The Coffee Shop

     It was a cool autumn morning. Halloween only a couple weeks away. I went to the coffee shop around the corner from my apartment to go through my usual routine. I saw on the menu they had added halloween themed drinks. My favorite time of the year. I had just ordered a monster fudge sludge coffee, this shop's idea of a creative halloween themed drink when in reality they had probably just spiced up the mocha coffee they typically have but you didn’t hear me complaining. My friends like to say I'm the chocolate fiend of us all. So I ordered the sludge drink and went to sit down at my usual table to play around on my laptop. This was typical for me. I take the morning coffee part of my day to write my journals or story ideas down. This was my safe place. Until he showed up. I was scrolling through youtube looking for a good music mix to listen to while I worked when I heard a chair sliding out and then saw a cup of coffee placed next to mine. “ I saw what you ordered and figured with how focused you looked you could use another one” a strong male voice spoke up. I took out my earbuds and looked around my laptop to see who decided to interrupt my morning routine and caught a glimpse of the bluest eyes I had ever seen. Along with those blue eyes came a strong angled chin, a shaved face and curly brown hair that went to his jaw. Talk about a gorgeous man. But also a stranger. My guard instantly went up. This must be some kind of joke. I closed my laptop and looked around. “Did someone put you up to this? Is this funny to you?” I asked. I felt like one of my friends put him up to this because they thought I needed someone, that maybe if I had someone then I wouldn’t be so caught up in my writings or schoolwork but in my mind I was fine just how I was. I didn’t need someone to make me better.  But my opinion has never stopped them before. 

     The blue eyed boy looked at me and smiled, showing off a brilliant white smile. “No this isn’t a joke and I don’t know who your friends are, I just wanted to buy a pretty girl a cup of coffee and maybe get to know her a little” he told me. I huffed and opened my laptop. “Sure I bet that’s exactly what you wanted, look I don’t mean to sound rude but i’m good. I appreciate the coffee though” I told him. He just smirked at me and said “just you wait, I don’t give up easily”.

“ Go ahead and do what you will,” I said “ you’ll get bored eventually”. I closed my laptop and got up from the table grabbing the extra coffee he bought and pushing in my chair. Who did this guy think he was anyway. Sure he has looks but I didn’t see anything more than the surface. He could be an amazing guy my brain tried telling me as I walked out of the door. I put my laptop in my bag and decided to forget about him. I had better things to do than worry about a random pretty face. The rest of my day continued normally. Most of my days ended up lacking anything interesting. I have my small group of friends I see when I can, a full time job at the library not too far from my little one bedroom apartment. My friends are always trying to get me to do more but I like where I'm at right now. Is that so wrong? That night before I fell asleep though I let myself think of his deep blue eyes. His eyes reminded me of the ocean. It was one of my favorite places to be near. I fell asleep thinking about us talking by the ocean. 

     The next few mornings he managed to pop up everyday at the coffee shop. Everytime buying me a second cup of coffee trying to get me to give him more than a few sentences at a time. Each time I got up and went about my day. Except on the fourth day things changed a little. He managed to find me at the library. I had been reshelving books in the astronomy section of the stacks and someone came behind me and started asking me about a book but his sentence fell short when he saw me. He grinned  and said “ well look who it is, she who is not easily swayed”.

I shook my head and said “it seemed like you had a question for me. Is there something I can help you with regarding the books?” He smiled at me once again and nodded his head “actually yes there is, im looking for scary stories to read. Folklore if you would. The classic scary stories you know?” I had to admit that he had a decent taste in books. I took him to the section we had on scary folklore and he picked out a book and asked me to check him out. I led him to the front counter and he smiled as I scanned his book and card into the system. “Thank you so much for your help,'' he said. I’ll see you tomorrow” he said. “ You know when a guy acts the way you have been that’s kind of weird you know. This almost feels like borderline stalking. You are still a stranger to me. Never even gave me your name.” I replied. I had noticed every time he talked to me he had never brought up his name or asked about mine. He nodded and held out his hand “my name is Lucas, it’s nice to meet you”. I shook his hand warily and said “ my name is Liz, before you ask, yes it’s short for elizabeth.” I handed him his book and told him to take care of it. I didn’t peg him for much of a reader but I also don’t like to judge. I watched him walk out the door and thought about his name in my head. Lucas was a nice name. I focused back on the present and noticed two kids staring at me and just walked away from their stares. I didn’t know what they were staring at but wrote it off because it could have been anything. I wenty about the rest of my day as usual minus stopping at the closest taco bell because I did not feel like cooking. Finally made it home and ate and as I was getting ready for bed I thought about Lucas. All his questions at the coffee shop that I brush off, the way he always buys me the same coffee I chose that day. I thought it was weird for a guy to randomly pop up out of nowhere like that and actually seem interested in me. The next few days I began to see him not just at the coffee shop but at the library always bringing back the book claiming he was ready for a new one and each time I would just shake my head and go to check him out. It became a constant routine I actually began to enjoy and even look forward to. I had told my friends about Lucas and they all wondered where he came from. He seemed to pop out of thin air. I noticed how little I knew about him aside from his eyes and his taste in books. I wasn’t able to really tell them much about him and that bothered me. Halloween was a few days away at this point and my friend Emma was planning on throwing a party and her and our other friends insisted I invite him with me. I told them I would see how he feels about it but made no promise about it. The next morning when Lucas showed up I was just sitting at the table with my coffee waiting on him to show up. “Not even trying to ignore me behind your laptop today? Finally up to talking to me?” He said as he slid the chair out and sat down. I smirked a little bit and said “See I am not ignoring you, I pay attention to what you’re saying but I choose not to respond, today I decided to respond. You’ve bought me enough coffee. I owe you that much. I just know I'm not the best company” and shrugged my shoulders. He gave a small laugh and told me “ so far you’ve at least been entertaining company to me I don’t get out much but decided to try something different with you. You inspired me in a way I suppose. I don’t want to trap myself inside anymore.” He folded his hands in front of him and continued “well extra emphasis on the trying. You weren’t kidding when you said this wasn’t going to be easy.” 

     I took a slow sip of my coffee, trying hard not to burn my tongue. I then just shrugged my shoulders and said “I know what it’s like to feel stuck inside all the time. It can suck so bad some days but I have an apartment so i’m going to get my money's worth out of it. Though I do go out with my friends here and there.” I looked at him as opposed to the table and saw a small smile on his face and something close to pity but not exactly that lurking in his eyes. It made my heart hurt so I looked off to the side to break the eye contact. I looked down at my coffee and felt my heart go into my throat “so my friend is throwing a halloween party in a couple days and I wanted to know if you’d go with me. My friends want to meet you and have been bugging me about it so yeah, whatever. You can say no if you don’t want to go.” I started running my fingers around the rim of my coffee cup due to anxiety and waited for him to say something. 

“Was that so hard to ask me?” he said with a smile in his voice “I would love to go.” I took a deep breath to calm my racing heart and took my hands off my coffee cup and put them in my lap. “ Okay then, meet me here about six o’clock and we can head over together.” I told him. He said okay and then got up to leave. Of course my eyes followed him to the door but it was like as soon as I blinked he was gone. I took my eyes off the door and noticed someone across the floor staring at me. I was beginning to feel like there was something on my face with how hard they were staring at me. I grabbed my bag and coffee and went about the rest of my day. Of course he still came to the library to check out another book. But it was a short visit. The day of the party came. I was dressed up as a witch complete with a broom and Lucas met me at the coffee shop dressed as Gomez Addams from the Addams Family. He even had a rose with him. We both decided it was nice enough outside, why not walk to the party. It was only a few blocks away. As we were walking he ended up taking my hand as we were passing an alley and the gloomy overcast sky set the mood perfectly for halloween. I never saw him coming. All I remember is being pulled into a back alley way and Lucas following me. There was a man with tattered clothing and a knife holding onto my arm. He put the knife to my back and told Lucas to back up. Then I felt something sharp and nothing but darkness after that. 

     When I woke up I found myself strapped to a hospital bed. A woman who looked like an older version of my mother by my side, head sitting in her hands. I tried to lift my arms to comfort her but was reminded of the restraints on my wrists. The woman lifted her head to look at me and said “Oh Grace, you’re awake, are you okay?” She stood up to call in the doctor letting them know I was finally awake. Who is Grace I was asking myself, Is this woman my mother? What was going on? I tried to speak but found my mouth so dry, the nurse that entered my room brought over a cup of water with a straw and I drank as if I'd never known what liquid was. She took the cup away when it was empty and I cleared my throat. My voice was weak but I said “ where am I ? What happened to Lucas?”. The nurse just looked at me and told the woman I was assuming was my mother that the doctor would be in soon. I looked at the woman who had come to sit next to me once more and asked “ are you my mother?”. I could see the pain in her eyes upon my asking of the question. “Yes Grace I am your mother” she said heavily. “Why do you keep calling me Grace?” I asked her. If she was my mom shouldn’t she know my name? Why did she keep getting it wrong?

“Sweetheart your name is Grace” she said. It sounded like she had said this line a thousand times before. I looked at her and said “my name is Elizabeth, I don’t know who this Grace girl is but it seems you have the wrong room. My mother wouldn’t get my name wrong. Why am I strapped to a bed, where is this doctor at what is going on right now. I have a party to go to and where is Lucas at?” My impostor of a mother just sighed heavily with her eyes closed and a tear trailed down her cheek. The doctor chose that time to walk in and my impostor mother looked at him with sad eyes. “ Grace isn’t here, doctor. She says her name is Elizabeth and she keeps asking about Lucas. I don’t know what to do” she said and then she openly started crying. I just watched her and the doctor. I didn’t understand what was going on. The doctor looked at me and asked my name and I told him it was Elizabeth. Then I asked him about what happened to Lucas. He ignored me and started talking to that woman again. “There isn’t much else we can do for her, I'm afraid. This is her heads defense for the trauma she’s experienced. She has good days and clarity but on her bad days she creates an entire new personality with a different backstory. It suits her until her brain inserts a trauma into that backstory and her brain resets. New name, new personality. Though she always describes the same scenario. As for this Lucas character I couldn’t tell you where she comes up with it. He is in every story she tells. Your guess is probably better than mine” he said. 

“ I need to leave, why are you guys doing this to me. Let me go!” I started shouting at them. I started pulling against the restraints and yelling for them to let me go. I needed to find Lucas. The doctor called for the nurse to come in. I felt a sharp pinch in my arm then everything slowly got heavier. I needed to find Lucas. His ocean blue eyes coming alive behind my eyelids as they fell closed. Or were they brown eyes? Everything was becoming so fuzzy. I couldn’t recall the color of his hair or the shape of his face. The name Elizabeth came to my mind and I tried to ask who Elizabeth was but my mouth felt like cotton. The woman stroked my hair whispering the name Grace over and over. Who Was Grace? The last question I tried to ask was what was going on but everything was too heavy. My mind faded and the last sound I heard was soft crying. Why were they crying?