You Poor Fool

A Story by cristine

A typical day at the coffee shop... or is it?

he held the hot cup of coffee in both hands as he tried to keep warm.

it was a cold and rainy day and no one in the coffee shop had any plans of going out just yet.
everyone else was either reading, chatting quietly, keeping warm or two of the three choices.

he was thankful for the smell of the coffee shop.

the sweet aroma of coffee beans, cocoa and garlic bread that danced through the shop calmed him.
he held the cup tightly, as he stared out the window.
people passed by each other, umbrellas in hand, as they made their way to God knows where.
some were businessmen, mothers with their child in their arms, and others who were just looking for somewhere to go.
he looked at his cup of coffee, as he took a sip.
it burnt his tongue a little but he didn't mind.
there were some things that stung more than drinking a hot beverage.
he was sober, and it annoyed him.
after last night (luckily he was able to get himself home after indulging 7 bottles of vodka), his head should have been throbbing, the tiniest sound should have seemed like a gong that was struck right beside him, and he shouldn't have the ability to move.
but instead, he was there in the coffee shop at the corner of his apartment's street; able to move, with thoughts flooding his mind. thoughts that should not even be thought about.
but there was one simple question that kept ringing in his mind.
"Why?"
he had a lot of questions, questions that kept buzzing in his head but what kept hitting him was,
"Why?"
he sipped his coffee once more.
"Why?"
he closed his eyes as he sighed.
he was too tired for this.
he opened his eyes as the bell from the front door chimed as someone came in.
he sighed again as he sipped his coffee. it was a little cooler now. just a little.
from the corner of his eye, he saw a girl occupy the table next to his.
he took an obscure glance at the girl, and felt his heart stop.
he rubbed and squinted his eyes to make sure it wasn't... her.
he then felt his heart start beating again.

it wasn't her.
it was just a girl who had a great resemblance with her.
the girl had dark brown, wavy hair that flowed on each side of her face and had pale white skin.
just like her.
the only difference was the girl had slanted eyes and oval lips.
it's not her, he thought.
he didn't know if he should be happy that it wasn't her because right now, he was a mess and was incapable of sorting his thoughts to be able to talk to her or sad because it wasn't her and he really needed to see her.
he needed to feel her presence.
he needed her.
he turned to his coffee and took another sip.
you poor fool, he thought to himself.
she's not going to come back.