face, I cleared my face but my voice betrayed me, “Y-Yeah.”

Suddenly his hand was on my shoulder, gripping gently, “I’m sorry, Jane. I didn’t mean to – it must be so hard – that was… and I should have…” He took a very deep breathe in frustration, “I meant I’m sorry, that was insensitive of me.”

I used the back of my hand, to try and wipe away the traitorous tear that had sneaked its way from my eye and onto my cheek. I tried to do it inconspicuously, but Nicholas noticed. “It’s okay,” I whispered.

And then it was warm, and all I knew was the Nicholas had hugged me. Sparks erupted everywhere, like prismatic spears of light and jolts of energy poured through me, as he wrapped his arms around my shoulders and pulled my tightly to him. I found my hands against his chest, my fingers knotted in the soft grey fabric of his t-shirt, my head buried in the crook of his collarbone, as he squeezed me tightly.

“No,” He sighed, his words barely audible, “It is most certainly not okay.”

I felt the warmth of the hug growing, his arms wrapped around me keeping me safe. And that cold wind that had swept up on me like the bitter bite of an early fall gust off the coastline, was gone. The cold harsh reality fading, as Nicholas held fast to me. My heart beat so hard, I swear he could hear me.

“I’m so, so sorry, Jane.” Nicholas whispered.

As one hand found the back of my head and the other cradled my shoulders, I realized his chest smelt of campfire smoke, and vanilla, and something else that I just couldn’t place. I took another
shaken breathe, and gripped his chest tighter. A single tear fell from my eyes, “I forgive you.”

I felt Nicholas sigh out, relief washing over him as he held me tighter. Although he gripped me, and held me close the embrace was surprisingly gentle. And his chest rose and fall with breaths that grew calmer by the second. And then it ended.

We pulled apart, and sort of just stared at each other. More or less at a loss of words, as our eyes scanned each other’s faces. Nicholas slowly reached up, and wiped the tears from my eyes, “I really am sorry,” He said softly, “For everything.” He rested his thumb on my cheek.

I grabbed his hand, holding it in place, “I know.” I said assuring.

Because it was true, the way he looked, like all the pain in the world that I felt was mimicked inside his own soul. The pain, the anguish, the torment; he reflected all of my emotions back at me, the empathy he felt surpassing anything I had ever known. I felt my heart squeeze.

I let go of his hand, “We’d better finish up here, then.” I swallowed the last few big mouthfuls of my coffee, and let Nicholas take me by the hand to lead me from the coffee shop.

“See you, Jim!” Nicholas shot a wave and a broad smile behind us on our way out, and I genuinely smiled as the emotions from seconds ago faded, and I was wrapped back in the warmth of the summer day. Nicholas turned to me, “Did you drive here?”

“Yeah, I’m parked over there,” I gestured to my SUV, “Did you?”

“Oh, I don’t have a vehicle. I walk pretty much everywhere.” Nicholas looked up at the sky laughing.

“Where did you say you were living?” I was curious.

He looked down from the sky, and I met his hazel eyes. There was a small smirk on his face, “A farmhouse on the north of town, we’re renting it out from the Davis family.”

My jaw nearly hit the ground, “You’re staying at the Davis Ranch?” The Davis’ were wealthy cattle ranchers, who were recently retired and living in Arizona. I knew they were renting out their luxurious house, but I didn’t think that his family was staying there.

Nicholas nodded, and I swear my jaw dropped even farther, “And you walked all the way from there to here?” He nodded again, and I had to force my gaping mouth shut.

"That's so far though!" I was shocked beyond belief, "That's it, I'm definitely coming with you now. Come on!" I grabbed him by the wrist, and felt my face heat as I dragged him towards my SUV. My feet made loud clopping noises, like a horse on the pavement. He didn't resist my tugging, and followed me willingly as he chuckles behind. I pulled him all the way to the passenger side, and dropped his wrist, blushing hard.

"Thanks," He laughed, his face lighting up.

I then realised how foolish I must have seemed, dragging some boy down the street, "W-Well yeah. No problem."

"I'm serious," His laugh was gentle, and comforting as he tucked a teal flyaway back into place, "Now, let's get going, shall we?"

I smiled, unlocking my vehicle and moving around to my side. We both climbed in, and I instantly rolled down the windows and turned the radio up. I looked over at Nicholas mischievously, "Kind Sir, if it pleases you so, may you buckle your seatbelt?"

"As you wish, M'Dear," He dipped his head in a bowing nod of assent with a subtle smirk, and it was something in the action that caught me; something that screamed to my senses that this was something so familiar, so natural to him. It was as if he had done it a million times over, and yet was a master by right. A gesture so noble, so smooth and infinite. It was like it was an extension of himself, so much so that he could do it as easily as breathing. And it made my heart pause.

I cleared my throat hard, and threw a shaky smile at him. Something about the simple action had made my insides quiver with familiarity and recognition, and it made me feel so overwhelmingly unbalanced that I had to mentally check myself, before slamming my SUV into reverse and pulling from the coffee shop.