Stood up while sitting down

It’s 8:25 and Starbucks is full of students, talking audibly over the light jazz music. J isn’t there, yet. I make a clockwise walk around the coffee shop, and I pull up a chair to a small table near the front so J can see me. Its comfort level is that of a block of wood.

For the next few minutes, I glance at the door whenever it opens - a couple of students, a few older couples, and the occasional yuppie. None of them are J.

Out comes some reading material to keep my mind off the wait. With each page flip, a minute passes. Before I know it, 15 minutes have ticked away on my watch. I call J, but there isn’t an answer. J doesn’t call or text me.

What’s going on? I wonder. Why doesn’t J call me?

As time passes, I read more and grow impatient. My fingers begin to tap the table in a percussive beat. The minutes turn into seconds and I start to stare at the door, thinking that if I concentrate enough, J will walk through. It doesn’t happen.

The baristas walk by my table a few times and give me look. I haven’t ordered anything because I thought it would be rude to be drinking before my guest arrives. I know it looks like I’m loitering, but if they knew what was going on, they’d offer me something to drink, like a scotch.

I pull out my phone and see if there are any missed messages. Not one. I make a few phone calls to friends to see whether, or not, they want to chat for a few minutes; my luck entails talking on the phone, and someone appearing. No one is home and every phone call results in a series of pathetic messages on voicemail.

It’s now 9 o’clock. I’ve waited more than ½ hour for J to arrive, and I am still sitting at Starbucks.

I’ve been stood up while sitting down. Fuck.

I hope J had a terrible accident and is lying in the hospital, with several broken limbs and a lack of pain medication.

Thinking of that is the only way I’ll feel better... for now.

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