A Dragonfly's Dream

Chapter XXI- I'd rather you didn't know

DREAM JOURNAL

I'd rather you didn't know

Someone was reading the newspaper. I had a feeling it was him so I snatched it to have a look. "Why are you hiding your face? "I asked.

"I didn't want you to know how often I come here to visit."

............

I winced as I took a sip of green tea. It was still very hot. I should've waited a little more. I guess Basil's Brew wasn't the best coffee shop in the world but I felt comfortable in there. It was the kind of place that played soft music and they served really good Crema de fruta. The walls were painted yellow, and the teapots and other artistic figurines displayed on the shelf provided a good ambiance that made you feel truly relaxed and at home.

I was a frequent customer there and the waiters knew me by name. "Your regular green tea, Ma'am Lyssa?"

I was never really much of a coffee person. It was quite a sensible choice too, as green tea had so much more health benefits than coffee. I nodded. "Yes, please."

Around me, other customers were lost in their own concerns. Most of them were reading something --- a book, a newspaper, or otherwise busily engaged in their laptop. I guess Basil's was the kind of place that attracted quiet, solitary types who either wanted to work or simply spend time alone with a good book.

I, on the other hand, gravitated towards Basil's because it was familiar and I was a creature of habit. However, on that day, there was another reason why I was among the solitary customers of that place.

The irony, it seems, was that I went there to meet someone. I was waiting for Rod, and I was nervous. For many days, I just stared at his number, trying to make up my mind on whether or not I should call him. Meeting up with him for coffee took a lot of courage.

Oh, I wasn't afraid of seeing an old high school bully. I was way past that stage, for crying out loud! I guess, it was more like, I was afraid of what I would find. I was afraid of how this would change things. I felt kind of like Alice in Wonderland going down that deep rabbit hole.

So I guess, I chose this shop because I wanted to hold onto something familiar. It was as though the currents were pulling me quite inevitably into the deep ocean, and choosing to meet here was my own way of desperately finding something familiar to hold onto. At the same time, the other half of me desperately wanted to know whatever it was that he had to say.

I felt a sudden rush of anxiety and a bit of adrenaline as I saw him walk in. I smiled and tried to compose myself. This is really awkward.

His eyes scanned the room, and then he smiled as he spotted me. "Hey, Lyssa! Have you been waiting long?" He went to my table and sat down. Then, he simply stared at me for a few minutes, without saying anything.

"Quit staring at me like that please? You're making me feel uneasy."

He smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry. It's just that, this whole situation is kind of weird, and well, you've changed a lot since high school."

"Oh, I've changed? Now, look who's talking." I shook my head in disbelief. He was a pastor now, for heaven's sake! And here he was saying that I had changed.

The waiter took his order. "Just a mocha latte for me." he said. Then, his attention was back on me. "So, how have you been?"

We went to the normal process of updating each other's lives. Quite predictably, we got to the subject of our former classmates. Of course, that was not what I really came for. But it was really difficult to bring up the subject of James without seeming impolite, so I just nodded along and wondered when he'd get to the point.