Ghost Cafe

Maria got off the bus and started walking, her steps heavier than they usually were on these days, despite this whole concept itself being somewhat melancholy. 

She was a Meeter, like a few others in this world, with the gift of being able to meet people who had died. Many others had the same ability, and with that, despite what others may think, comes little to no knowledge of the afterlife. Many people asked her upon finding out about her gift, as she was likely the only one they knew of in real life, “so what is the afterlife,” and she was always dissatisfied with her own answer of “I don’t know” because the truth was that the beings, ‘ghosts’ some might say, she was meeting had no memory of their life after death, so they could not tell her about it even they wanted to.

This gift had always been around and the government had found a way, through the many years of trial runs, to deal with these meetings in a respectful and secure way in which Meeters could feel comfortable. They deemed certain places suitable for the meetings, and set up measures that promised the upmost security and privacy.

She went every week to the same cafe to meet with whoever she chose. This week she chose Matthew. She felt guilty about not seeing her dad, who had died a few years prior, but there were extenuating circumstances that impacted her decision today, like this being the last chance she could ever see him.

She was almost in view of the small cafe outside the mall when she suddenly started to get emotional. She stopped in her steps, took a deep breath, and remind herself that she had to do this.

She passed the final crossroad and was nearing the steps to the front doors, and without letting herself stop, she opened them. The barista, Emily, who saw her weekly, greeted her with an air of familiarity and started making her usual order after a few moments of chatting.

Maria, with her freshly brewed tea in hand, walked through the curtains (as was the conduct) and looked around. There were a couple other Meeters there, all talking with their weekly companions. ‘They all look so normal’, she thought. Even after a lifetime of having this gift, it still sometimes astonished and perplexed her. But she couldn’t get into that now.

Brushing off her thoughts which would likely have gone into a spiral of deep wonderment of the universe, she took a seat and looked through the wall, trying to find Matt’s lively face through the thick mist. So many faces peered, looking, hoping someone they knew caught their eyes. But she paid no attention to them and willed for Matt to come forward. He appeared and walked through the wall towards her and finally sat down across from her.

Maria’s eyes were already filling with tears as she looked at his young face, not believing this would be the last time she would get to see him.

“Hi,” he said with his usual wide grin. It was just like him to keep the air light in spite of grim nature of this particular meeting.

“Hi,” she tried to whisper as she pursed her thin lips in an attempt to stop the tears.

“Aw, man, now if you cry you’re gonna make me cry!” He threw up his hands. She laughed, knowing they were incapable of producing real tears, one of the many functions their bodies could no longer perform. After all, they weren’t human anymore.

She took a deep breath and composed herself, saying “Let’s just pretend this is like any other meeting we’ve had, it’d be harder not to.”

He smiled and said “So how’s Greg? And how are your kids?”

She thought for a second how strange it was that they had once planned to spend the rest of their lives together, yet he was asking her about her current life with another man. Although what could one expect, even though his life had ended, hers had to continue.

“He’s well,” she replied, “Carla’s starting eighth grade this fall, and little Freddy is going into fourth. You know, Carla is getting her first boyfriend, I mean she hasn’t told me yet but I can see the signs, the long late night phone calls with her ‘friends’ and the way she smiles when she comes home from the movies or the park or practically anywhere. It really reminds me of us.”

“I know, Ri.” He placed his hand on hers, or rather through hers, as if he was a hologram, and maybe he was. This whole thing is a phenomenon not fully figured out by science yet. “But you have to live on, you’ve had enough meetings with me, and I thank you for visiting me on my last day.”

“Your last day,” she half sighed, half laughed, “I can’t believe it’s been 20 years. The world lost an angel that day, Matt, you were too young, I was too young. But I have to thank you too, for being my first love. And thank you for showing me what it is to be human, even when you are not even human anymore, you continue to show me that,” she laughed.

And he did too. He laughed in a way he hadn’t since he was 17 and was with her in real life, and not this weird alternate world behind a curtain. She was the love of his life, she was when he died, and she still is when he will ‘die’ for a second time, as his 20 years of being able to visit the living are ending.

They continued to talk for the regular issued three hours, the subjects varying from casual to serious in their usual easy manner of speaking. Several times in the conversation, she started getting emotional, but he reminded her to keep this meeting as their usual meetings went, so they talked about books she was reading, shows she was watching, what was happening around the world, as well as in her life. As usual he could not share what it was like in his side of the wall.

At the end of it all, as they knew they were nearing the final moments together, he allowed her to get emotional, as they began reliving the past.

She wanted to hug him, even to kiss him one last time. Not out of sexual or romantic feelings, but simply out of nostalgia. She loved her husband more than anything in the world but there is nothing that can break the bond of someone and their first love, especially when that person was ripped out of their hands, and the world’s hands, before they could be finished with their story. But she cherished every moment they spent together, and, standing up, they bid their last goodbyes and farewells and she watched him slowly disappear being the wall of thick mist for the last time.

She took a deep breath, turned around and walked out of the cafe and back into the bright, sunny day again, headed toward the bus.

She always took the bus when she came to meet him. Being in a car just never felt right to her, considering how he died, it felt almost disrespectful, especially today. The 20 year anniversary of Matthew’s death. The first person close to her that had died. He will always be with her, in her mind, heart, and memories. Even though he is gone forever. But at least she gets these extra 20 years with the people she loves, most people don’t.

She will never know where he went after their last meeting, but she knew where she was going, and that was home to her family, to her life.