The Café Diaries

The Curse of the Valentine's

You were my sun

You were my earth

But you didn't know all

the ways I loved you, no

so you took a chance 

Made other plans

Denise walks inside Manhattan Mocha, groaning inwardly. She kind of knew it but still had a teensy weensy bit of hope that the café wasn't going to be decorated as she was growing sick and tired of the day which claimed to be the most romantic of all.

It was Valentine's Day. And Denise hated it.

Well, hate would be a very strong word, she detested the day. According to Denise, February 14th was cursed.

She sighed and tried to spot her friends with whom she was supposed to celebrate today. But it wasn't much difficult to find her friends as just to the right, near the huge window she could see a round table with five chairs around it. And the huge banner which said, 'Singles Awareness Day' was hard to miss.

Denise went towards the table and sat on one of the chairs, releasing a huge sigh of both frustration and self pity.

"What went wrong today?" Denise's best friend, Marie asked.

"Charlie died today." Denise replied.

"What? How? I am so sorry honey." Marie said, feeling said for her friend.

"Isn't it obvious? February 14th is cursed. Something wrong was supposed to happen anyway." And this wretched day decided to kill my dog.

"Well, Charlie was old, wasn't he? You had him since you were in high school." Marie tried to give a genuine reason.

"Hmm, whatever." Denise murmured.

Denise looked around and saw that almost every decoration put up in the café was red. Oh, how she hated that color. Red, pink, scarlet, maroon, you name it, she hated it. The counter had a few varieties of cakes with little red fondant hearts on them. And the café smelled of coffee and flowers.

'Bad Combination.' Thought Denise.

Suddenly Joanna entered the café and ran towards the table where Marie and Denise were seated.

"I am so sorry guys, I got stuck in traffic. Sometimes I hate this city." Joanna huffed. "So it's just three of us tonight? Where are the rest?" Joanna continued as she took a seat.

"Well, Claire got a date with some guy from work and Sophie is down with a mono. Or as she claims because I am pretty sure that she is busy banging her hot neighbor." Marie was annoyed.

"So, I think we should start and get it over with. This gets depressing with each year." Joanna sighed.

"Okay then, here we go." Marie picked up her coffee mug and continued,"Today is about appreciating yourself and spending time with friends. It is a reminder that your worth isn't determined by whether or not you are in a relationship. Today is about celebrating yourself and the things you love. As the quote goes, 'you're all you have got'. To the dazzling us!" Marie cheered.

Joanna and Denise picked up their coffee mugs and clinked them with Marie's, "To the dazzling us."

The three of them took a sip each from their respective coffee mugs and put them down.

"So, what went wrong this year Denise?" Joanna asked.

"Well, Charlie died."

"Oh, I am so sorry Denise. He was your favorite dog." Joanna expressed her remorse.

"He was my only dog Annie."

"Okay, now, let's get started with the ritual. Denise will go first. Start with what all went wrong with you on the 14th of February in the last five years, the date we all hate from the bottom of our hearts." Marie said.

"2010, I fell head over heels with a guy from work and he double dated me on this very day. Not to mention, in the same restaurant with the accountant from the 6th floor. The audacity of that guy!

In 2011, I broke my leg while going for a dinner date with Sam, as you all know. And I haven't seen him since.

2012, was the day where I had to work all day and then babysit my niece during the night. It isn't that bad but still, I was pretty busted with the fact that I was taking care of my brother's daughter while he and his wife were having a nice time together and I was all alone.

2013, my boyfriend of eight months dumped me.

2014, I babysat my niece again that year.

And this year, my dog died, I am 28 years old with no boyfriend. My life is pretty much going downhill from here."

And this continued. Both Marie and Joanna told why they detested Valentine's Day. The banner and the toast was just on the outside, in reality they would list the reasons why this is the most wretched and ill-fated day of the year and rant about their ex-boyfriends.

It was 9 in the evening and the café was pretty much empty by this time. The girls thought they couldn't deal with the depression anymore and left the café.

Denise parked her car in the parking lot of her apartment and went upstairs. She changed into her night clothes and took out the Chinese food from the fridge. She had just seated herself in front of the television with the huge amount of food when the bell rang.

She got up and opened the door only to find a bouquet of roses at the foot of the door and a letter.

Confused, she picked up the bouquet and read the card,

Dear Denise,

"I carry your heart with me (I carry it in my heart)I am never without it (anywhere
I go you go, my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling)
I fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet)I want no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant and whatever a sun will always sing is you

"here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
I carry your heart (I carry it in my heart)" 

I still remember you love lilies. They are beautiful, like you.

From

Somebody you know

Denise was confused. But she was pretty sure that the bouquet and the card were sent by someone who knew her because he or she quoted the favorite lines from one of E.E. Cummings' poems.

She was delighted to know that somebody remembered her but she didn't know who. With a happy heart and a confused brain, she went inside the apartment.

~The End~