The Café

The next day, Katie was at a loss as to what to do with her morning. She did not have a television in her apartment seeing that she did not have a need for one. She had finished all of the books in her small library and did not feel like going to the public library which was located on the other side of town. She worked on her drawings, as of late, she had been working on portraits of people she had photographed in town. Most were children or the elderly. Her favorite piece was not a portrait, it was the door to the café. Every time she touched it, she felt as though she was feeling the emotions that others had felt when they grasped that same spot.

As one thirty rolled around, Katie went to start her old van. Everyone said that she should have gotten a newer car many years ago, however, she bought the old thing when she was sixteen and found it very difficult to part ways with it as it held so many memories. Everyday, she started the 1978 VW Van about a half hour before she was ready to leave, then she would turn it off. People thought it was strange the way that she did that, but the only reason she stared it ahead of time was because if it did not start, she would have a half hour to get it to start.

However, it was going to be one of those days as the wretched van would not start. Trying everything her father had taught her, she still could not get it to turn over. One the neighbors in her apartment complex was going to his car and was able to jump start the old thing right before she had to leave for the café.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

John left work earlier than he had intended to that particular Wednesday and arrived at the café around three. His friends thought that it was odd that he would always go have coffee by himself instead of just having it at his home, but even though he liked to be by himself with no one to interrupt his thoughts, John did enjoy and look forward to the company that was provided by Lynn.

He had hoped that by leaving work early, he would be able to avoid the crowds in the café and have more time to talk to Lynn about the singing girl. If he didn't miss the crowds, he just wanted to find out her name. After his ten minute walk, he began to see the old café in the downtown strip. Holding his notebook close to his side, he hurriedly walked to the weathered door. As the old bells jingled, he heard a different voice, not the aged one that belonged to his favorite waitress; this voice was soft and sweet, shy almost.

"Well, c'mon in and find yourself a seat, I'll be right with you," the voice sang with a slight Southern drawl. John glanced around the room checking to see if he was in the right place and checked his watch to see if he came at the wrong time. He wasn't and he didn't.

John sat at his usually place, the third stool from the left side of the bar. He watched as the girl laughed with an elderly man. She had her blonde hair piled on top of her head in a large bun. She patted the man on the shoulder then walked away.

"So, besides a new notebook, what can I get you?" The girl asked glancing down at the notebook with the torn and wrinkled cover.

"It's fairly new, only a few months old, actually," he said feeling a bit awkward. "Coffee black and cream on the side but hold the sugar, please." He answered the rest of her question, thumbing the cover not really looking at the girl's face, afraid that if he did, he would forget what it was that he was going to say.

"Coming right up," she smiled.

Katie felt like an idiot, that was the regular with the notebook, she had been expecting an old man as most of the younger crowd used laptops.

She brought out his coffee and set the creamer next to it.

“Where is Lynn, she is usually here this time of day, right?” the man with the notebook asked.

It had only been an hour that she had been filling in for Lynn and had answered that same question about one dozen times, “She couldn't be here today, so she asked me to fill in for her, but she will be back tomorrow,” she smiled.

He simply nodded, then sipped his drink and returned to writing in his notebook. John wanted to talk to the girl, but was not sure what to say to her and had wanted to talk to Lynn before he carried on a conversation with the blonde girl. As she passed by him, she left the check. Normally, he would have ignored it, having memorized the price of his drink but, she had left it with the back facing up scrawled across in a very unfeminine writing it read ‘Have a great day! -Katrina’

Now he knew her name. Katrina, he thought, it fit her, however he thought it should have been Kate or something more free spirited, not so professional sounding. He left a benevolent tip and walked out of the building without a word.

Katie looked back over at the spot where the boy had sat and found herself being a little disappointed that he hadn't spoken to her more than he did. However, she brushed off the feeling and continued to serve the other patrons, smiling and carrying on short conversations with them soon forgetting about the boy with the red notebook.