In need of a friend

          Julie asked me if I want to go out for coffee with her. I told her I’m fine and need some alone time for myself. Julie didn’t care. She drove all the way to pick me up. When she arrived, she rang the bell like a thousand times. Kept calling my phone. 10 missed calls. She didn’t want me to be alone. That’s why she’s here, beside me, driving us to a café. I’m lucky that I know her.

          As soon as we are parked, I got out of the car, went on her side of the car, and opened her door. That’s what gentlemen do. Open car doors for their women, except she isn’t my woman, just a friend who is always there for me. She thanked me for opening the door. I thanked her for bringing me out.

          On our way to the café, on foot, we chatted.

“So Joey, why are you so depressed? I knew it soon as I heard your voice when I called you if you want to go out for coffee.”

“My friend died last night.” I told her. “His neighbor found his body lying on the floor, in his room with a torchlight in his hand. An hour later, I received a phone call from his cousin, he told me about it. As soon as I was told about it, I went straight to the hospital. Ignored every red traffic light. Autopsy said he died because of a heart attack.”

“Oh my god. Joey, I didn’t know. I’m so sorry!”

“Thank you Julie.”

          When we got to the café, I opened the door for her. Again, that’s what gentlemen do. Women like that kind of shit. The embarrassing thing is that, the door says, ‘Pull’ I pushed and hit myself at the door. Everyone inside looked outside. I saw some of them smiled, some laughed. I turned around, Julie was trying to hold the laugh. The way she used her hand to cover her mouth was cute, made me smile and giggle.

          I pulled the door, and she went in. After I got in, I’m already loving the café. I can smell the fragrance of coffee and the smell of pies being served. The jazz music playing in the background, piano and trumpet. The voices of people talking to each other. The sound of people typing with their MacBook. I thanked her again for bringing me here.

          We got in queue. While waiting for our turn, I looked at the menu above the cashier. Not sure what to order. Everything seems delicious. The pies. The coffees. God, I’m having a difficult time choosing what to order. I’m scared I don’t know what to order when it’s our turn and make the people behind wait for us even longer, but the girl in front of us was also having a difficult time to order. So I had enough time to pick what to order. Blueberry pie with caramel coffee.

          When it was our turn, we tried to order our foods and drink, but the barista got distracted. We were also distracted because there were this group of three people, two boys and one girl. One of the boys and girl were fighting and the other boy tried to stop them, but somehow three of them were fighting. They were loud. Everyone in the café was looking at them.

          We managed to order our foods and drinks and right now, we can’t find any seats. Luckily, this one girl with a pink MacBook was leaving the café in a rush, and when she left her table, we took it. When we sat down, the three teenagers were still fighting. A barista was about to stop them, but one of the boy said he was done with them and left the café. The other two teenagers also left the café.

          As soon as they left, everyone continued what they were doing, and Julie and I continued to talk to each other.