• He glanced down at his watch, she was fifteen minutes late.
    He sighed and stood up from the table and walked over to the counter to order coffee for himself, and for her.
    He stopped in front of the counter and rested his hands on the fake granite and looked up at the hanging menu, trying to decide what she would like.
    The names on the board might as well have been a foreign language. Mocha latte, double espresso frappuccino. He squinted, looking for anything familiar.
    After staring at the board for a few minutes, he made a decision.
    "I guess--I guess I'll take two coffees, one black, the other with two sugars and vanilla cream," he said, unsure of his choice.
    "Will that be all?" asked the worker.
    He looked back up at the menu.
    Would I look cheap if I just ordered coffee?
    He furrowed his brow.
    I don't want her to think I'm cheap, girls hate when a guy is too tight with money.
    He scanned over the menu again.
    "Um, no. Two chocolate chip cookies and-" he paused. Cookies should be enough, right? “That's it."
    "Eight-fifty."
    He dug through the pocket of his corduroys and pulled out a wrinkled ten dollar bill. He set it on the counter and watched as the worker got his order, making sure that it wasn't put together wrong and that he wasn't given the pasty looking cookies.
    The worker placed his order on the counter and took the ten.
    He picked up the Styrofoam cups and the cookies that had been wrapped in a napkin. Slowly, he walked back to the table, taking each step with caution so not spill. He set the cups down on the table, one at his side, the other in front of the empty seat, and placed the cookies in the middle. He sat down and stared out the window; watching the cars drive by, and the people walk down the cracked concrete.
    The clouded sky was gray and the wind blew around people’s hair and garbage that had been carelessly thrown to the ground.
    He tapped his fingers on the small plastic table top and stared out the window waiting for her face to appear. He glanced down at his wristwatch and sighed. An hour had passed and the coffee had grown cold. He reached out and grabbed one of the cookies. He brought it to his mouth, but stopped mid-bite.
    She can’t be much longer now, I'll just wait.
    He put the cookie down and looked out the window.
    Maybe she accidentally went to the wrong coffee shop. There are so many, it's easy to get them mixed up.
    Outside a man slept slumped against an old brick building, he was bundled in an oversized blue and yellow jacket and his face was hard and red from the cold weather. A group of teenage boys skateboarded by, and stopped in front of the man. They laughed elbowing one another, pointed at the man then gave each other a high five.
    If everyone wore mask and lived in identical houses, people wouldn't be able to laugh so easily at one another. People could wake each morning and chose their mask, emotion and clothes. It would be so easy to blend and fit with people.

    Cars started turning on their headlights as the streetlights flickered.
    He turned and looked around. The shop was close to empty. Glancing down at the coffee, he sighed again then looked at his watch. Eleven forty-seven.
    "Sir, we'll be closing soon," said one of the employees as he wiped off the table next to him.
    He stared down at the table and nodded. He reached out and grabbed one of the cookies and took a bite.