The Coffee Shop

"I'm Vanessa, and this is little Marie. Her father is somewhere around town...doing who knows what." Vanessa replied.

Marie giggle at the mention of her father, "Daddy where?"

Rose

I walked into my favorite coffee shop for the billionth time that week. "Hey, Mike," I said to the man behind the counter. "Can I have my usual?" He grinned and started making my vanilla latte. I looked around and spotted my old friend, Isaura. A girl I'd never seen before sat across from her. I loved meeting new people, so I sauntered over to introduce myself.
"Hey, Isaura!" I said cheerfully, giving my friend my classic one-armed hug.
"Hey, Rosie," she said with equal verve. "This is Lis." The young girl nodded her greeting. A little girl and the girl's mother I hadn't noticed before were sitting with them.
"This is Marie," Isaura continued, and the little girl grinned at me. "And this is Vanessa." I shook hands all around.
"It's nice to meetcha," I said, trying to remember everyone's names. "I'm Rose. Can I join ya'll?"

Isaura;

"Of course you can!" I smiled in return, embracing her with my free arm. "How've you been, Rose? I haven't seen you around town for so long!"

"How've you been, Rose? I haven't seen you around town in so long!" said Isaura. I grinned and squeezed into a chair next to her.
"If I told you, you'd never believe me," I said a little sheepishly. I paid for my coffee and took a sip. "So how old are you, Marie?" The little girl grinned at the sound of her name.

"I four." She says in her little baby-toothed smile. Vanessa flashes a smile, "She's right."

"I four," said the little girl. I could literally feel my heart melt. I turned to Isaura.
"And how are you, Isaura," I asked, sipping coffee. I shouldn't have changed the subject on her like I did...I remembered how she hated that. Or maybe that was my sister... I'd been gone far too long.

Isaura;

I blinked at the sudden subject change. I wanted to question her further, but knew that probably wouldn't get me any answers. "I'm good." I said, recomposing myself. "I got a job down by the local studio as a guitarist for some of the local artists." I took another long sip, loving the warm liquid that slid down my throat. I took in the scent. Reminds me so much of home. I thought to myself, waiting for Rose to reply.

Rose

"That's so cool!" I said, perhaps a little too enthusiastically. I quickly took note of my surroundings. The quiet girl was watching Marie intently, little Marie was trying to take Vanessa's keys and Vanessa was trying to follow our conversation. I looked down at my empty coffee cup, wishing for more. "I guess you've got a lot of questions, huh?" I said quietly. I didn't like to keep people guessing.

Isaura;

I slowly nodded, taking in another breath of my spiced tea. "A lot is an understatement, Rose." I said calmly. Where had she been all this time?! One of my best friends had suddenly left without warning. It was like a piece of me disappeared. And her hesitance to tell me anything was bothering me, but I guess I should've expected that. "But we can talk about it another time, if you'd like." I said sympathetically. I wanted answers, but I also wanted to enjoy time with my friend. "I'm just glad your back." My small smile quivered into formation.

Rose

I shrugged. I had nothing to hide. At least, nothing that I knew of. So to break the silence, I said, "It's alright, Isaura. You can ask me anything in front of these guys." I grinned at our little party, and asked Mike for a second latte.

Isaura;

I motioned Mike for another hit of my drink. Once he slid it down the counter to me, I took a sip and exhaled loudly. "How about we start with why you suddenly dropped off the face of the planet for over two months? Maybe even longer! I lost count at two.." I said, waiting for her answer.

Rose

I took a deep breath. I knew this question was coming for a long time, but it still took me by surprise. So I gathered up every ounce of courage in my body, and broke the silence.
"To be honest, Isaura, I just couldn't come home," I said, hearing the pain in my own voice. I looked around the cafe to find every soul staring at me. "This is where my parents died. This is where I was thrown into that foster care. I couldn't come back until I'd..." I broke off, hoping she hadn't heard the last bit of sentence. I sipped my latte, and waited for a reply.

Isaura;

Her reply was no shocker to me; I wouldn't come back either, but I would have said something. But she was holding something back. "Until what? What made you come back if all this crazy stuff happened to you?" I tapped my fingers against the counter nervously and added in a softer voice. "And why didn't you call? I was worried about you Rose. I thought..." I swallowed, "I thought you were dead."

That shocked me. Dead? Another pang racked through me, remembering Andy. I swallowed. "Remember Andy Gonzalez?" I asked. His name sent another wave of fresh pain. "From tenth grade English?" Isaura nodded, confused. I took a deep breath. "He was my best friend for 15 years. And he died here, Isaura," I said quietly. I looked everyone in the eye, one at a time. "I came back to get some closure on his death," I said, probably a little too loudly. "I came back to help me move on." I looked back at my coffee.

Crissy

I walk in after a near encounter with my ex, panting from the quater mile I had to run to aviod him. I sit down in a booth and slam my head against the table a couple times. And it had been such a great day, but now it sucked. I ask for a glass of water and watch the people at the counter.