I meet him again...

As I took the tray of tea to the front of the coffee I understood why the voice seemed so familiar. The person and I made eye contact and I could see he was surprised to see me but I remained unsurprised. I was surprised to see him here but after I understood who the voice came from, a calm hit me which gave me that unsurprised look. I brought the tray and placed it on a table and gave him a small smile. “Jane? What are you doing here? Did you move here?” He bombarded me with questions. “Woah Woah slow down Ashten… You are asking too many. You know Ashten, Jane?” Chris asked me. I looked at Ashten and called his name and then looked at Chris and said that we used to work in the same company. I went closer to Ashten and gave him a cup of tea. He took it happily and Sylvia suggested we get started with the discussion of the blog. Ashten looked at me and then said to everyone “ You know I used to find the blog quite cringy but after Jane left the company, all my coworkers were saying how much of a coincidence it was that Jane and Irene both left their company at the same time.” I smiled nervously. “Oh my God! Is it gonna come out like this that I am Irene?” I thought to myself.

“Anyways, I am not a fan of such romance kinda stories and let alone a blog but I did find this one interesting. At first, I thought that this girl seriously needed to move on but now that I see her doing it, the blog is getting better.” Said Mr Adams. I was actually enjoying and liking this idea of getting some critical analysis about my blog without them knowing. I kept smiling like an idiot listening to everyone’s comments. Miss Wooder said that she hopes Daniel is reading it from somewhere and is actually trying to meet her, even if it's for closure. Another person in the club who is one of the people whose name I can’t seem to remember said that she doesn’t want Irene to meet Daniel as the blog might end there. She added that she really enjoyed reading it and that she saw a guy with a similar description to that of Daniel when she was reading it when she visited her sister in another town and that made the reading experience way better.

Sylvia called my name and asked me to tell what she felt about the blog which kind of broke my thoughts that I was having of Daniel when they were all saying their thoughts. I ran my eyes through the cafe and then said “ I really like the way it comforts me when I read it. It is a hard step to move on but I guess it's needed after all this waiting. I too don't want Daniel to appear in front of Irene anymore. She’s trying her best to move on. She's trying her best to move on. She is trying her best to live forward and not think about him and waste her time. And more than anything I love that she is finding her life comfortable.” I said that and sat down. The rest of the discussions continued with small talks, opinions and some town gossip. This felt like family to me. I brought a certain warmth to the body. Being here and talking to people. Some people were having refills of their coffee, some people went to the library to get some books. I saw that a subtle chill wind was blowing outside. I took my tea and went outside and stood next to the plain glass of the cafe enjoying the dark yet calm weather. I never like darkness but today was different. It was welcoming and happy at the same time.

I shifted my eyes to the door when I heard the sound of the bell. I saw Ashten coming with a small blanket and put it on me. I smiled and thanked him. He came from the back and stood next to me. “I never thought I‘d see you again. I was honestly sad when you left. Is your house close?” Ashten asked. “ It's quite close,” I replied. “Hey… This has been bugging me. I have been having more thoughts about this ever since the club had the suggestion of the blog. It’s too much of a coincidence right? There’s no way you’re Irene!” I looked at Ashten with a surprised look. “I am pretty sure the others didn't notice it as you’re new here but even when we talked about the blog in the company you always paid close attention to what everyone said and had this kind of proud feeling in your eyes at that time. I noticed that you had it today too. You never took interest in any talks in the company except for this one.” Ashten continued.

“ Am I getting caught? No way! I am not letting anyone know who I am!” The thoughts ran into my head. I looked at Ashten and said,” It's a coincidence. I don't have anyone like Daniel to wait for. The stress at work got to me so I thought I’ll move to a calmer place. Maybe after a little while, I can get back to work. I am grateful to my late parents that they left me quite some money for me to be able to take a break like this.” He seemed satisfied with the answer. Or was it a kind of relieved look? Chriss opened the door and called us back in. Everyone had suggestions for next week’s book. We fixed on some mysterious fantasy book due to the request of Mr Adams that I had no interest to read. Sylvia reminded everyone to keep an eye on the update of the blog and everyone agreed. I was about to head out when Chris said he’ll come with me. I wanted to go back alone but It was quite late so I agreed. I said bye to Ashten and Sylvia and left the cafe with Chris.