"I will never be with you"
- You're Beautiful, James Blunt
Melissa had been waiting for a while now.
As she sat in the café, looking out of the window, watching the rain splash against them, she waited. As her own reflection looked back at her, she understood why the first thing people always noticed about her were her blonde curls, which were a little longer than shoulderlength. Her eyes were bright green, but the dark circles under them revealed, how tired and sad she was.
She turned away from the window because she couldn't stand looking at herself any longer.
The café was small, but not really comfortable or cozy. It seemed cold and distant, people walked in and ordered something, they were all in a rush, grabbed whatever they ordered to go, and walked out again. Some elderly people were sitting in here, sipping on their coffees and teas for what seemed to be hours. Right next to Melissa's table there was this old lady, she was alone, just like Melissa, and drank a coffee from a white mug. The woman wore a big completely pink coat and a huge pink hat, her short white hair barely visible underneath. She looked so elegant and fabulous, and Melissa envied her for it. Something about this woman was so beautiful.
And still, Melissa was waiting.
She took a sip from her hot chocolate. It tasted bland, not really good. But Melissa was used to it. After all, she visited this place almost every day. She wasn't busy, wasn't in a hurry, didn't have to run back to her job. There was nothing to do for her. Her home was directly above this café, a small apartment she once shared with a friend who had since moved out.
Sometimes Melissa thought, would she still visit this place if it wasn't so close? If she had to walk for a while, take the bus, take the tram? Would it be worth it? It definitely wouldn't - this place was overpriced, the drinks tasted like nothing, and the atmosphere was just awful. It looked kinda nice but also kinda boring, everything was so modern and grey. But somehow, Melissa liked it here. Maybe she really would visit here even if she had to walk or take the bus.
The music in the background sounded east asian and traditional. It wasn't very fitting to the place at all. The lady in pink next to Melissa started humming the melody of the music. She didn't fit here either, her bright pink outfit was in total contrast to the blueish grey walls around her. And yet again, Melissa had her eyes on this lady. She seemed to happy, even though she was alone.
Maybe she was waiting too.
If Melissa ever grew older, she knew she would dress just like this lady. Happy and bright. But to dress happy, you first have to be happy, Melissa thought to herself.
The other people in this café looked just as boring as the café itself. There was an old couple on the other end of the room, talking to each other, smiling. They came here every day and they started greeting Melissa when they walked in. At the table next to them was a young man, a little bit younger than Melissa, sitting at his laptop. He never looked up, his eyes were fixated on whatever was on the screen in front of him. His hair was light brown and put in a pony tail.
Most people didn't stay here very long, they just got something for lunch and then went back to work. Even on such a rainy day as today, they went back outside pretty soon and ran back to their job. Always working. Never resting.
A life Melissa didn't want to live anymore.
Her hot chocolate was almost empty, it had already been her second one. She didn't want to order a third. She had the money, but she didn't have the time anymore.
She knew, what she was waiting for would be here soon.
Her eyes flew over the pink lady again, and she saw her smile. Was she smiling at Melissa? She looked again. Yes, the lady was definitely smiling at Melissa. She smiled back.
"Oh, it's such a beautiful day!" The lady had a very deep smokers voice.
"What do you mean? It's raining", Melissa answered. She looked outside the windows again, it got very windy, almost stormy. People couldn't even keep their umbrellas open without them flying away.
"But the rain is so pretty", the old woman said. She also looked out of the windows. "It can't be sunny every day."
Melissa nodded. She could listen to this voice all day, she sounded so mesmerizing.
The lady stood up and walked over to Melissa's table. "May I sit down?"
Melissa nodded again and the pink lady sat down to face Melissa.
"My name is Jolene, what's yours?"
"Melissa."
"Nice to meet you, Melissa."
They shook hands. Melissa suddenly felt a bit uneasy. Something about this was not right.
"What brings a nice young woman like you to a place like this?", Jolene asked.
Melissa shrugged. She couldn't answer this question even if she wanted. What brought her here? Why was she visiting this café almost every day since the past two years? It was awful and everyone knew it. Melissa didn't even have friends to go here with - she was always alone. Sometimes she talked to Trevor when she was here, but he stopped working here a few months ago and Melissa hadn't seen him ever since.
There never was a reason for her to be here. Melissa actually never really thought about it - she would just walk out of her apartment into this café, it was part of her daily life, almost like it was just another part of her apartment.
"Sometimes I just need some rest", Melissa said after a little pause.
Jolene raised her eyebrows. Her face was full with wrinkles, her lips just as pink as her outfit, her eyes bright blue, almost grey, a similar color to the walls of this café. She had to be very old, 80, maybe even 90. But she looked fit.
"You know that's not the reason you're here. Especially not today."
"What do you mean?" Melissa was confused.
"What exactly are you waiting for, Melissa?"
Melissa didn't answer. Maybe it wasn't really friendly for her to say nothing, but she couldn't, she didn't want to. She simply looked at the door, waiting, waiting, waiting, ignoring the look Jolene gave her, patiently waiting, waiting, waiting for Melissa to answer.
She would never answer.
The storm outside was getting heavier, street signs started to bent, there were barely any people outside anymore because they all searched shelter. Some found shelter in this café, where the world still seemed normal. The couple still talked to each other, ignoring what was happening outside, the dude at his laptop still hadn't looked up. A few people who were wet from top to bottom just came in and sat down at the tables. As soon as they stepped in, they seemed to forget the storm. It was so weird, but it didn't bother Melissa. She knew, it would happen soon.
And Jolene knew too.
"You didn't have to do this, Melissa", Jolene said. Her face was suddenly so sad and she looked even older.
The world turned darker and darker around Melissa. The people in here didn't care about the heavy storm outside, because they weren't affected. Isn't it always like that?
Black dots formed in front of Melissa. The old couple, still smiling. Jolene, looking worried. Melissa wished she knew where Trevor was now. He wanted to go and see the world. Maybe he was at the other side of the globe, who knew. Maybe he was in the middle of the storm.
The black dots were getting bigger and bigger, and Melissa slowly sank down, her head banged against the table as the world disappeared around her.
Jolene rested her hand on Melissa's shoulder.
People don't care when they're not affected, but somehow Jolene cared for Melissa.
But when she tried to make an emergency call, all the lines were busy.
--
I hope you understand this story.
