iii. A Stranger At Java Jones - Two Women And Two Unconverging Lines
iii. A Stranger At Java Jones
”Do you mind if I sit here?” a petite blond girl asked him. He answered, “Sure.” The coffeehouse, where he met her, was the most popular hangout in this small college town located just outside the campus. Every evening, the place was packed; even during the daytime when students took classes, there was a good crowd. So, it was nothing unusual that a few strangers shared a same table. But, this stranger apparently had a purpose. Shortly after she took the chair on the opposite side of his table, she struck a conversation, “Whenever I come here, I see you.”
”Yes, I’m here everyday,” smiled he rather awkwardly and answered. The conversation unfolded from there.
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This was the girl that he was going to have a crush on. This was when he was in junior year in college. Ten year ago.
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He found out that the girl’s name was Jessica; she majored in Sociology and she was working on her thesis. He did not find out exactly how old she was or what year in college she was in. But she must have been either in her junior year or senior year given that she was working on her thesis. And if that was the case, he guessed that she was 21 or 22 years old. It turned out that the thesis was about the phenomenal of the ‘hangout’ coffeehouse found nearby every college. That was where students hanged out; that was where they met people, studied and discussed about every aspect of their lives such as their future, politics, love interests, sex life, music, art, literature, beers and other alcohol beverages, films, friends, gossips and ideas. She needed to focus on a very specific subject; he became the subject, as he was one of those who came to this coffeehouse every single day. She apparently already decided that before she came here tonight and she found him as expected.
Initially, he felt rather awkward because the stranger suddenly approached him and started asking a myriad of questions. But, as he opened up and started talking with her, he found the affecting feeling. He was acquainted with some of regulars at the hangout, but he basically had only two friends, Jakob and Radley. Both hanged out at this coffeehouse and this was exactly where they met. The truth of the matter was that they all loved this place, though they hanged out here as if there were no other places to go; perhaps, somewhere in their minds, they felt like they had to be out there partying in order to become qualified college students. But, after all, routines became a little tired and mundane after a while. And suddenly, this girl appeared from nowhere. Strange avocation actually. He was here almost everyday, so if she came here occasionally, he must have seen her before but he did not recollect her face. Maybe his eyes subconsciously erased the memory of hers for he believed that she were a total stranger and would remain so. It was not that he had an ugly face, a disability or mental deficiency; he was a little insecure partly because he just moved here a couple of months ago howbeit. But here she was. Rather cute, fun, and cheerful; conventionally speaking, those with great intellect were often rather depressed and gloomy, but she possessed the look of a young intellect while she had a positive aura.
This was just an ordinary coffeehouse, but all of a sudden, the place felt like the house of enlightenment or the holy temple. Perhaps not a great cathedral but a small pretty church. Not a magnificent template, every piece of whose surface was decorated with an intricate design, but one of a modest size permeating the atmosphere of endearment. The coffeehouse was no longer a square box; it had the atmosphere of a fantasy world. At the end of the evening, he was keen on this girl. Rather predictably, he would fall in love with her. The beginning of this story was a cliché; the thought of her would not escape him in the coming months. But also, rather predictably, this would become a bittersweet memory of his. This would not become the most simplistic heartbreak story though. This would also become a story of his understanding the world surrounding him. But looking back, he would discover that this whole affair was more than that; there was another layer in the story, which was that he would keep falling for women that he would never establish romantic relationships with.
