The Full Cafe

Annie sat at her usual table in the corner of the Twin Flowers Cafe. It was rather busy today, but she didn't mind in the least, she always got some ideas for some of her stories when the shop was at its busiest. She generally came in the morning to people-watch, but today was a little different, she had come in the afternoon. Her friend Laura had met her, and they had talked for a good hour, when they had finished catching up, Annie had decided to stay for another hour to observe people's interactions.

As she sat watching the interactions between a mother and her young daughter, who was probably about two, she began to notice that the tables were beginning to fill up. Maybe she should go home soon so there would be room for new customers. She decided to wait another ten minutes before...

"Excuse me ma'am may I sit with you while I wait? You see, I have a few minutes to kill before heading to my next job." Startled, Annie looked up, to a man standing beside her, she hadn't seen him walk up.

She tried to cover up her start as she responded,

"Sure thing, I can head out if you want, I was just people-watching."

She was secretly hoping that he would say that that was a good idea but didn't want to be too eager to leave.

"It's no problem at all, I don't want to disturb you. Just try to pretend that I'm not here," the man said with a slight laugh and a smile.

"Okay, I'll do my best," Annie replied, smiling all the more in amusement. "What's your name, pray tell?"

"Oh, sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Paul, what's yours?"

"Well, Paul, my name is Annie, and it is nice to meet you."

"Miss Annie. That's a nice name," Paul smirked, "and I haven't ever heard anyone outside of a book say pray tell, thank you, it's kinda fun. Do you read a lot?"

"Yeah, I'm actually a writer...well not officially, but I have written a lot of short stories that I want to get published one day. I'm currently working on my first novel," Annie paused a second not wanting to talk too much when she was supposed to be ignoring him, but then decided to go on anyway, "What sort of work do you do?"

"Wow, a writer in the flesh. That's so cool! I haven't ever met a real writer. What is your novel about?" Paul enthusiastically asked.

"It's really exciting. . . well I think so anyway. . .there is a girl, whose name is Grace. She ends up in a precarious situation where it's life or death and she has to choose between doing the right thing and doing something that will hurt her friends and possibly get them killed. She ends up trusting God, doing the right thing, getting killed, and saving her friends. It's a sad story, but at the same time, it shows the value of doing the right thing and trusting God for whatever happens." Annie paused to see Paul's reaction...he had a thoughtful expression painted on his face and they sat in silence for a few seconds before he spoke,

"My, that sounds like a really good story. I can't wait to read it! One thing that I really like to read about is when people have the courage to do the right thing, even when it's hard. There is something encouraging about it that makes me want to try harder to do the right thing, even when it's hard or could potentially have something unpleasant in store for me."

"Wow, you make me want to go write. Thank you. One thing that I really want to do, is change people's lives, for the better, through my stories," Annie paused before going on, a little afraid, "When I get it done, I will give you a copy and you'll have to let me know what you think."

"Thank you! I think that I would like that," Paul stated as he smiled again.

"Oh, you never did tell me, what is your job?" Annie asked, kind of glad to change the subject off of herself and her work.

"Yeah, I guess you did ask, didn't you," a mischievous grin spread across his face, "I work for the mob."

"You what?" Annie nearly yelled in shock.

Paul started to laugh. And this time it wasn't a quiet laugh, it was a full hearty laugh. Annie understood and began to laugh too.

"Sorry, I was only kidding. Um, I work as a counselor for other men. I meet with some younger men from my Church to mentor them a few times a week and work as a Christian Counselor the rest of the time," he grinned, "I would say that you have a great personality, but I don't want to make you feel weird, so I won't."

Annie lightly laughed, "I think that you didn't quite mean that, otherwise you wouldn't have said that at all, but thank you. I could say the same thing about you."

"I do believe that you caught me. . . I might have to be more stealthy next time," Paul teased.

"Next time. . . is there going to be a next time?" Annie asked in anticipation.

"Of course. . . if you frequent this establishment." He responded with a twinkle in his eye. "If you don't, I may have to track you down. How else will I get my book? You know, the one that you promised me?"

"I will, don't worry. Of course, you will have to meet my Dad before we bump into each other too much."

"Of course, I wouldn't dream of not meeting your parents. If I am going to meet them, I will need your phone number, you know?" He smirked as he added, "Also, as insurance, I get to read your book."

Annie laughed, "I'm sure. Here, I'll write it on this paper towel. Do you have a pen?"

"Do I? Of course!" Paul produced a pen out of his pocket with glee.

Annie wrote hers down and gave Paul the paper towel as Paul's young friend from Church walked in.

"Sorry, I have to go, but I look forward to bumping into you again soon," Paul said as he got up, "good luck with your book!"

"I look forward to it. And good luck with your friend."

Annie smiled, this was the weirdest and yet most exciting day in her life. Who knew what adventures awaited her in the near future?