[10]
Tonight I would be sitting right next to Coffee Boy. No stools between us. He would be close enough to touch without moving. Tonight I would ask for his name. Twelve days was far too long to go without knowing a person’s title.
I had never been so excited about a trip to a fast-food restaurant.
***
He wasn’t here.
Coffee Boy wasn’t at the end of the booth. He was the first thing I had checked for when I came in, but he wasn’t there, hands wrapped around a cup of BB coffee, staring at the wall. I looked around the restaurant but he wasn’t anywhere. Still, I took my Ben’s Vegetarian Special tray and sat down in the second from last stool at the booth. Maybe he would show up later.
But as time went on I knew that he wouldn’t show. It was as if he had timed it. He knew that I would be sitting next to him today. It was as if he knew that I would ask something important. Like his name. If was as if he didn’t want for me to know his name. And he probably didn’t. It was as if he was teasing me.
I couldn’t help but feel a bit betrayed, though I had no right to. We barely even knew each other. And it wasn’t as if he had sworn to come to Ben’s Burgers every night. But I just knew that his disappearance was related to my appearance. To my would-be close proximity if he were here. If I could, I would say that I hated him, but I couldn't. So I hated this. This entire thing. Maybe, just maybe, if I hadn't gone to the restaurant that first night I would never have met Coffee Boy. Or expected anything from him. From us. God. I was so, so stupid.
So I sat there and finished my Ben’s Vegetarian Special and drank the good coffee I was going to give him. And I thought of all the possibilities of what Coffee Boy’s name was.
Maybe something generic, like Jake or Dan or Timothy or maybe even Ben. Wouldn’t that be ironic?
Or maybe something different, like Alden or Landon.
Maybe I would see him again one day. And I knew that I would know his face the moment I saw it. His face wasn’t one that I could forget so easily. And then I would ask for his name and then he would have to give it to me. He wouldn’t be able to escape so many times. I wouldn’t let him.
When I finished my meal I got up and threw my trash away. I placed the tray above the trashcan and when I reached the door I unconsciously waited for the deep voice but it never came. So I turned to the boy with the droopy eyes behind the register, who was barely awake.
“Good night,” I said.
He didn’t respond.
[end]
A/N:
Yep.
This is a bit different from my other stories.
Thank you for reading this short story.
I wrote it in two days, which is a huge thing for me, even if it's just a short story of ten pages.
But really. Thanks.
Vote? Comment?
I love you.
-Nova.
