The Café

Upon taking in her expressions and trying to read her emotions, John figured that Katie was a mess of emotions. At one point, she looked a tad angry, however, the anger came after a stint of confusion and excitement. After the scowl passed, a smile appeared on her face.

“John, that’s great. I knew that there was a reason why you always had that ratty notebook with you. I just have one question, why didn’t you tell me sooner? I know that it’s a big part of your life, in fact, it is your entire life, but why wait so long?” she laughed at the end. The light noise lifting the worry from John.

He paused for a moment. Why did I worry about this? I should have known she would have been happy he thought.

“Well… I suppose it was because of the past actually. Whenever I was dating a girl, and don’t take this as me assuming that we’re dating, and I would tell her about The Maine, she would freak out and be angry that I wouldn’t be there all the time like her past boyfriends were able to do. Because of my career choice, I would have to miss major events in our relationship, anniversaries, birthdays, holidays, and just any other events that come with a relationship. In the end, it was because of my career choice that my past relationships did not work out.,” he said, sliding a little closer to her so that only a foot sat between the two. “I just didn’t want the same thing to happen with you, because I really value you as a person and I know that you have made an impact on my life, and I want you to continue to leave a mark on my life.” By this point, the two had moved closer so that their knees were touching. Of course this was not the first time that Katie and John had been this close, however, it was the first time that the two could feel sparks jumping from knee to knee.

Katie looked up at John, smiling lightly, happy that he seemed to care so much about what she thought of him. She was also glad that what he had to tell her was nothing very serious. Actually it was, but it wasn’t as though he was married or had children.

As quickly as John had shown up at her door, he jumped up almost sloshing his tea about. “I umm… I forgot something at home… I need to go attend to it… Sorry. I’ll umm.. see you later on… have a nice night Katie,” he rushed out the door in a hurry.

The boy sat in the driver’s seat of his truck, hands and head against the steering wheel. How could I have been so stupid, he thought. He replayed the past events in his head, as if they were on a broken film reel, watching and rewatching the mental video, analyzing every aspect of it, trying to figure out where the situation began to slip out of his grasp.

Eventually, he realized that he had lost all control of the situation before it even began; before he had even thought of the possibility of such an event. He hadn’t been as prepared for her to answer the door, hell, he wasn’t prepared at all. Any preparation he had had was quickly thrown out the figurative window, when she answered the door, wearing only socks and an oversized sweatshirt. It really was just his luck, that she would wear such an outfit. As unprepared for this situation as he was, John counted it as just being part of his life, nothing had ever gone as he planned in his life, well, not the important things anyway. The first concert that he ever did, with The Maine, he couldn’t even face the crowd. It was the most embarrassing moments of his life, until he tried to talk to Katie about his band.

Stepping foot into his house, John headed straight for the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of jack and headed into his room, to drown his insecurities with his best friend.

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

After John abruptly left her home, Katie stayed on her couch, pondering everything that had happened in the past hour, wondering when it was that something went wrong; when did she say something that had upset John enough to leave?

“Raja, everything happens this way. Everyone always leaves before things become difficult. For some reason, I expected something different from John, but I guess he is no different from anyone else,” she said getting up and walking into the kitchen to find the bottle of red wine she kept hidden in a cupboard behind some pots and pans.

She started out sipping the bitter liquid, feeling it slide down her throat, but the more she drank, the better it tasted, and the better it tasted, the more she craved, and the more she craved, the more she drank, and the more she drank, the emptier the bottle became, and the emptier the bottle became, she more inebriated she became.

Katie fell asleep on the couch with an almost empty bottle of wine setting on the coffee table.