Crepacuore Cafe

Rosa

Rosa is Italian for Rose.

Levi was twenty two when he drove into the little town called Derry that was just off the freeway. He was in desperate need of petrol and in desperate need of some company. He had felt alone most of his life, he had grown up in an orphanage and was adopted into a large family where he didn't connect with anyone. His eyes were sad even back then, but he was a content young man. He looked around him and saw how the sun shined down on Derry as if it were smiling, Levi smiled too as he drove into the middle of town and his eyes filled up to the brim with life.

That was until the car started to slow and he was forced to pull over in front of the Heritage Bakery. Levi spent all day waiting in that bakery, waiting for a miracle or for someone who had some petrol. He asked every person who entered if they had any petrol to spare but every single one shook their heads. No one wanted to help the strange man who was from out of town.

Levi left the bakery as the sun started to descend, he planned to spend the night in his car and try again the following morning.

"Are you lost, sir?" Levi spun in the direction of the voice and found it belonged to a young girl in her early twenties she had ivory skin and loose, jet black curls. She wore a polka dot dress and big, black boots. She was beautiful, and then Levi looked into her hazel eyes.

"I appear to be, miss. You don't happen to have any petrol to spare? I should be getting on my way."

"I am Juliet, and I do not have any petrol but I do know of a place you could stay." She smiled at him, a full set of dazzling teeth. Levi was tempted to follow her, he was tempted to take her hand, to kiss her in that very moment. Instead, he politely declined her offer.

"I'm very thankful Juliet, but I really must be on my way." She pouted a little at his response.

"What a shame." She said and turned on her heel, her curls danced on her shoulders as she flounced away. Levi looked helplessly at his car.

"Juliet." He called and began to run after her.

                                                                                            ...

Juliet and Levi got into all sorts of trouble over the next few months. There was the time she dared him to steal goods from the bakery by sneaking in the back door. Or the time he stole all her clothes and ran off whilst they had been skinny dipping in the creek that was on the borders of the town. Levi eventually found petrol for his car but his car never saw that freeway again. Levi stayed in Derry. Levi and Juliet got married eight months after they met. It was a Saturday, the heritage bakery catered the wedding. The sun shone down on Juliet as she walked down the aisle. Levi was reminded of the day he drove into Derry and how the sun smiled down on the town and now how it smiled down on Juliet. She wore her curls in a bun and an extravagant white dress hit the floor and pooled out around her. She was beautiful, and then Levi looked into her hazel eyes.

                                                                                            ...

Levi fell in love many times.

He fell in love with his town, Derry. He fell in love with the way the Main Street was bustling with people and talk. He fell in love with the coffee shop that sat at the end of the Main Street, like a grandfather sitting at the head of the table, watching over his family proudly. He fell in love with the record store that stayed open all night even though nobody ever stopped by. He fell in love with the primary school that he was a teacher at.

He fell in love with his job. He fell in love with the children he taught, even the ones who gave him a headache. He fell in love with the way their faces lit up as they grasped a new concept.

He fell in love with his house. He fell in love with his white picket fence that enclosed his house. He fell in love with the rosebush that sat out front.

He fell in love with his two kids; Madison and Louis. He fell in love with Madison who was his sweet, little angel, she was almost an exact copy of her mother- down to her trademark pout. He fell in love with Louis, the boy he showed the world to.

Most of all, though, he fell in love with Juliet. Every day he found a new thing he loved about her. The way she mumbled in her sleep, the way she cared for their children, the way she sometimes brought baked goods home after work and pretended that she'd made them.

Levi had never known happiness like this. Never known companionship like this. Never known love like this. He had the world, his own world that he had built with his polka dot girl.

Eventually, though, his little angel Madison grew up. She met a boy and together they moved to England, excited and scared to start their new life together. Louis went to University in Sydney, he found himself there and decided Derry was no longer home. He hasn't been back since. Juliet became so sick that she couldn't be saved. She died on a Saturday. His rosebush died along with his girl. His picket fence fell. He became too old to work. He lost all his loves now all he had left was his town. Levi's eyes lost their life like Levi's heart lost its pieces.

Levi now spends every day alone in a cafe.