No Coffee, Please.

“Hey, do you mind if I join you? The place is packed and I am having trouble finding a table.”

“No, that’s fine, go ahead.” 

“Thanks. I don’t usually ask to sit with strangers.”

“That’s fine.” I ensured her, sliding down my side of the booth to make space for her to sit opposite.

“You’re a writer?” she asked, starting up a conversation.

“No, I’m a teacher. I teach online classes.” I explained.

“Oh, sorry, am I interrupting?” her voice softened with embarrassment.

“I’m at lunch. I work out of an office down forty-seventh and third. I teach in the morning and evenings, mostly to adults looking to upgrade their GPA after graduating high school with subpar grades.” I admitted, but my head wasn’t in the conversation as I stared down my open laptop as the blinking cursor on the blank email tormented me.

“Oh, that’s neat.” she responded, “If you don’t mind me asking, does it pay well?”

“It’s decent, I set my own hours and schedule. I make it work.” I added, still watching that cursor pulsate in place as a reminder that I was procrastinating writing this email.

“Sorry, I don’t mean to be so intrusive. I will let you be.” She swallowed hard, realizing I wasn’t looking to engage in a conversation with a total stranger. 

“No, I’m sorry. I am being rude.” I shook my head and closed the laptop, escaping having to email my response for the third time day.

I looked up and really noticed her for the first time. She was young, but probably not much younger than myself. Her eyes were piercing, and I could tell by the tan on her face and arms that she was certainly not from the city.

“So, what brings you to the city?” I asked, looking to see if my prediction was accurate.

She rolled her eyes and pursed her lips, “Is it that obvious?”

“A little bit, yes. It’s actually quite refreshing to meet someone who hasn’t been corrupted by the metropolis yet.” I jested, and by the smirk on her face, I was relieved that she didn’t take my comment the wrong way.

“Then maybe you can give me some advice, being the city slicker you are.”

“City slicker? Who says that?” You certainly are not from around here.”

She tilted her head to the side and gave out a slight sigh, not yet defeated by my spars.

 The waitress came by and took our orders and was gone almost as quickly as she popped up in the first place.

“She looked disappointed that neither of us ordered coffee.” My companion alluded. 

“I can’t afford to waste time thinking about other people’s thoughts. My own thoughts are tough enough to manage alone.”

“Alright, let’s hear it.” the girl leaned in, expecting me to spill my guts out right here and now. “What's got you so troubled, Teach?” 

“Teach, huh? My students call me James.” I introduced myself, reaching out to formally shake hands. 

She reciprocated.

“I don’t have students, but I assume if I did they would call me Casey.” She replied. “So what are you losing sleep over, James?”

“Who said anything about losing sleep?”

“You know what I mean. You’re stewing over something deep, I can tell.” Casey was reading me like a book. “Excuse me, I have to take this call. Hold that thought.”

She answered her phone and conversed with someone regarding a job interview being rescheduled for tomorrow. Casey didn’t seem phased by the change of plans in the slightest. She still had the interview, just not today apparently. It wasn’t bad news, but it was the kind of news that would have eaten at me for the rest of the day. I have never been able to handle a change well. Casey seemed like the kind of girl that took a change in stride.

“Looks like my afternoon has freed up today. I had an interview at the temp agency, but they are needing to reschedule all their interviews for tomorrow.”

“Looking to work as a temp?” I asked, curious at how that would work.

“No, they are looking to hire an administrative assistant for scheduling bookings. Not my dream job, but something that will help me pay the rent.”

“Interesting.” I lied.

“What’s interesting is how you still haven’t answered my questions. Don’t think you’re getting off that easy.”

I ran my hand through my hair, trying to think where I would start to unload my thoughts on this random stranger I was going to be eating lunch with today. This girl could be anyone, but maybe that was the reason I felt okay with sharing. In this city, the chances of ever seeing her again were slim. 

“I am trying to write an email to my brother.” I started, not sure if this was the right place to start. 

I flipped open my laptop again and found my brother’s Instagram profile, knowing it would be easier to just show her than it would be to explain.

“You’re engaged?” Casey blurted excitedly. 

“That’s my twin brother Marcus with his now fiance, Sarah.”

“Oh, you’re a twin. That’s wild. Obviously identical, as he looks exactly like you. Recent news, no doubt, as this photo was only posted a few hours ago.” 

“I don’t know,” I confessed, taking the laptop back, “it’s good news, clearly.”

“But?” Casey dug deeper.

“It’s not bad news.” I thought out loud.

“You’re not impressed.” Casey jumped to the case.

“Okay, listen, Marcus and I are twins, but other than sharing almost the exact genetic makeup we couldn’t be more different.” I opened the flood gates of thoughts and now Casey was going to have to withstand the flow. “We never really had that twin telepathy that everyone assumes twins have. My whole life I felt at odds with him, like in constant competition. We were both proficient at whatever we set our minds to. We excelled at whatever we tried, but we excelled in different ways. Our skill sets weren’t the same, and that should have made us the perfect duo, but because of our competitive nature we just never learned to work together.”

“I mean, I don’t have a twin but think I understand. You were lacking the brotherly twin bond.”

“Exactly! We graduated high school, both at the top of our class, ironically. I pursued education and he pursued performing arts. We have gone our own ways, live on opposite sides of the country, and exist separately from the other.”

“Let me make a prediction.” Casey leaned in and scooted closer to me to better engage.

“Be my guest.” I welcomed the insight, “Perhaps you can put it into words since I haven’t been able to.”

“It’s easy. He beat you.” Casey’s words spewed out so effortlessly. “You still feel in competition with him. He’s found the one. He’s getting married. He’s found a soulmate, dare I say. Her name is Sarah, and of course, it is. How typical. No one good is named Sarah. You had no clue that he was even serious about anyone. Still, there he is, wrapped up in someone’s arms you haven’t met, showing affection, which you didn’t even know he was capable of doing, and you’re here, waiting for lunch and the rest of your life to fall in place. While Marcus has seemingly got his life altogether.”

This firecracker of a stranger just did what I couldn’t. She was right with every word. Laid it all out in front of me, perfectly spoken. I didn’t want to admit it, but I resented my brother to the core. I went silent and replied only in a smug look on my face of astonishment. 

“Too far?” Casey grimaced. 

“Too accurate, if anything,” I admitted. “I think what bothers me the most is that I never thought he wanted this. He’s a dancer! I know this sounds judgemental, but that’s not the kind of profession you get into if you want to live a life with someone else. Apparently, she’s a real estate agent. How did this even happen? How did two very different professional worlds collide for them to meet in the first place?”

We both laughed. I realized my statement was absurd, but I knew it held some merit.

“Life is messed up,” Casey concluded, “nothing is predictable.”

A new waitress appeared and informed us that Nora, our last waitress who wore a name tag that read Margaret, had finished her shift and that she would be taking on our table now. Her name tag also indicated that her name was supposedly Margaret, but she introduced herself as Emily.

She pulled a pot of steaming coffee out of nowhere. Casey covered her mug before Heather could get too far and asked if she could get water instead. I doubled the request and without a word Heather was off.

“These coffee pushers are ruthless. We can’t be the only two people in the world that don’t drink coffee, am I right?”

I could sense her question was rhetorical, so I just let it permeate the space around us as I returned to the engagement photo of my brother and soon to be sister-in-law. 

Casey pulled my laptop away and closed it. “You are not wallowing about his. The only competition you have now is the one you make in your head. So your brother and you are not kindred spirits. Some people aren’t meant to be friends.”

“He’s not my friend, he’s my brother - my extremely estranged twin brother whom I deeply resent. He could have called me at least. Instead, I find out over an Instagram post. You can’t tell me I’m not justified.”

“I’d be livid.” Casey reassured, “You should be insulted, after all this time you have spent rekindling a broken relationship with your identical brother. The nerve of him!”

Her sarcasm was not lost on me. I ran my hands through my hair again and inhaled long and hard trying to regulate my frustration.

 Our waters and lunches arrived and we were offered coffee again. We both declined and thanked her regardless. 

“High road or the low road?” Casey muttered through a mouthful of food. 

“What do you mean?” I genuinely asked. 

“Do you want to take the high road when it comes to responding to your brother? Or, would you prefer to milk it a bit and have him over analyze his neglected relationship with you, hence the lower and more entertaining road to take with all its bumps and potholes?”

“You really are a country kid. Only a smalltown kid like you would use busted up rural roads in an analogy for life’s choices.”

“Watch it! My literary devices can work wonders. Make your choice.”

I refused to answer. Although I admired Casey’s ambition, I wasn’t willing to buy into her crazy just yet. I wasn’t sure of what she had in mind, but I am sure it would be packed with future regrets. Wasn’t there an alternative road to take? An overpass I can take and avoid the entire ordeal?

Casey flipped open my laptop and starting typing. Trying to stop her would have been pointless. She continued to type as I started to eat my soup and sandwich, just praying that she wouldn’t send anything until I could approve it. 

She then pulled out her phone and started dialing a number. As I could hear the phone faintly ring, my interest in the matter was more than piqued.

“Hi, hello, is this Wendy?” 

My heart sunk hard. Casey had just called my mother! I wrenched my laptop back and she saw that she wasn’t formulating an email at all, she had searched my obsolete Facebook account and stalked my mother’s account. I told my mother that it wasn’t required to add all her personal information on her profile when I first got her signed up, but she insisted.

“Sorry, did I catch you at a bad time?” Casey pushed on, refusing to make eye contact with me. “Oh, good. My name is Casey, I’ve been meaning to call you for some time now. I haven’t formally met you yet, but I have only heard great things. With Marcus recently getting engaged, I wanted to surprise James with a trip to his brother’s wedding. I realize they just got engaged and they probably don’t have any plans set, but would you happen to know any details regarding where and when the wedding might take place. With our busy schedules, we would need to book time off in advance.”

I couldn’t believe it! What was Casey trying to do? This complete stranger was up turning my life as I knew it and causing rifts between myself and my family.

“This August. That’s more than enough time to book off work. James’s summer classes are a bit more flexible than my work, but as long as I know which weekend I should be able to take the whole week off to come up, no problem.”

Stunned, I covered my face in horror. Not only was I going to have to attend my brother’s wedding now, but I was also going to have to explain why this random stranger is calling my mother regarding wedding plans.

“That’s been happening a lot lately. I will have James call you when he has the chance to verify our address. The neighbors have been gracious enough to drop off some mail that has accidentally ended up in their box. We’re getting it all sorted out. I’m sure it just got lost in the mail. Oh, no, I don’t recognize that email account. Knowing James, he probably hasn’t used that account since college.”

I felt like I was witnessing a trainwreck. I guzzled down my entire glass of water as I stared down Casey, praying she would just stop while I could still repair the damage she created. Was this her idea of taking the low road?

“Well, I’m sorry we haven’t been in touch until now. James has been wanting to drive up to officially introduce me to you and Steve in person.” Casey was improvising flawlessly, “Very typical of him to not mention me. I asked him if he had, and he said he wanted it to be a surprise. At first, I wondered if he was having cold feet, turns out he’s just terrible at communicating.”

Casey turned and gave me a cheesy wink as if she had got away with the world’s greatest sting operation. I shook my head in disbelief.

“I am really looking forward to meeting you, Wendy. James wanted to keep our relationship a secret, so when we do come, please act surprised. I think he has been putting a lot of work into planning this.” She paused long enough to hear my mother keep her word and listen to her infectious laugh over the phone. Casey couldn’t help but laugh too. “He mentioned next weekend, but it depends on my work schedule. He will probably let you know when we do.”

Who is this girl? The deeper her story got the harder it was going to be to undo it. I can’t say I was mad, her plot twist was quite humorous to me. I could only imagine what my parents would be thinking when this phone call ended. I have never once mentioned a girlfriend of any kind to my parents. They have inquired about my love life in the past but eventually stopped asking over the years. 

In reality, Casey created the perfect storm. She had taken the predictable and mundane persona I had made for myself and created a spontaneous and audacious new one. Not that my parents would be too perturbed with this startling new revelation. They might be caught off guard at first, but would probably be thrilled that some girl is claiming to be my significant other at this point of my bachelorhood. 

“Marcus and Sarah will be there too?” Casey finally made eye contact with me, the plot had thickened. “You will be meeting Sarah for the first time? What a coincidence! Well, we don’t want to interrupt your plans with them. We can always drive up on a different weekend.”

I could hear my mother’s voice escalate in reassurance. She would never pass up on a chance of having both Marcus and me under the same roof again, especially under these circumstances.

“If you’re sure. We don’t want to take away from them. Maybe you could call Marus and see what he thinks?” Casey’s plan had finally unfolded in front of me, perfectly executed. “Alright, I will call James and let him know I called you so we can book off next weekend now. He might be a little let down I ruined the surprise, but I am sure he will get over it quickly. What’s that? Do you want to keep it a surprise? Or better yet, let’s make James think it’s a surprise but when we meet we will refer to each other by name as if we knew each other the whole time, turn the shock factor on him? Excellent! Well, it was great talking, looking forward to seeing you and Steve real soon. Bye for now.”

Casey hung up and gave me a look of accomplishment, mixed with mischief. There was no easy way out of this now, all I could do was go along with the ride.

“So, what are you doing next weekend?” I asked, perfectly well knowing that I couldn’t do this without her now.

“I don’t know. What did you have in mind?” she replied.

Heather returned to take our empty plates and used utensils. “Can I get you two anything else? Desert? Coffee?”

“No coffee, life is already enough of a high as it is.” I owned my words as I exchanged my phone number with Casey, excited for the future.