The Ghosts of the Past, Present, and Future

chapter four

I woke up the next morning still thinking of those goddamn grey eyes.

I decided to take a shower to try to shake away my thoughts. It did absolutely nothing though.

I walked into the kitchen and noticed that the house was unusually quiet for this time of the morning. I just shrugged and went to the fridge to get the milk out. I stopped when I saw the hot pink not on the fridge with writing scribbled on it.

Embry, the girls and I had to leave early this morning to drive to our old town. One of our old friend’s mother passed away yesterday. The funeral is Sunday, so we will be home Monday. Don’t hesitate to call one of us if you need anything.

Nova

It was Saturday morning so I had two whole days by myself in a city that I have lived in for not even a week. This will be entertaining.

I ate a bowl of cereal real quick then went to the room that Aspen and Oakley shared and went through Aspen’s part of the large closet, seeing as I am the closest size to her than the other two girls, and looked for something cute and casual to wear. I found a pair of light wash skinny jeans and an oversized red and black flannel shirt. I put a plain white t-shirt underneath the flannel then went back to my room to pull a black beanie out of my bag and slipped on my combat boots.

I grabbed my purse and went out thorough the front door, locking it behind me with the key that the girls told me they keep underneath the small flower pot on the steps. I walked down the steps, debating whether to go to the right or left. I remembered that the intersection to the right had shops and a coffee house around it so I decided to walk that way.

I wasn’t planning to buy anything today,  just window shop and explore as much of the city as I could.

It was about a ten minute walk to the intersection, but it was refreshing since it was cool outside, but not too cold. The sky started to fill with dark looming clouds, signaling that it would storm sometime soon. I started to regret the decision to go out, but I could just run home when it starts raining. I needed to get out of the house and have some alone time.

There were a bunch of vintage thrift store type places around here, and they were a lot of fun to look around in. I couldn’t help myself when I saw some vintage earrings that looked like they were from the 60s. they were only seven dollars, so I just had to have them.

I was walking around and going into stores for about two and half hours when I heard my stomach growl. I looked around me since I was outside at the moment and weighed my choices on where I could eat. I decided to eat at a Mexican restaurant. I ordered a burrito with pulled pork, guacamole, rice, and onions in it, and took it outside to a bench to eat. I sat Indian style and dug into my wonderful tasting lunch.

When  was done, I had the perfect amount to eat, I was not full, but not hungry.

I looked around at the buildings wondering where I should go next. I checked the time on my phone, and saw that it was only 1:30, so I had all day to do whatever I want. I kept on walking up the street, taking my time and enjoying the city’s scenery. The sun has started to poke out of the clods, so I am hoping that it will not rain on me today.

I was walking by a row of old looking buildings, when I noticed a sign hanging in front of a door advertising a coffee shop. I decided that coffee would be good right now since I was starting to get cold.

I walked into the building and immediately got the impression of what home was supposed to be like. There were leather couches sporadically spread around with coffee tables in front with magazines and old books placed on top. The place was void of people, except the middle aged couple on a couch towards the back, and the old man that was currently behind the counter cleaning dishes.

I walked up to the counter and looked at the big chalkboard on the wall behind it. I decided to get a caramel flavored cappuccino. The old man turned around and I was greeted by the warm aura that surrounded him. He had wrinkles around his eyes and mouth from smiling so much during his younger days. He had pure white hair and a handlebar moustache that curled at the ends.  

“Hi dear, what may I get you?” he asked in a kind voice. I told him my order with a smile and went to sit down on one of the couches. I picked up a magazine mindlessly flipping through, seeing story after story of irrelevant celebrities, until I heard my order being called.

The man handed me my drink with another friendly smile.

“So how long have you lived here?” he asked.

“Excuse me?” I asked, confused.

“Everyone that comes in here is an usual customer, there are only a few new faces, and all of those pople live here. I haven’t seen more than ten tourists top since I established this place, and that was many, many years ago.” He ended his explanation with a deep chuckle.

“Oh,” I said with a small smile. “I moved here about a week ago actually.”

“How do you like it here in San Fran?” the man questioned. “My name is Toby by the way.”

“Embry,” I said with a smile. “And I love it here! So much better than my old town.”

“Where are you from?”

“East Colorado. The middle of nowhere.”

“Yikes. That’s rough.” Toby said with a grimace. For an old man he was very cool.

I laughed and agreed.

“My roommates are out of town, so I’m by myself for a few days. Do you have any suggestions as to what I could do around here?” I asked.

“Well, Chinatown is a blast. There are a lot of cool things you can get, and a lot is cheap too. There’s a lot of good food if you’re into Oriental..” Toby explained. “Or, you can walk down Haight-Ashbury, you look like you would enjoy that. There are a lot of cool vintage stores, record stores, book stores, you name it. That never gets boring.”  

I took this all into consideration, trying to remember all of the information he just gave me.

“Thanks so much! It was nice to meet you. I’m sure I’ll be back here sometime soon.” I said and sipped my coffee, affirming what I just said, I will be back. This was delicious.

 I walked out the door and heard the bells chime behind me, signaling the door closing.

I planned to go to Chinatown. Later tonight I had plans that I wasn’t too sure I should go through with. They were pretty stupid on my part, but I couldn’t stay away.

Those grey eyes messed with my head.