Hopeful

She sat at the coffee shop and nervously shuffled through the items in her purse. “Where was her lipstick?” she fumbled around in a panic. She had put some on before she left the house, but she couldn’t meet him without double checking that it was on perfectly. After a few minutes of searching, she finally located the shiny gold tube and her compact. She smiled as she looked into the mirror. After years of straightening every week, it was nice having her natural hair back again. Made her feel young. She had brought a book with her to pass the time, but she had no intention of reading. It sat there forlornly. She almost feld bad for it. But that was silly, a book is not a person. It doesn’t have feelings.

“Excuse me, is this seat taken?” she looked up and smiled expectantly. “Do you mind if I take this chair, or do you need it?” the man asked. She hesitated, but only for a second, “No, I’m meeting someone here, he should be arriving very soon.” The man smiled, “Ok, have a good day,” before turning away to scan the coffee shop for another seat. She felt a little bad. She really shouldn’t save a seat when the place was so crowded, but she wanted, no, she needed to be sure that he would sit down and talk to her. She had waited weeks for this meeting to happen. She didn’t want it to get off on the wrong foot. Gladys had been up since five in the morning getting ready. She was wearing her new dress and had prepared exactly what she wanted to say. She was hopeful that today would be her chance to get it right.

“Um, do you mind if I take this chair?” the young girl with the nose ring and blue hair was staring at her. Personally, she was partial to purple as a fun and different hair color, but the blue was very complimentary to the girl’s eyes. “I’m sorry, but I have someone coming soon,” Gladys responded. The girl seemed irritated, but quickly wandered off to try and find somewhere else to sit. Ten minutes late, well, occasionally he did run late, so she didn’t panic yet. After all, there was plenty for her to see and overhear. Young parents struggling with strollers and very little sleep, teenagers still in their pajama bottoms making plans for the rest of the day, a very cute couple on an awkward sounding first date and from what she could gather, some sort of writing group meeting in the corner. But ten minutes soon led to twenty minutes and three more requests for the empty chair. After an hour had gone by, she had to face the reality that he wasn’t coming.

She carefully packed up her book and walked her long gone coffee cup to the trash can. She wouldn’t cry here, it wouldn’t do to cause a scene. She smiled and waved at the barista on her way out the door. “Goodbye, Gladys, see you next Sunday!” he smiled and waved back. Gladys thanked the young man with the backpack for opening the door for her to come out, before he walked in. The door was fairly heavy and between the large handbag on her shoulder and her cane, she appreciated the help. She shuffled her way out and started her short walk to the train.

When she reached the house, Cleo would be meowing in her demanding voice because Gladys had completely forgotten to feed her before she left. The rest of the day would quickly get filled up with cleaning, cooking for the weekly family dinner and Sunday night service. Oh how she loved having the children and grandchildren over. A full house is the most important ingredient in making a happy home and Gladys looked forward to their company, just as much as they looked forward to her delicious meals. She wouldn’t have to think about her disappointment until it was time for bed. She carefully got onto the first car of the train and settled into her seat, just as the doors closed.

In the last car, an older gentleman barely made it off of the train before the doors closed. Dressed in a suit and hat, he belonged to a generation that believed that your appearance mattered. He never went into the city, unless he was properly dressed. He might have spent a little too much time in front of the mirror this morning, but he wanted to look good for her.

Shuffling slowly towards the coffee shop, he thought about how they had spent many a Sunday morning here, just talking and enjoying each other’s company. They had never exchanged phone numbers. There was no reason to. After the first Sunday that they met, they almost always seemed to arrive at the same time. It was like fate was leading them to each other.

Then something happened. One month ago, he had decided to be bold and tell her what he had been thinking about for some time now. He had reached over and gently taken ahold of her hand. "Gladys, I would enjoy seeing you on other days as well." She seemed surprised, yet didn’t offer any response to his suggestion. He raised her hand up to meet his lips and placed a quick kiss on it before letting it go. She seemed very nervous afterwards and had left the coffee shop early. After that, he never saw her again.

But he still came, every Sunday, hoping that she would be there. As he reached for the front door, a young man with a backpack was leaving and held the door open for him. Walking was not as easy as it used to be, so he was thankful to see that their usual table was empty. “George, what can I get you?” the barista asked. “Gladys,” he almost answered, before ordering his usual latte and taking a seat. He sipped it slowly as he waited, ever hopeful.