Abrielle Johnson
Honors American Lit.
Mrs. Waterman
10/6/21
Will used to go to the Small Town coffee shop every morning. It was the perfect name for it since it was a coffee shop in a small town. However, it has been four years since he has entered it. His old girlfriend used to work there so it would be awkward if he had continued to partake in the consumption of the shop’s coffee. It has been a really long time since he has been there though. He stopped in his tracks in front of the shop’s window. The glass was so clean he could see every detail within the other side of it. The walls were made of bricks with vines growing around them to give off a cozy feeling for any customer’s eyes to catch.
“Surely,” Will thought as he gazed through the open sign that hung on the window he was looking at.
“Surely, she is still not working here.” The man checked his watch and noticed there was still a couple hours before work started. Now there was no excuse to not pursue his dream of entering and drinking the bittersweet coffee once again.
At his booth, Will picked up the menu and scanned the orders in pure joy. They haven’t changed a bit since he stopped his frequent visits. His joy instantly vanished when he heard heels in the distance making it’s way towards his table. He then jumped when he heard a woman say,
“Hello, may I take your order?” Slowly, but steadily, Will lowered the menu from his face. His hands were shaking slightly. Once he could get one eye peeking over the top, he noticed it was just an ordinary blonde haired waitress with a monotone expression on her face and blowing bubbles with the gum she had in her mouth. Will cleared his throat,
“Ahem, yes. I’ll just take a cappuccino please.” He answered in relief while handing the girl his menu.
“Sure.” She said before walking off to the counter. Once Will finally calmed his nerves back down, they instantly went back up when he heard a very familiar voice say his name from the side of the counter.
“Will! Long time no see.” said his once lover, sitting down in the booth across from him. Will just stared at the woman, amazed. Has she not aged one bit? Her hair was dark and shiny as ever. Her eyes were a deep emerald green that used to pierce right through his very soul, making it impossible to lie to her. She had a little splotch of freckles across her nose that showed in the sunlight, giving a sort of innocence to her appearance.
“Pretty waitress, huh.” The woman said, picking up a menu of her own and skimming through it.
“What are you doing here?” Will demanded.
“Looking for you, actually.” The girl answered, but it didn’t seem like she was paying much attention to Will’s shocked expression,
“No way, they still sell breakfast sandwiches.” She quickly flagged down the waitress and handed her the menu.
“I’ll take one of those, please.”
“What do you want?” Will asked the girl, getting a little impatient. She sighed and looked down.
“I thought you would be excited to see me.” Her eyes averted to the right and she gave a soft smile.
“Look at that, not a cloud in the sky.” She then turned back to Will and gave him a comforting look, like a mother would give her child if they had fallen off a bike.
“How’ve you been?” Will looked away from her. He didn’t want her to notice the pain in his eyes, though he’s sure she already did.
“I…I know there’s something you’re keeping from me, Petra. Something big. That’s why we can’t be together.” Will told her, hesitantly. Petra frowned and shook her head.
“I’ve never kept anything from you, Will.” She took his hand. He swiftly pulled away and shook his head.
“Please, just say you hate me and leave.” Tears are now forming in the man’s eyes. “I need you to say you hate me and leave.” Petra’s frown remained plastered on her face as she stared into the man’s very existence.
“You wish to move on?” She asked him with almost no feeling in her voice.
“If you won’t share your secret with me, then yes.” Will explained. Petra slammed her hand on the table and stood up,
“Stop this, I am not hiding anything from you! How many times must we go over this?” She looked at him with emptiness. Will stayed silent. The girl sighed and sat back down.
“Have you ever stopped to consider, maybe I’m not the one lying to you?” She took his hand once again.
“Then who is?” Will asked, still not convinced.
“You.” She answered, “You are lying to yourself.” Will shook his head. What is this woman talking about? She’s clearly gone mad over the years. He squeezed her hand.
“What would I be lying to myself about exactly?” The two ex lovers stared into each other’s eyes for what felt like a long while. Finally, the girl opened her mouth to speak one last sentence.
“That I’m still here.” Will shook his head and closed his eyes in confusion.
“No-” Before he could finish his thought, he felt Petra’s hand slip out of existence. He slowly opened his eyes and his heart sank. There was no one sitting in front of him.
The waitress finally came over and set Will’s cappuccino down on the table for him.
“Enjoy.” Before she could walk away, Will tugged lightly at the girl’s sleeve.
“Um excuse me,” he began, “Do you know when the breakfast sandwich will be ready? My friend-” Before he could finish the waitress interrupted him,
“You didn’t order a breakfast sandwich sir. Would you like to?” Will sat there for a moment. He then opened his wallet and pulled out a picture of Petra and set it down on the other side of the table, across from himself.
“Yes please,” He answered the waitress. “We’ll take a sandwich.”
