Coffee Shop Soundtrack

Karen sat at her desk in the front of the room, working on the rest of her lunch. She had broken the class up into their regular writing groups. They shared poems and stories and gave constructive criticism to each other. At least that's what went on half the class time. The other half was dedicated to idle chatter. They were seniors after all. God only knew what they had to gossip about.

"Well I don't care what you think of it!" Karen heard one of her students raise their voice. She looked up and saw Lisa Ruocco, her face tight and her eyes shiny. It looked like she was holding back tears. The rest of the class pretended to be occupied with their work, but their real focus was now on the group in the back, where Lisa was sitting. Karen went over to see what was going on.

"Is there a problem over here?" she asked, her tone even and calm. Lisa exhaled, blinking a few times. "What's the matter, Lisa?"

"I told her I didn't like her poem and she bit my head off," Alex Gaskarth, who was sitting across from Lisa, explained.

"It was about my dog dying!" Lisa spat, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Okay, sorry, but that doesn't make it a work of freakin' art!" Alex gave it right back to her.

"Enough you two. In the hall. Now." Karen followed them outside the classroom, shutting the door behind her. "Really guys? You're making me feel like I'm teaching a kindergarten class," she folded her arms over her chest. Lisa sniffled, looking down at her shoes while Alex stood silent. "Do you remember what we talked about at the beginning of the semester? About the rules of sharing work with your peers? There is no negativity in our writing groups. If you think something can be improved, you suggest it in a respectful way." She looked at Alex. "I believe you owe Lisa an apology."

There was a brief moment of awkward silence before Alex turned to Lisa. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Not bothering to look back at him, Lisa offhandedly replied, "Okay."

"All right, let's go back inside." Karen ushered the two back to their seats and returned to her desk. Sometimes she really did feel like she was working in pre-school rather than high school. Soon after, the bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. Her students packed up their things and began filing out into the hall. When she saw Alex walk past her desk, she called him back over.

"Yes, Mrs. Martin?" he asked, his voice monotone.

"Alex, you're one of my better students and I've never had a problem with you before. Why today?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know…"

Karen wasn't satisfied with that. "You and Lisa used to get along so well. In fact, I remember you specifically asking me to move you into her group. What's changed?"

Alex stared down at her, his face seeming to say: That's none of your business. He would be right too. It wasn't any of Karen's business what went on between her students, but she'd been teaching for a few years and liked getting close with her writing classes. The subject itself offered a more open environment for discussion and debate. And since she was fairly young, she liked to think that her students trusted her more than the older teachers. She really did care about them and if they had a problem, she wanted to help.

"She dumped me Saturday," Alex lowered his head. He looked sad and vulnerable. Karen hadn't expected such a confession.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Alex," she said, sympathetic. "It's still a fresh wound, that's why it hurts. I promise that it gets better in time."

"If you say so," he gripped the strap of his bag, hitching it up on his shoulder.

"Hey, believe it or not, I was a teenager once too. I know this stuff."

Alex nodded and glanced at the door. He looked back at Karen, as if asking: Are we done here? She nodded and waved him off.

"I'll see you in class tomorrow."

He hitched up his bag again and began to walk, turning around just as he stepped out into the hallway. "Thanks, Mrs. Martin."



Later that night, Karen was just hopping out of the shower, getting ready for her big night with Scott. On their bed, she had laid out a brand new cocktail dress that she'd bought over the weekend. She'd also splurged on a matching set of sexy lingerie as a surprise. After drying herself off, she slipped into the lacy material. Looking at herself in the mirror, she twirled around a few times and struck a fierce pose. She couldn't wait to see the look on Scott's face when he saw her in this.

She finished getting dressed, adding on some jewelry to pull her outfit together. Then she blew out her long, brown hair and added some loose curls to give it body. She completed the look with some makeup and spritzed herself with the perfume her husband had gotten her on her birthday. She gave herself one last twirl in the mirror before putting on her shoes and heading down the stairs. Her heart hammered against her chest with anticipation. Scott would be home any minute.

The phone suddenly began to ring. "Hello?" she picked up.

"Hey, babe. It's me." She heard Scott on the other end. She frowned at the sound of his voice. "You're going to hate me for this…" he said. She didn't even have to guess what was coming next. "Things have been hectic all day. Brady and Greg are still on vacation, so we've been short on this report and the quarter ends at midnight…" Scott trailed off.

"You can't make dinner," she said, disappointed.

"…No."

"Okay, well I could whip up something for us when you come home I guess," she offered, hoping to salvage some of their special night.

"That's sweet Kar, but I don't think you should wait up for me. It might be awhile," he said, feeling like the worst human being on the planet. He imagined her all dressed up with her hair done, wearing that perfume he'd bought for her. She probably looked stunning, even with that pout he knew was on her face right now. He had tried so hard to make sure tonight would be perfect and once again, their plans were ruined because a couple guys in the office decided to take off this week. "I'm so, so sorry."

Karen breathed in slowly through her nose, exhaling from her mouth. "No, don't worry about it. Just come home soon. I miss you." She could feel the tears burning her eyes and she tried to blink them away. She didn't just miss him since this morning. She missed him being here. She missed how he used to come home for dinner every night. She missed going to bed with him and being able to roll over and feel safe in his warm embrace.

"I miss you too," he said. "I promise, I'll make it up to you."

"Goodnight," she sighed, suddenly feeling exhausted.

Scott paused for a moment before replying, "Night, Kar."

After she hung up the phone, Karen dragged herself back upstairs and into her bedroom. She kicked off her heels and slid out of the new dress she'd gotten, hanging it in the closet. Then she went into the bathroom to wash off the makeup and tie back her hair. She grabbed a big t-shirt and a pair of Scott's sweatpants from the dresser and climbed into bed, turning on the TV they'd installed awhile ago. There wasn't much on tonight. After flipping through hundreds of channels, she finally settled on a Back to the Future marathon that was running on HBO.

She got comfortable and brought her husband's pillow to her chest, breathing in his scent. She recalled the way Alex had looked earlier today. Sad, almost heartbroken. She kind of felt that way now.

"Happy anniversary," she whispered to herself, tears rolling down her cheeks.