The Main Street Coffee Shop

The booth was three down from the entrance to the restaurant, against a long row of wide glass windows that allowed the perfect view to the long stretch of cute shops down Main Street.

The coffee shop was a cute one, cozy, warm, inviting. Everything you could ask for in a place that sold beverages meant to cuddle you like you were wrapped in a lovers embrace.

Taking a deep breath and wanting to get out of the rain, I walked up to the shop, opened the door and stepped inside. My eyes went straight to the booth, the one I told him to meet me at, the one I loved so much because it allowed me to see the world beyond and just…admire. Even on rainy days like this one, I couldn’t help but enjoy it.

I never associated rainy days with gloom and sorrow, but as the perfect opportunity to cuddle in and read a good book or watch a good movie or TV show. Gloomy days were perfect for things like that, for cuddling up by a warm fire with a cup of hot chocolate, under a slew of warm blankets and doing something that brought warmth to your heart. Because of that, I loved rainy, cloudy days. There was something about them that made me happy, so today, I thought what better way to spend it than be at the coffee shop I adored so much.

I sat nervously, wiping my sweaty hands along my pants. Shaking them out a bit, I collected myself, readying for the person who I was certain, would show up at any second.

A moment later, he did, like a figment in my mind, running across the sidewalk to the front door and into the shop, where he shook off his black coat. His blue eyes met mine and my heart was filled with a mix of emotions.

Smiling at me, he stopped before the table.

“ You’re early,” he said.

“ I wanted to get a good seat,” I replied. “ This is my favorite spot.”

“ So you’ve said. Well tell me, why is this spot so special to you?”

My eyes traveled over the lines of his face, so clear and vibrant with life. He smiled, making my heart skip a beat and my stomach do flips.

“ Take in the view,” I said. He followed my gaze towards Main Street, appreciating the beautiful view. Then his eyes traveled back to me, lighting up in a way I’d never seen before. No one had ever looked at me like that; like I was the sun and he was a planet orbiting around me.

“ Why are you giving me that look?” I asked.

He shrugged. “ Why not?”

I thought it was an odd thing to say, but let it brush off my shoulders. “ Are you going to order something?” I asked.

He glanced at the menu. “ They sell wine here? How about a bottle of merlot?”

Astounded, I asked, “ A bottle of wine, at a coffee shop? It’s 10 in the morning!”

“ Why not?” he asked. There it was. Those words again. Something about them made me take a pause. He was right, there was no reason not get a bottle of wine at a coffee shop. I mean, they sold it for a reason, but still…he was so unlike anyone I’d ever met, authentic and unbothered by what the rest of the world thought of him.

I wished I could be more like that, not care so much about what people thought of me, what the world saw when they looked at me. I thought I could use some of the confidence he was exuding.

“ So tell me something interesting about you, something not a lot of people know,” he said. It was the strangest way to begin a conversation. Most people started things off by asking what a person liked or disliked, but he was asking me to divulge a personal secret, upon meeting a total stranger.

“ There’s nothing interesting about me,” I said and I meant it. I honestly didn’t know how to answer his question because I didn’t think there was something that made me far more interesting than everyone else in the world. How did you compete with so many minds and different faces of beauty? When I thought about it, it seemed impossible.

He frowned. “ Now, I know that’s a lie.”

“ How?” I asked. “ You don’t even know me.”

“ True, but I’ve lived now for twenty-one years and I can’t say I’ve ever met someone who wasn’t interesting. The world is full of unique people, each person different from one another. What makes you stand out amongst the crowd is just being you. Would you like to know what I see?” I said nothing so he took that as the go ahead to continue. “ I see a spontaneous, lively girl who took a chance on a total stranger. I see someone who is confident and appreciates the simple beauty of the world.” He gestured towards the window. “ You have a kind soul, from what I can tell, now tell me how is that not interesting?”

It was the way he said the words, like he truly believed them. There were no lies, no tricks in order to charm me into getting something he wanted. He was being genuine and it was the first time I’d ever been on a date with someone who was.

And for a moment I started to think about myself through his eyes. I began to see myself the way he saw me, as someone unique and special.

I looked away, gazing out at Main Street, thinking about those words that echoed in my mind like a symphony I could never forget.

When I looked back across from me, he was gone.

My heart caved in my chest. I had been caught in a memory and that boy, he wasn’t really here, but he had been once. I’d been recalling our very first date. The day my life had become irrevocable.

Upon thinking about him, my heart grew heavy. He’d been so alive and full of hope when I met him and that had never changed, even after hearing his diagnosis and even on his deathbed he had been that same lively person I met two years ago, hopeful and thankful.

And the day he died, had felt like I’d become a piece of food left out in the hot sun until I rotted from the inside out, caving in until I was nothing but a shell of myself. That feeling lasted a long time, but another one accompanied it, one that taught me a valuable lesson that I carried with me everyday. I was unique and special and so incredibly interesting just the way I was. And I no longer needed the validation of the world to see that because I now saw it within myself.

This was the first time I’d come here since his passing. The first time I’d been brave enough to sit here and recall the place where I first met him, where I met the person who helped me strive to be better. Where I met the person I had grown to love so deeply. The past was painful, but it was necessary.

The barista came by the table. “ Can I get you anything?” she asked.

“ A bottle of Merlot,” I said. The barista didn’t even bat an eyelash as she vanished then a few minutes later came back and placed the bottle before me, along with a glass. I poured myself a drink and took a sip of it.

It was ten am in the morning, on a rainy day, in a coffee shop as I drank a glass of wine and while it was unconventional I couldn’t help but think of two words: Why not.