“It’s like I’m reading the script to a Hallmark movie!” Patti peered up from the stack of pages she had been reading, wiped her eye with the corner of her stained apron, and slid the papers across the café’s worn table. “Every time I read something of yours, you always make this old woman cry,” Patti cried, pointing to herself. She cackled and refilled the mug in front of Katherine McCarthy. 

“Thanks for reading again, Patti,” Katherine said. Katherine gathered the papers and watched the owner of the café rise from the red booth to tend the espresso machine. Katherine slid her latest chapter into her bag, preparing to leave. She took one last sip of steaming tea and scanned over the line of customers waiting to receive a cup to warm their hands. That’s when she saw him. She sat there numb as she observed John Wes from the booth, her cheeks hot like cider. There was no way he saw her; if he had, she would have known. She was positively certain of this because every time they were together, electricity surged between them. The sparks lingered and with these lasting feelings, a person just knows. The little golden bell above the door tinkled, and he was gone. She waited until her eyes could no longer watch him before she left the cozy place and went the opposite way he had. The short walk to her apartment felt like a span of hours as she remembered John Wes and strolled past where they had met...

We first saw each other at the crosswalk between 31st street and 8th avenue. Both of us were in our last year of college, ready to jump into the world in which we had always feared. He had an apartment off of 5th street that would always smell of cologne and the s’mores we would make over the stovetop at midnight. After our classes, we would rush back to his place just to be alone. We cooked dinner together, him over the stove stirring because it was the only thing he could do, and me doing everything else. I liked it that way, I liked to cook for him and see his bright smile applaud my cooking skills. He spread out a blanket and we ignored the table, for we couldn’t go more than a few minutes without touching or holding each other. We’d eat on the floor like that every night. 

After our meal was cleared off our plates and the dishes were scrubbed and dried, we’d spin around the kitchen dancing to Conway Twitty’s “Hello Darlin’.”Johnny was a traditional man who liked Western things. Country music became something we shared together, just like how we shared a lot of things. Coffee kept us up at night, fueling our energy and yearn for one another. Our laughter filled the kitchen as he twirled me and we square danced across the wooden floor. Sometimes the family next door would knock on the walls to quiet our billowing giggles. We would turn the music down then and our quick dances would become slower. He rested his hands on the small of my back and we’d sway back and forth for hours and hours. 

During our winter together, we had danced one night away while a heavy snowfall poured down from the sky. We rested our tired bodies and ate s’mores. It was at that moment when we were both sitting on the cluttered countertops, talking and eating, that I realized I loved him and he loved me. He said the three words first, I was too shy of course. We ended that night kissing and holding each other as we drifted off to sleep. It felt so liberating to live freely in the moment. I licked my lips, still able to taste the chocolate of the s’mores.

 ~*~
 John was there again. After his surprising appearance yesterday, she felt strange, like she’d been a leaf falling and blown off course by a strong gust of cold wind. Katherine looked at him closely this time and realized the seven years apart hadn’t aged him at all. Sure, he looked different, but not truly different. Katherine sipped her tea slowly and turned the café’s table into a workspace. Although her black pen was in her hand and a blank piece of paper was awaiting ink, she couldn’t write. While her mind was focused on the plot of her developing novel, her heart was reliving the memories of their short time together. Katherine’s reminiscing was paused as Patti dropped a plate in the back kitchen. The violent shattering reminded her of the shouting...

“We want different things,” I cried to him as we stood on opposite sides of that small kitchen. We loved each other but I wanted to be a big-city journalist, and he wanted to move back down South where his family lived. It was simple. Our time together was over and it was only months after graduation. He begged me to come with him, to marry him on his family’s farm as he helped grow the business. 

“Why did you come to New York anyway then, if you were just going to leave?” He explained that he needed a break from his small hometown, a break from the plain life he was living.“You started a life you can’t even finish.” Now I was shouting. He looked at me like I was dying, knowing that I was speaking the truth. I wanted him to live his dreams and he wanted the same for me. We shared one last dance before I helped him pack up his apartment. I felt so lonely as I walked back to my parents’ house, trying not to think too much about Johnny.

Katherine slammed down her mug, splashing tea on the blank page. She thought he had left forever, that he had just been a blurry memory in her mind that she would slowly forget over time. She yelled to Patti who was creating latte art at the counter to watch her seat. She chased after John down the crowded street. Luckily, he was still in sight. She dodged Manhattan’s pedestrians, careful not to slip on the sidewalk’s frosted leaves. The courage was inside of her, she could sense it. Katherine tapped him on his flannel coat twice before he turned around. 

“Katherine?” John gasped. Maybe it was long lost love that turned his cheeks crimson, or maybe it was just the cold. 

“John? Hi.” Butterflies fluttered around her stomach, tickling the ounce of courage she still had. He grabbed the sleeve of her scarlet jacket and pulled her aside, away from the bustle of the city. 

“Hi, um…” He blew into his gloved hands and squinted at the distant stoplight. 

“Hi. I saw you at Patti’s Café and I had to stop and say hello.” Katherine trembled, the cold air making her bottom lip quiver. She was overcome with emotion. “What are you doing in Manhattan? I thought you--”

“I did. My dad sold the farm and I got a job that transferred me to New York, ironic enough. I’ve been back now for a little more than two years. When I first got back I was going to call you but I figured you moved on a long time ago.” He smirked under his chestnut hair and soft jawline. 

“I’m sorry to hear about the farm.” She sighed, thinking about how much he had loved it and how much time seven years really was. “Would you like to catch up more?” She wanted to know how he had been, if he was still the same person she fell in love with. He pulled her closer to him as a bicyclist whizzed past. She watched him breathe in her lilac perfume as she stepped closer. She probably looked different to him due to the obvious maturing that came with passing years, but she still had black hair and sharp hazel eyes. He coughed and sniffed a little in the frosty air. Katherine could tell that he was trying to become aware of himself again. The memories must have made a surprising visit in his mind. 

“That would be great.” John smiled and waited for her to finish writing a ten-digit number on a square of wrinkled paper. 

It was when he reached for it, that she noticed the wedding band on his left hand and a laughing couple walked by.

~*~
John was five minutes late, or Katherine was five minutes early, she wasn’t entirely sure. The four days after he had called to meet at Patti's Café seemed like a lifetime. Katherine hadn’t been able to write a single word, and she hadn’t known why. She didn’t even know the real reason why she had wanted to meet with him. He was married; her John Wes was in love with another woman and for all she knew, he was a father of three. She hadn’t chased him down the busy street with the intention of falling in love with him again, but the idea definitely didn’t seem impossible. She just wanted to talk to him again, to hear his deep voice. 

The golden bell tinkled and he was there under the doorframe. He saw her in the first booth and greeted her with one of his warm smiles. He slid in front of her, taking off his flannel jacket to show a black long-sleeve. He had always accommodated his wardrobe to suit his handsomeness. “Hello again,” John said. Katherine suddenly grew very warm in her sweater. 

Before she was able to manage another word, Patti was at her side with a notepad and pencil. “What would you two like?” She asked, eyeing Katherine as if she knew how many thoughts were racing in her customer's mind.

“The usual. Mint tea for me, please. Extra sugar.” Katherine peered up at the bewildered John.

“You hate tea,” John spoke with a knowing glance.

“I do not,” she persisted. Patti quickly glanced up from her notepad and then looked back down. In the sudden silence, Katherine leaned back in the booth, crossing her arms.   

“You think it’s bland and just an overrated way to drink water. I remember.” He smirked.

Katherine grew cherry red now. Patti was still hovering over the pair of them, not that any of them noticed. “I haven’t been able to drink coffee since we’ve been together. When we broke up I made it a habit to avoid it since it made me think of you and that wasn’t doing anybody any good. Now I drink tea.”

John grew silent, fidgeting with a loose hangnail on his thumb. “Oh.” He drew in a deep breath, she could tell he was thinking about something, but that something was unknown. “Well, we’re both here now. Two coffees, please.” Patti jotted down the order and shortly after, she returned with a mug in each of her hands. 
    
The two of them thanked the grey-haired woman. Katherine tasted the coffee like it was her first sip ever. The chocolate-flavored creamer warmed her tongue and the coffee’s strength calmed the butterflies that were beginning to rest their wings. They set down their mugs at the same time and began to catch up. Feeling more at ease, Katherine placed her elbows on the table and shortened the gap between them. John let her start. She told him about the newspaper’s column that encouraged her to write her own books and how they were published after just a few months of serious editing. Talk of her parents came up and she explained that they had moved to Main to embark upon their own adventures. Then she mentioned her dating life, how she was too focused on her writing to care much about being single, and how her friends had set her up a blind date that failed miserably.
 
After a burst of laughter from that story, he told her of his father’s death, the sold farm, and his marriage. He married a teacher, and they were planning to try for children once he earned the promotion at his office. He told silly stories about his wild times down South between serious subjects. Talk of old friends filled the unwanted space between them. 

They were like their old selves again. They giggled and were practically dancing out of their seats. By seven o’clock they were the only ones in the café except for Patti. She sat behind the register, counting tips and grinding beans. The smell of coffee reminded Katherine of his apartment. Oh, she would do anything to just relive a minute of those joyous times. Perhaps she was. Katherine couldn’t deny that the hidden feelings of love were being exposed under the table’s dim lighting. John didn’t look so different anymore, he was still the same; together they were still the same. 

Patti switched the sign on the door to ‘closed,’ signaling the end of their stay. John rose up out of the booth and took the hand of the woman he had been crazy about. He helped her into the jacket that was now snug around her thin frame and they were back onto Manhattan’s streets. “Thanks for catching up with me,” Katherine said, knowing that if it was seven years ago, this evening would have been capped with a kiss. 

“All this time, you’ve really been drinking tea?” John held out his arm and in a flash, they were linked together. Katherine nodded and they giggled once more. They parted at the crosswalk, neither one knowing what would happen if they turned away. He’s married. Katherine kept repeating those words to herself as she started for her apartment on the next street. Love was a powerful thing; this she knew. Walking away from him felt wrong, somehow sad. 

The front door to her building came into view when she decided to turn back. She could tell he felt something too. She wasn’t delusional. What was that ‘something?’ Before she chased him down the street again, she decided to stop at the intersection of 31st and 8th to clear her mind, to satisfy the tingling excitement that thrilled her entire body, to remember. 

She rounded the sharp corner and John was there. Smiles brightened their faces as they both recalled how they met. Katherine walked up to him slowly, hesitant about the event about to take place. As she wrapped her arms around his woolen coat and peered up into his blue eyes, she knew what had to happen. Pedestrians tiredly walked past them, the noise barely audible to her numb ears. They were standing so close to one another. Only one white cloud of air appeared as they breathed. He gathered her hands, loving their softness, their gentleness. Her fingertip grazed his wedding band. “I love her, Kathy.” The words didn’t break her heart. His happiness was enough.

“I know, Johnny,” was all she could say. Like their last dance in that memorable apartment, they shared one last kiss. The bittersweet taste of mocha coffee teased her lips. 

Katherine strolled back to her apartment. She knew that the night would be spent writing, and now she had the truest understanding of love to work with. She would have her own Hallmark movie to tell one day. But for now, she hummed Conway Twitty’s “Hello Darlin'” while she walked under the falling snow.