Crescendo

Untitled Part 2

"Theodosia?" A barista shouted out.

   Theo retrieved her coffee and headed back to her quiet table in corner of the shop. Through the window she was sitting next to, Theo watched the people rush through the sidewalks of Boston with the soft piano of Beethoven playing in her ears. One thing Theo has learned in her many years of living there is that people in this city walk through the streets like they have somewhere important to be and no time at all to get there. And to her, it was incredibly amusing to watch them do so.

   Theo spent most of her days at this coffee shop, people watching and sipping her current addiction. It was a break from whatever project she was working on at the moment. You see, Theo was a composer. A high-demand composer, at that. She was often writing multiple pieces at once, so to get away from the trap that is barlines and clefs, she goes to the coffee shop.

   She usually stays for around an hour and a half, but on this particular day, Theo decided to treat herself. She stayed for a couple of hours, just watching.

   When Theo finally decided to leave, the sidewalk was busier than usual. But that was expected, it was later in the day, after all. As Theo weaved through the crowds of people walking in the opposite direction as her, she witnessed a peculiar sight.

   It was a man.

   Now he wasn't a regular man, no. He looked younger, early to mid-20s, Theo guessed. But that didn't matter at the time. What did matter was that he was wearing a rainbow tie-dye cut off t-shirt, with shorts, and no shoes. The shoes weren't completely out of the picture, though. He was holding them in his left hand, socks hanging out of them. He also had a ratty looking cross-body bag which a pair of earbuds led down to. In the summer this wouldn't have been odd at all; it may even have been considered normal. But this was a particularly cold September second. It did look like to some degree that the man regretted his lack of shoes, but either way, he still had an easygoing smile spread across his face.

   The last peculiar aspect about this man was less of what he looked like and more of what he was doing. His eyes were locked on Theo. He stopped in his tracks a few feet away from her and pulled out his earbud as if he was going to say something.

   With the man being closer now, Theo could observe more of the obscurity within this being. His black nail polish (that was only on one hand) was chipped, he was on the shorter side, 5'9, Theo guessed. He had multiple rings on his fingers and even more bracelets, he had a long necklace with a pearl on it and a looping hand tattoo that stretches past his wrist. There were other tattoos poking out from his shirt that Theo couldn't quite make out. Freckles dotted his entire face, framing a pair of pale green eyes. Not to mention, his hair was what Theo could only describe as firetruck red with black roots.

   The entire time the man stood there, Theo was waiting for a wolf whistle and "Hey, baby!", but nothing came out. The man just stood there for half a minute staring at Theo with a dumbfounded expression on his face. After too long of silence and staring, Theo finally spoke up, "Can I assist you with anything?" She asked, offering him a small smile.

   The man shook his head. Theo could practically see the cobwebs falling to the ground as he said, "Um, sorry, I was just so caught off-guard by how beautiful you are."

   Theo raised her eyebrows, "Wow. Is that all you could think of?"

   "Yeah, it was, actually. How did I do?"

   "Pretty shit, I'd say. Was dumbfounded staring from afar apart of your plan as well?"

   "Jeez, you kiss your mother with that mouth? And no, it wasn't. You could say there was a little bit of truth behind that amazing line."

   Theo hummed, "Well, I guess you better get going. You're late for your first day at middle school."

   "Oh, wow, low blow. Since we're making height jokes now, I'm assuming you're on your way to WNBA practice?"

   Theo rolled her eyes, "Alright, pipsqueak, I think we're done here. Good talk."

   "You're just jealous because I have better comebacks than you," The man said, "But if we must, I will depart from you. May fate bring us together again."

   "Okay, I just met you, let's leave fate out of it, okay? See ya."

   "Until we meet again," Were the man's departing words as he walked away.

   Theo shook her head. She hadn't had an interaction like that since the '70s.

~

Hi yes hello this is the author lady. just btw this chapter was inspired by the song Girl On The Sidewalk by Noah Floersch. It's his only song out now, but i love it so, so much.