Somewhere In The Between
The slight breeze ruffled his straight, dark brown hair. The sky had started turning a steel gray as the sun was lost from sight. The snow had melted, but the chill of winter was still in the air.
Zachary shivered slightly.
His long brown coat swayed in the breeze and his converse high-tops made a small squeaking noise as he walked down Main Street. Zachary turned the corner and the sign for Highland Coffee came into view. Slipping into the door a small bell rang indicating his presence. The pretty girl behind the counter looked up and smiled at him.
"What can I get for you today?"
The rain started falling against the windows that faced the street. "Just a cafe au lait, please." He wondered why he even bothered to tell her his order, he always got the same thing, and she was always the one to take his order. Glancing over at the newspaper stand he read the headline on The Chicago Times: "More rain continuing into the weekend."
"It looks like the rain isn't going to stop anytime soon," the girl smiled and handed him his coffee. He smiled back and then headed into the corner where a small table awaited him. The coffee shop wasn't very full today and luckily the table in the corner was always open. It was the table he always sat at. It faced a wall with three paintings on it: a cup of coffee, a horse in a field, and a small cabin beside a lake. Behind him were huge windows that looked out onto the road. To the left was the front counter and the front door was on the right. The perfect table for watching customers come in and watching the front counter.
While waiting for his coffee to cool down, Zachary pulled out his MacBook Pro and set it down on the dark black walnut table. He leaned back a little in the red upholstered chair and looked up at the front counter where the girl was taking another customers order. She stood about five feet and three inches, and had shoulder length ash brown hair. She always had a friendly smile on her face and her hazel eyes always seemed to sparkle when she spoke. A bell rang and Zachary noticed his best friend Lucas walking through the front door.
Lucas shook his head and water dripped off of his curly hair; he looked over and waved at Zachary, then made his way up to the front counter. Lucas walked toward the table and then glanced back up to the front counter, "Have you asked her on a date yet?"
"No," sighed Zachary.
"I think she's definitely into you."
"I don't know..." Zachary trailed off and looked up at the front counter. She was wearing black pants, a dark blue polo shirt, and a red apron; it's what she always wore to work. The red apron had the logo of Highland Coffee embroidered on the front and pinned just to the left of the logo was her name tag: Molly. She had worked here ever since Zachary had started school at Northwestern University, they were both in the same grade and they both were political science majors. They never spoke much, only during the few minutes before a class started, or sometimes in the coffee shop. It was only until recently that Zachary started to feel that he was more attracted to Molly than he used to be.
"You both will probably be dead the day you get the guts to ask her out," laughed Lucas.
Zachary took a sip of his coffee and turned on his computer.
"Katie said she was going to try and meet up with us," Zachary said.
Lucas looked up from his book, "She called me earlier to scold me for not washing my dishes. She's too much like my mother."
Zachary smirked "Well if she wasn't constantly riding you ass about things, you'd probably forget to even shower."
"True."
They both sat in silence for a while. Lucas was reading his book, and Zachary gazing from his computer up to the front counter every few minutes. The rain started pounding even harder against the windows and it was growing darker outside. The yellow lamps illuminated the dark orange walls with an eerie sort of glow.
The bell chimed again and Katie walked through the door. She was holding a blue umbrella and her hood was pulled up over her head. She shook her umbrella on the carpet and headed to the front counter to place her order. She looked over to Zachary and Lucas and gave a quick smile. She walked over to the table and wiped the seat off with a napkin.
"It's really nasty outside; it took me a lot longer to get here than I thought it would."
Lucas looked at his watch, "I have class in thirty minutes, how long do you think it'd take me to get there?"
"Probably about fifteen minutes," Katie replied.
"I hope it will stop later, I'd rather not have to walk in the rain," Zachary quickly looked up at the front counter and thought about walking Molly home.
Lucas noticed Zachary staring at the front counter and smirked, "You should ask to walk home with her!"
"Shhhh," Zachary looked horrified, "What if she heard you?"
"You really should just talk to her already," Katie smiled.
Red and blue flashing lights appeared on the walls and everyone turned their heads to look out the windows facing the street. They heard police sirens starting to get louder as they passed the coffee shop, racing to the next street.
"I hope no one gets hurt, it's really dangerous for them to be driving that fast in this kind of weather," Katie exclaimed.
"Well I better get going; I can't be late to class again," mumbled Lucas, "It sucks that it's raining..."
Zachary and Katie waved good-bye and watched Lucas walk out into the storm.
Katie pulled out one of her text books and starting copying definitions onto note cards. Zachary kept his eye on the front counter. The chime of the front door was constant for the next hour. People were walking in soaking wet, ordering coffee and getting comfortable on the green couches. Then as they left they pulled up their hoods and cringed as they ran out into the darkness. He wanted to walk her home so bad. She would probably appreciate it, thought Zachary. He could imagine himself holding up his umbrella for her, and holding her close so she stayed warm.
"I promised I'd meet Cody before class started to help him study," Katie said, "Zachary?"
"Oh, what?" Zachary snapped back into reality, "Okay, I'll see you tonight then."
"Alright, be careful when you leave," she leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Don’t be afraid to ask to walk her home."
Zachary waved good-bye and Katie winked at him. She pulled her hood up, opened her umbrella, took a deep breath, and disappeared through the door.
Zachary stared at his computer screen and wondered if he would ever get the nerve to talk to Molly today. He looked up and quickly noticed that Molly was walking towards him, his palms began to sweat and he desperately was searching for his voice.
"Hello there," she smiled.
"H-hi," Zachary stumbled.
"The weather's pretty bad out there."
"Yeah, I hope it stops before I have to leave."
"Oh, me too. I'd rather not have to walk home in the rain. The one day I forget my umbrella it decides to rain," she smiled.
Zachary noticed how much he loved her smile. Her teeth were so white, so perfect. And her eyes were sparkling. He couldn't find his voice again.
"I-I have an umbrella."
"Lucky for you!"
"Um...If you wanted, you could...use it. I mean, I need it too. So I could, walk you home with it," Zachary couldn't believe that he connected those words together. "Only if you wanted me too," he quickly added.
Molly blushed and said in a quieter voice, "Well yeah, that would be great if you walked me home."
They both looked into each other's eyes for a moment, and then Molly broke the gaze and started at the clock, "I have to get back to work; I get off in an hour." She got up and smiled again.
Zachary watched her walk away from him, happiness filling his whole body. He couldn't believe that he actually pulled it off. An hour from now, he would be walking home with the most perfect girl. Nothing would ruin his night now.
The rain was still coming down very hard. Zachary wasn't sure if Lucas was going to come back once he got out of class. He was hoping he would, so he could have a mini celebration with Lucas. He woke his computer up and began typing interesting things he could talk to Molly about while he walked her home. He looked up from his computer and noticed that he had been writing for about thirty minutes, but he still felt that nothing seemed interesting enough. Molly looked extremely busy behind the counter; more people were coming in and trying to warm up. Outside the rain didn't seem to let up at all, it looked a lot worse than it did a few hours prior.
Zachary was disappointed that Lucas still hadn't showed up. He figured he would just tell him the exciting news once he got home. Maybe Molly would invite him up into her apartment and would spend the rest of the day together; Zachary's mind started racing again. He began thinking of scenarios in his head when he heard the chime of the door. He looked up hoping it would be Lucas, but it was just an older looking man with a long, worn black coat. He was soaking wet and looked extremely creepy. Zachary looked over to the front counter and smiled at Molly; she smiled back and then asked the man what he would like to drink. Zachary focused back onto his computer and began thinking of asking Molly on a date for the following week. "I can't believe I'm finally doing this," he told himself.
He then heard the man at the counter raise his voice. Zachary looked up at the front counter and saw the man was holding a gun to Molly's chest. Her face had gone pale and she wasn't saying a word.
"Open the drawer!" the man demanded.
Zachary sat frozen in his chair, not taking his eyes off of Molly. Everyone else in the coffee shop didn't move either.
The man turned towards the rest of the shop, "If anyone calls the cops while I'm still in here, I'll shoot you." He raised his gun towards the ceiling and fired a warning shot. A few people screamed and ducked under their tables.
Molly had opened the drawer and begin taking out all the money and putting it into a brown paper bag. She slowly slid the bag to the man's end of the counter.
"You're sure that's all of it missy?"
She nodded slowly.
The man looked her and gave a nasty smile, "Thanks." And then he shot her in the chest.
Everyone screamed again and the man was gone in a flash.
For Zachary everything seemed to be going in slow motion. He watched the man shoot Molly, and watched the bullet fly into her chest. She hit the ground with a loud thud and laid there motionless.
The feeling came back into Zachary's body and he rushed to the front counter, he pulled back the door and kneeled by Molly's side.
Blood was pouring from the wound and soaking into her red apron. It looked like it could have been water poured over her chest. The rain was pounding even harder. Zachary grabbed her hand and held it tight. She turned her head and looked at him. His whole body started shaking and he couldn't find his voice. She gave him a small smile and then her hand went limp.
Zachary gazed into her eyes, and instead of her sparkling charm, all he found was the dullness of death.
Zachary shivered slightly.
His long brown coat swayed in the breeze and his converse high-tops made a small squeaking noise as he walked down Main Street. Zachary turned the corner and the sign for Highland Coffee came into view. Slipping into the door a small bell rang indicating his presence. The pretty girl behind the counter looked up and smiled at him.
"What can I get for you today?"
The rain started falling against the windows that faced the street. "Just a cafe au lait, please." He wondered why he even bothered to tell her his order, he always got the same thing, and she was always the one to take his order. Glancing over at the newspaper stand he read the headline on The Chicago Times: "More rain continuing into the weekend."
"It looks like the rain isn't going to stop anytime soon," the girl smiled and handed him his coffee. He smiled back and then headed into the corner where a small table awaited him. The coffee shop wasn't very full today and luckily the table in the corner was always open. It was the table he always sat at. It faced a wall with three paintings on it: a cup of coffee, a horse in a field, and a small cabin beside a lake. Behind him were huge windows that looked out onto the road. To the left was the front counter and the front door was on the right. The perfect table for watching customers come in and watching the front counter.
While waiting for his coffee to cool down, Zachary pulled out his MacBook Pro and set it down on the dark black walnut table. He leaned back a little in the red upholstered chair and looked up at the front counter where the girl was taking another customers order. She stood about five feet and three inches, and had shoulder length ash brown hair. She always had a friendly smile on her face and her hazel eyes always seemed to sparkle when she spoke. A bell rang and Zachary noticed his best friend Lucas walking through the front door.
Lucas shook his head and water dripped off of his curly hair; he looked over and waved at Zachary, then made his way up to the front counter. Lucas walked toward the table and then glanced back up to the front counter, "Have you asked her on a date yet?"
"No," sighed Zachary.
"I think she's definitely into you."
"I don't know..." Zachary trailed off and looked up at the front counter. She was wearing black pants, a dark blue polo shirt, and a red apron; it's what she always wore to work. The red apron had the logo of Highland Coffee embroidered on the front and pinned just to the left of the logo was her name tag: Molly. She had worked here ever since Zachary had started school at Northwestern University, they were both in the same grade and they both were political science majors. They never spoke much, only during the few minutes before a class started, or sometimes in the coffee shop. It was only until recently that Zachary started to feel that he was more attracted to Molly than he used to be.
"You both will probably be dead the day you get the guts to ask her out," laughed Lucas.
Zachary took a sip of his coffee and turned on his computer.
"Katie said she was going to try and meet up with us," Zachary said.
Lucas looked up from his book, "She called me earlier to scold me for not washing my dishes. She's too much like my mother."
Zachary smirked "Well if she wasn't constantly riding you ass about things, you'd probably forget to even shower."
"True."
They both sat in silence for a while. Lucas was reading his book, and Zachary gazing from his computer up to the front counter every few minutes. The rain started pounding even harder against the windows and it was growing darker outside. The yellow lamps illuminated the dark orange walls with an eerie sort of glow.
The bell chimed again and Katie walked through the door. She was holding a blue umbrella and her hood was pulled up over her head. She shook her umbrella on the carpet and headed to the front counter to place her order. She looked over to Zachary and Lucas and gave a quick smile. She walked over to the table and wiped the seat off with a napkin.
"It's really nasty outside; it took me a lot longer to get here than I thought it would."
Lucas looked at his watch, "I have class in thirty minutes, how long do you think it'd take me to get there?"
"Probably about fifteen minutes," Katie replied.
"I hope it will stop later, I'd rather not have to walk in the rain," Zachary quickly looked up at the front counter and thought about walking Molly home.
Lucas noticed Zachary staring at the front counter and smirked, "You should ask to walk home with her!"
"Shhhh," Zachary looked horrified, "What if she heard you?"
"You really should just talk to her already," Katie smiled.
Red and blue flashing lights appeared on the walls and everyone turned their heads to look out the windows facing the street. They heard police sirens starting to get louder as they passed the coffee shop, racing to the next street.
"I hope no one gets hurt, it's really dangerous for them to be driving that fast in this kind of weather," Katie exclaimed.
"Well I better get going; I can't be late to class again," mumbled Lucas, "It sucks that it's raining..."
Zachary and Katie waved good-bye and watched Lucas walk out into the storm.
Katie pulled out one of her text books and starting copying definitions onto note cards. Zachary kept his eye on the front counter. The chime of the front door was constant for the next hour. People were walking in soaking wet, ordering coffee and getting comfortable on the green couches. Then as they left they pulled up their hoods and cringed as they ran out into the darkness. He wanted to walk her home so bad. She would probably appreciate it, thought Zachary. He could imagine himself holding up his umbrella for her, and holding her close so she stayed warm.
"I promised I'd meet Cody before class started to help him study," Katie said, "Zachary?"
"Oh, what?" Zachary snapped back into reality, "Okay, I'll see you tonight then."
"Alright, be careful when you leave," she leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Don’t be afraid to ask to walk her home."
Zachary waved good-bye and Katie winked at him. She pulled her hood up, opened her umbrella, took a deep breath, and disappeared through the door.
Zachary stared at his computer screen and wondered if he would ever get the nerve to talk to Molly today. He looked up and quickly noticed that Molly was walking towards him, his palms began to sweat and he desperately was searching for his voice.
"Hello there," she smiled.
"H-hi," Zachary stumbled.
"The weather's pretty bad out there."
"Yeah, I hope it stops before I have to leave."
"Oh, me too. I'd rather not have to walk home in the rain. The one day I forget my umbrella it decides to rain," she smiled.
Zachary noticed how much he loved her smile. Her teeth were so white, so perfect. And her eyes were sparkling. He couldn't find his voice again.
"I-I have an umbrella."
"Lucky for you!"
"Um...If you wanted, you could...use it. I mean, I need it too. So I could, walk you home with it," Zachary couldn't believe that he connected those words together. "Only if you wanted me too," he quickly added.
Molly blushed and said in a quieter voice, "Well yeah, that would be great if you walked me home."
They both looked into each other's eyes for a moment, and then Molly broke the gaze and started at the clock, "I have to get back to work; I get off in an hour." She got up and smiled again.
Zachary watched her walk away from him, happiness filling his whole body. He couldn't believe that he actually pulled it off. An hour from now, he would be walking home with the most perfect girl. Nothing would ruin his night now.
The rain was still coming down very hard. Zachary wasn't sure if Lucas was going to come back once he got out of class. He was hoping he would, so he could have a mini celebration with Lucas. He woke his computer up and began typing interesting things he could talk to Molly about while he walked her home. He looked up from his computer and noticed that he had been writing for about thirty minutes, but he still felt that nothing seemed interesting enough. Molly looked extremely busy behind the counter; more people were coming in and trying to warm up. Outside the rain didn't seem to let up at all, it looked a lot worse than it did a few hours prior.
Zachary was disappointed that Lucas still hadn't showed up. He figured he would just tell him the exciting news once he got home. Maybe Molly would invite him up into her apartment and would spend the rest of the day together; Zachary's mind started racing again. He began thinking of scenarios in his head when he heard the chime of the door. He looked up hoping it would be Lucas, but it was just an older looking man with a long, worn black coat. He was soaking wet and looked extremely creepy. Zachary looked over to the front counter and smiled at Molly; she smiled back and then asked the man what he would like to drink. Zachary focused back onto his computer and began thinking of asking Molly on a date for the following week. "I can't believe I'm finally doing this," he told himself.
He then heard the man at the counter raise his voice. Zachary looked up at the front counter and saw the man was holding a gun to Molly's chest. Her face had gone pale and she wasn't saying a word.
"Open the drawer!" the man demanded.
Zachary sat frozen in his chair, not taking his eyes off of Molly. Everyone else in the coffee shop didn't move either.
The man turned towards the rest of the shop, "If anyone calls the cops while I'm still in here, I'll shoot you." He raised his gun towards the ceiling and fired a warning shot. A few people screamed and ducked under their tables.
Molly had opened the drawer and begin taking out all the money and putting it into a brown paper bag. She slowly slid the bag to the man's end of the counter.
"You're sure that's all of it missy?"
She nodded slowly.
The man looked her and gave a nasty smile, "Thanks." And then he shot her in the chest.
Everyone screamed again and the man was gone in a flash.
For Zachary everything seemed to be going in slow motion. He watched the man shoot Molly, and watched the bullet fly into her chest. She hit the ground with a loud thud and laid there motionless.
The feeling came back into Zachary's body and he rushed to the front counter, he pulled back the door and kneeled by Molly's side.
Blood was pouring from the wound and soaking into her red apron. It looked like it could have been water poured over her chest. The rain was pounding even harder. Zachary grabbed her hand and held it tight. She turned her head and looked at him. His whole body started shaking and he couldn't find his voice. She gave him a small smile and then her hand went limp.
Zachary gazed into her eyes, and instead of her sparkling charm, all he found was the dullness of death.