The Coffee Shop On Dreary Lane

Chapter 1 Intro

            She knows of The Wire even as she has not encountered it. That should have been impossible. If someone asked you, 'What does the person sitting in the chair at the coffee shop in your town look like?' you wouldn't know, aside from the fact that they look like a person. There's a sheer improbability to remembering a person you've never met, just as Eve should not know The Wire. The fact is: she remembers somewhere buried in her, but she does not know. For now, she resides in the place she loves the most.
The patterns on the wooden tables are simplistic swirls adorned with pink polka-dots, and the tables cushioned booths line the walls on each side of the shop.  At the back wall of the shop is a large menu with various baked goods and soups.  She stands observing her customers, or rather, her customer.

          Embry sips his cheap, bitter coffee.  His friends planned to meet him here, and anger drives his leg to tap up and down.  He begged his friends to come despite that he didn't want to go.  He had always been as bitter as the coffee he's drinking, although he hasn't always been as warm.
   "I should've known they wouldn't have shown up, damn it," Embry mutters.  The notion that he's above them flickers through his mind.
        The sound of bells erupts from the door and Embry jumps.  He sits upright and sits back down, slowly, as he realizes it's not one of his friends. 
      The customer walks in a mellow way even as their hands shake slightly.  The person is tall with a strong jawline.  They notice Embry's expression, eyebrows furrowed and jaw clenched.  The demeanor of Embry should be enough to ward them off, but it doesn't.  They walk towards the booth where Embry is sitting alone.
    "What's wrong?" they ask in a soft tone.  They move in a sudden manner.  It's difficult to tell where their hands are going to go next, and where they were before cannot be remembered, but they are in this position now.  And then they are not.
  "Nothing important," Embry answers, fixating his eyes on his coffee.
   They move away and blow away hair hanging in their face.  Embry notices that their frizzy black hair is short and neat.  He begins to shift in his chair.  His hair is always messy, and he is much shorter than them.  He reassures himself that people should be looking up to him.  They sit down across from him in the booth.
  "Why choose to sit there?  You could sit anywhere else," Embry says.  The person shrugs, and Embry continues drinking his coffee until it's gone.
"My name is Reagan," they introduce themself.
"So?" Embry responds.
"I was just introducing myself," Reagan tells him.
  "Why are you here?  In the coffee shop?  I'm not trying to be rude, I'm just curious," Embry trails off.
  "I had a fight with my parents, so I left the house for a bit," Reagan averts their gaze from Embry.
   Embry nods, "I was going to meet my friends here.  They haven't shown up yet."
   This time Reagan nods, curly hair bobbing up and down.  Embry takes a look at Reagans face, brown eyes, heart shaped head, dark skin and freckles. Reagan looks around the same age as Embry. Embry gets up from the table and starts toward the door.
"Hey, I think we should meet up again tomorrow.  Does one'o clock sound okay? I don't have much to do, and having an excuse to get away from home is convenient," Reagan suggests.
Embry cringes as he opens the door, "That's really weird." Embry is about to shut the door when Reagan responds.
"Not a date, that would be awkward."
"Good.  Dating isn't something I've been thinking about for a long time.  I'm not planning on it either."
Embry shuts the door behind him.
The worker in the back, Evelyn, glances at Reagan. She's worked at this coffee shop for a while, sweeping floors and watching people coming in and out of this shop. She walks over to Reagan.
"Hey, it'll be fine eventually. I know it sounds like I'm lying now, but it will. I can almost promise," Eve tells Reagan.
"It won't. I just hope it will." Reagan chokes out. Eve smiles, "They don't call this road Dreary Lane for nothing.  But trust me, it will.  I may be a master of blind faith, but I have a feeling it will."
With that Reagan laughs and is soon out of the coffee shop.