@ Eddie's - 6

It was an hour to eight. I was sitting there in my couch watching some inane show on the television. I was almost ready when the lady next door knocked at my door with a letter. She said it was lying there outside his doorstep last evening and since he wasn't there she saved it. She said the red envelope and the loopy handwriting had made her want to open it but she wanted to save me the surprise. Saying this she shut the door behind her, leaving me with the letter. I had about an hour to reach Casey's place and so i tore the letter open and began reading it.

Dear Josh, 

  

        I could probably just tell you this but I cant. There are things in life that we cant explain. There are people who aren't a part of the picture but make the picture complete. To start from the beginning, I don't actually belong to this town. When i came here i made a friends with whom i could cover my scars. Scars of a life left behind. Scars of being a coward. Scars being selfish. There is something none of my friends here know... I ran away from my life 3 years ago, leaving behind a 5 month old son and my husband. He has no idea of where i went or why i went away. Till this day, neither do i. I wanted to live,enjoy and relish life. But that's a past i wished to bury. Until i met you. You made me feel empty and happy. Empty because your warmth made me miss my son. Happy because there was finally someone to love me enough. There was magic in the way we talked, walked and just knew each other.  I thought, i could possibly push my past and move on. A couple of days before i met your mom, Eric , my husband showed up in front of me. He was angry. Very mad at me, but he knew there was no way to get me back. I just prayed to God for my son. There wasn't much i could do going back there. I knew i couldn't take care of him or be the mother, the way yours is to you. Meeting your mother, broke me down. I couldn't hold it back anymore and so I told her the truth.

She told me that her son had fallen madly in Love with me, but when i told her i had a life i couldn't return to she didn't seem too happy. She pleaded that i at least tell you the truth and let you decide. She told me how you had left home, looking for friends and people to care for you. She told me about those days when after school, you came back home crying and begged to God to show you some friends. She told me that after 8 long years she had seen her son smile, laugh and actually live life. Casey, Sam, Ric. These were the names she always heard her son say.So, I took a few days away from you to decide on whether i should tell you or not. But those days made me yearn for you more than i ever knew. I wanted to run back to you and just with you at Eddie's and sip hot coffee and just talk. 

This i could have just told you, but then i couldn't sum up the courage to face you, face your innocent liking for me. For whatever it is worth, I love you! 

Love, 

Your Casey! 

P.S: I am waiting for you... You will come, wont you?

Reading this, I cried. I just crumbled and broke down. I don't know if it was for the time i had wasted waiting to ask her or that this was a love i couldn't have. I had much longed for a friend and there she was, that friend that i had always dreamt of. There was a life waiting for me in exactly 30 minutes. A life that would change it all for me.There she was waiting for me, My Casey. Or was she that strong? Maybe she needed someone. Just like me, she needed someone too. An anchor for a life that had no direction. Yes, She needed me like i needed her! 

I was there at her doorstep. right at 8'o clock. I straightened out my shirt, brushed my hair and rang the bell. Once... Twice...Thrice. There wasn't response. So, i trying pushing the door. It was open. 'Ha.. already in love are we?' I thought. Silently , I tip-toed into the house. It was strangely filled with nothing but wallpapers. There was a bottle of wine on the table beside the Sofa. So she had laid out the evening for us. An evening that was a first for two yearning souls. I walked to her. I was there, just a breathe away from her , just a second away from telling her that i didn't care about her past and that now we can just be together forever!

Right there on the couch was My Casandra, drenched in a pool of blood, lying lifeless on the sofa.... It took me a few seconds to understand reality... There she was , and all i could muster as i knelt down beside her was 'I love you too Casandra.. I love you too'

@ Eddie's - 5

It’s a strange life isn't it? We follow something thinking Ha no one is watching but then we end up being followed instead. The way things strung themselves to one another, I thought this was all preset. Like someone had staged all of this. I couldn’t believe my eyes that I was sitting at the same table @ Eddie's with HER!! Ha... 'Strange ways to get a date' should be a book that I should some day write. Casandra was her name. I had begun to call her Casey, with a little bit of hesitation though. Cos she wasn’t the kinds one would want to mess with.

"So the ticket, the guy at the cafe, the girl at the counter... They were all a part of this?"
“Ha ha ha... No No... Actually just the ticket. I sort of wanted to see you again and that was the easiest way I could do it without striking a conversation"
“Some planning that was. So, what about the man and that girl at the cafe?"
“Well I went there twice and ordered nothing. The girl got suspicious and was mumbling about how random people just come and sit and stare at the theater all evening long and just leave. That’s when I thought that it probably was you. I mean, its not it’s the L'ouvre, that people would come sit and ogle at it for hours."
"And so u tipped her?" I laughed.
“She is a teenager, just tell her a love story and she will be all gaga. That’s all that I did. I told her about how we met and then she said she thought you were the guy. So I just put it all together"
As Casey said this, I beamed at her and suddenly felt that the whole of Eddie's was looking at me. Right then, as though on cue Eddie played out this soulful song, which was highly unlikely him. He too had noticed apparently.

Since the day I met Casey life was like a huge bouncing ball. There wasn’t one dull moment. We dined, danced, went on long walks. But never once did I make a move, she didn’t hint it either. Whatever this was, mom was noticing. My calls to her got politer and nicer. One day she asked me
"There is a girl, isn’t there?"
" Ha ha.... Yes mom, there is but she is just a friend. I haven’t even ..."
"Uh Uh... Stop there my boy... I know how this I didn’t touch, I didn’t smile business goes. Get her home will you?"
"Fine Mom. Love you"

So I convinced Casey and a bunch of her friends to come home over the weekend. It was fun actually, mom and Casey got along really well and the others loved the food mom made. But there was something that was clear on mom's face. Something that she didn’t know whether she was happy about or not. She didn’t tell me though!

The day we got back from Mom's place, Casey got busy. She said she couldn’t meet me for a few days coos of some trip she had to go on. I didn’t ask her why. It had been 15 days since I first met her and it seemed like I knew her forever. After 3 days, Casey called me over to her place. It was the first time any of her friends had been called over. Her house was one with a long ancient looking Cadillac, well trimmed grass and a lot of flowers all around.
It was 8 in the evening... and there I was standing at Casandra's door step... after a minute of tidying my hair and clothes, I rang the bell.....

@ Eddie's - 4

After what I had done, I thought of ways to try and meet her again. There were some simple ideas. Like go to the theater and try and get her number or pray hard to god (the only other time i had done that was when the Bulls were playing) But i found a better way out.. I went and stood outside the theater everyday! Each day I would walk up to the theater, sit at the coffee shop across the road and wait. I used to sit from 6 in the evening to about 9 into the night (cos that's the time most of 'the' crowd would come into the theater). Yes , I know that probably praying to god was a better option. Well anyway, I waited across the theater for 4 days. 4 long days. At the end of the 4th day something happened. I met a guy, who randomly walked up to me and asked me if i was a writer. I laughed at the thought. Why did sitting at a coffee shop without a purpose always mean that you were a writer? "Me and writing!! Ha! No no..." I said to him... and then he drew up a chair and ordered a cup of tea. that was strange. Anyway... he sat there , silent watching me while I sat with my eyes fixed at the theater.

"looking for her aren't you?"
Me - "who?"
"that girl... In the blue green flowy dress?" 
Me -" which girl (darn, how did he know?)"
" aaaah.... When has a guy ever sat at the same table for days together staring at theater into which he'd never go?"

So there I was trying to stalk a girl and there was a guy stalking me! Hah! Now that is life!

" So.. Tell me about yourself" he said... "about me? I am just another guy in this place!"


"and madly in love after a girl from up there" he said pointing out at the far end of the street. I laughed and asked about him... for which he smiled, walked up to the counter, paid for him and me and just left.... What the!! So a guy can actually walk up to me and say some stuff and then just leave? What had i done to myself!

I anyway walked to the counter to check how much i had to pay and the girl at the counter flashed a smile and said "She came for u last afternoon!"

So now everyone knew my story?

@ Eddie's - 3

Two days after Ms. Uptown girl had sat right there next to me, there I was sitting on the opposite side of the very same table as though even sitting there would tarnish the beauty about her.... her.... Whoever she was.... Why did she have to leave that ticket there? Just one... If i were someone who fancied red hearts and valentine's I would have thought that she had left it there purposely.... but , add some sense to that thought and i would laugh at myself.... Probably it just got left out....

OK, so what was i going to do? I thought to myself sipping on some delicious new chocolate drink that Eddie had made.... He always does that to me.... If he ever got something new in the kitchen then he'd try it on me... Luck or something he used to mumble... Most often i couldn't help but ask for another serving..... Oh, coming back to the question about the ticket.... I had actually thought it over a million times in my head... why else would i be dressed in my best pair of denims, a white shirt ( now,where did i find one without a stain on it?) and had also managed to rudely press my hair down to look slightly human. I finished my mug of chocolate, paid my bill and looked at Eddie.... he looked at me and gave this cheeky little smile... Ha! No Eddie! Not a date... just.....being nice ... I smiled to myself as i started walking towards the hall.

It would have taken me 5 plain minutes on a normal day but today i took all the time in the world and maintained a slow stroll. Suddenly, I was enjoying every brick of this town where i had been living for the past 6 years... Strange! The play was at 7 pm, the ticket said... and my watch said 6:23 pm... there were just a few people around and the gates weren't open yet so i couldn't have possibly missed her. I tried counting windows, staring at the cobbles on the street, counting coins in my pocket but time seemed to be moving at a rate i never ever knew...... And then, i saw that guy... the one who sat across at my table.... My heart didn't skip but i was kind of on my toes... So she HAD to be there somewhere.... Actually I could have given him the ticket and left, but nope... I waited... after about 5 minutes she came.... a simple knee length aqua dress... and a string of some brilliantly sparkling stones around her neck.... oh she was rich! I was so lost looking at her that i didn't notice her walking towards me, not with a wave or a smile but with a look of 'uggh .. I have seen you'. I immediately doubled my steps towards her and gave her the ticket ( I didn't even open my mouth for a Hi) . She took it, smiled and said ' Oh thanks! But my friend decided not to come, we got this extra ticket... care to join us? as a thank you' ......

Wow!! I must have been the luckiest chap on the entire street..... THE most beautiful woman (after mom) had just asked me to watch a play with her ( of there were other people too!) I am sure I was half gaping - half smiling at her cos she smiled again and said ' hello!! you here?'

Most men in my shoes would have said yes without a split second thought, but i took a whole of ten minutes and i said .... ' Uhhh... No... I need to meet someone at dinner....' (S**t)

I had just finished uttering the last word and she said 'fine, thank you again' and walked into the hall without a glance backward.

WHAT had I done??? How stupid!!! Aaaah!! Fool!! I cursed myself hard and walked away from the hall before i changed my mind and darted into that hall...

10 minutes later when i opened the door of @ Eddie's , I felt like the biggest clown on the face of the earth...Eddie looked at me and shouted into the kitchen ' One bowl of hot soup and bread for the boy'....

What had I done!!! Idiot!

@ Eddie's - 2

3 weeks before I spoke to mom about going home... There I was sitting at my usual seat @ Eddie's... This time having a cup of Decaf coffee and a cinnamon roll... It was a weekday but it was raining so I decided to skip work... Not much to do there these days... It was raining in a way that would make you feel the most beautiful experiences in the world ... Like a warm kiss, a book and hot chocolate or maybe soccer in the rain with my buds... ha ha, that sure was a nice experience for me.

So, there I was sitting and having my coffee when the rain seemed to grow a little bit harder. It was nice from the inside but I am sure the people on the road wouldn't think so. There were some running into the nearest stores, huddling under big umbrellas and a few ran into @ Eddie's. They seemed like a misfit there. Not the kind of crowd who would come into a place like this ... But rain brought them there.... and they were staring at the place finding a place to sit. There were some that were taken by just a guy or two and then there was one empty table... I was counting in my head... 1..2...3......8 people.... surely a table wont fit them all.... I would have just finished counting when a couple of them landed up at my table...

'Hey, mind if we grab a seat?'
Me -' Sure..sure'

I hesitantly moved my plate of cinnamon rolls and cup of coffee further towards the glass window... I would at that moment wanted to become the salt and pepper shaker there , after what I saw... A guy and a girl took the seat across me... They seemed to hate each other's company but then there wasn't another free place... The guy was smart, charming in pleated trousers and a nice crisp (now wet in the rain) shirt...The girl was dressed in a simple dress... a polka dot blue... boy,was she pretty or what! The way she keep passing cold looks at the guy made me smile from within..... They didn't notice me there of course.... They ordered a coffee and a latte..... small talk they were doing... about how the rain had spoilt his hair and her shoes.... and then i heard something ....

' wish we had a table to ourselves.... I mean sitting with random people'
' shhush now.. its not like he's deaf'


Wow, a pretty lady talking about me.... that felt nice.... By the time I could float in that wonderful feeling they had started bickering... and she moved to my side of the table... I could have sworn to god that for an instant I thought I had fallen onto the road through the glass window! I could sense her next to me, silently sipping her latte sitting in this 'dont you dare come near me' kind of a body language.... I sure didn't .... phew!

By the time I had sipped the last of my decaf the rain had stopped and the guy and the girl (darn, what was her name!!) had gone over to Eddie's counter and were paying. 

'Aaah come back, sit here, it feels so calm when you are here' 

and just then Eddie had switched on Billy Joel's 'We didn't start the fire'  ha ha! Oh Eddie.... Billy Joel right, but that could have been 'Uptown Girl', couldn't it?

I saw them breeze out of @Eddie's and then I turned back to my table... 'Time to go' I thought... As I got up something was there under the bright red Menu of @ Eddie's ...

'@ Eddie's .. We got all that you want'

It was a ticket.... for a play, two days after .... just one.... was it there by mistake? OH!! did she want me to go???

What do I do now.....

@ Eddie's

As I sat there gobbling up my bowl of soup, tears were waging a war to run down my cheeks any moment... and right there somewhere in the background was playing in Elvis' smooth voice 'Are u lonesome tonight?'.. Ha! Eddie couldnt have a chosen anything better for tonight.... Just then my cell started buzzing... long time no see! 'Mom' calling.. There have been years when I have just picked the call and gone 'yeah mom, no mom , ok mom, me too, byyyye'. But today was different. Even thru a gazzilion micro-telephonic-thingies I could feel my mother's warmth, just like those times when I would come back from school crying about something and she'd hold me and ruffle up my hair and hand me over a cookie...

'Hi mom!!'
Mom - ' Are you having soup at Eddie's again?'
'yeah mom, i got late after work... so I decided to.. '
Mom - 'uh huh dont give me that I decided to skip dinner story again'

Mom still thinks I am 5 and I would probably choke on my soup or miss my nutrition for the day. For her I hadnt grown a day older. But I have..

Mom - ' So what was you text all about?'
'Nothing mom, I plan to come home...'
Mom - 'Great!! for the weekend? Uncle Carl is coming over too!'
'mom.. mom!! Its not for the weekend'
Mom - 'Well its friday already.... what is it then?for a week?'
'No Mom... like forever...'
Mom - 'EVER? Now whats wrong Junior?'

How could I answer that? How could sum it all up in just one statement? How do I gather to courage to tell my mom what I had just lost..

'I will tell you when i see you at home mom... I Love you..'
Mom - 'Love you too son... you sleep tight.'

As I hung up on mom I glanced through the bright red menu sitting on my table

'@ Eddie's .. We got all that you want'

Really? I smiled to myself... and right then Eddie walked over... 'The last order for the day son' he said... and I said...

'A whole bunch of friends to last forever'.