Coffee shop personas

Swinging open the sapphire colored wooden door to escape the rain, her senses are overwhelmed by the earthy aromas and faint Indie music that is drowned out by the energetic, yet indistinct conversations. Scanning the cramped mahogany tables, her eyes glaze over the couples lost in romance and the english majors who wish they could type faster, to find an empty chair that is snuggled against a window pane. After a few scattered pardon me’s and managing to squeeze her drab backpack through the crowds, her resounding exhale interrupts the couple gazing into each other’s eyes next to her. Opening the immaculate laptop, fingers swiftly dancing over the black keys, she remembers her forgotten poison and rushes to the towering counter to retrieve it before it loses its potency. Hours of incessant typing are surprisingly interrupted as her eyes lift from the screen to fixate on a tall, casually dressed gent, whose transition lenses are still opaque. Migrating from her monopolies and economics, images of holding hands, a caring smile, and soft eyes consume her thoughts. Repetitive “I love you’s” and terms of endearment cloud any remnants of economics. Overcome with raw happiness, memories of spirited laughter, forehead kisses, and unconditional affection intoxicate her. The warm sentiments flee instantaneously and the hangover settles as reality attacks and she meets the gaze of a stranger. Reclaiming her focus to the screen while attempting to formulate sentences, she is interrupted by the desolate emotion that has tirelessly exhausted her. With what once was perpetually close, now reduced to a distant memory, she no longer can hide her chagrin. Glancing out the rain splattered windows, as to not reveal her heartache, her tears are indistinguishable.

Realizing the need to redirect her attention to her composition, lingering tears are swept from her flushed face and her red eyes focus intently on her screen. Returning from her moment of dejection, her sadness is paused by the cognizance that not a single individual in the crowded coffee shop offered compassionate words as comfort. Contemporary jazz music pours into her ears as she examines the expressions of the people situated before her. Seated across from her, a middle-aged man with chaotic brown hair draped in a maroon scarf and beige ocular glasses scans a frayed copy of War and Peace. The swiftness of the pages rippling against each other creates a spectacle and his continuous need to perk up as coffee drinkers walk by him displays his desire for someone to congratulate him on his intelligence. Baffled by the slightly pompous man, her gaze fixates on a couple standing at the register. The ever-insistent girlfriend raises her voice at her less than enthused salmon capri pant counterpart who sluggishly plunges his black credit card on the ledge. Stepping away from the counter, she beckons him and her high-pitched voice rambles about their extensive evening agenda. The indifference that occupies his face is blatantly visible yet appears to not disturb the blabbering brunette whose phrases are littered with ‘like’ and ‘um.’ Pivoting away from the dysfunctional couple, a smile forms across her face as her eyes meet those of a young boy with crystal azure eyes. Sending him a wave, his face brightens and eagerly waves back while devouring a chocolate chip cookie that is larger than his head. His unwrinkled face is beaming with pure joy as his mother rejoins him. Turning back to her work and searching for a new playlist within her Spotify, the boy exclaims “I made a friend!” to his mother and aggressively points back to the girl snuggled in the corner of the crowded coffee shop.

Attempting to resume her work, her laptop screen now fully black, she struggles to move her concentration away from the surrounding personalities. Peering out of the once rain stained window, the sun shines through the parting clouds and illuminates a figure standing across the street. A tall, casually dressed gent, with opaque transition lenses waves naturally before crossing the damp street. Examining him from head to toe as to not have her heart beat unnecessarily fast again, her face resembles that of the young boy and the warm sentiments she imagined earlier were no longer distant memories.