"Crazy,"
The single word had just escaped my lips as he walked through the door.
"Crazy for feeling so lonely,"
He situated himself in the east corner.
"I'm crazy,"
He was sucking on a lollipop as the coffee house's one waiter addressed him.
"Crazy for feeling so blue,"
I could hear the waiter repeat his order, despite the noise of the piano behind me.
Strawberry cheesecake and hot tea, with extra sugar.
He must have had some sweet tooth.
"I know, you'd love me as long as you wanted,"
I'd talk to him a bit after I finished that song. Then, I'd dedicate one to him.
--
"You there, in the east corner," I called out in Japanese.
He immediately directed his attention towards me.
"What's your name?" I asked.
He replied, but I could not comprehend what he said.
"Speak up; I'm not too sure that you heard what you said."
All the while I maintained my smooth, expected-from-a-coffee-house-poet/singer voice.
"Ryuzaki," he half-mumbled across the room.
"Do you speak English?"
He nodded.
"Well this one's for you, Ryuzaki," I chimed in English.
I then turned and whispered something to the pianist.
"Hangin' round, downtown by myself,
And I had so much time,
To sit and think about myself.
And then there he was.
Like double cherry pie,
Yeah there he was,
Like disco super-fly.
I smell sex and,"
A few male voices cheered from their tables.
"Candy, here.
Who's that lounging,
In my chair?
Who's that casting,
Devious stares in my direction?
Mama this surely is a dream…"
--
After finishing my song, and shift for the night, I waltzed off stage and into the booth across from Ryuzaki.
"Endo Tsuki," I introduced myself.
He smiled slightly at this, but made no attempt to start a conversation.
After a few moments of awkward silence, the waiter came around to give Ryuzaki his cake.
"Um, bring me some tea, will you?" I asked quietly.
He nodded and walked back to the kitchen.
"So, you do this for a living?" Ryuzaki asked after swallowing his first bite of cake.
"Yes, just to put me through college. Well, not really. I got in by scholarship. But a girl needs a place to live and food to eat, you know?"
I smiled and tapped my fingers on the table before me as my tea arrived.
I took a big sip of it.
"What do you do for a living?"
"I'm a detective," he lazily spat.
"I'm aiming for that. In time, I believe I'll get it."
My lips said that I believed, but my tone suggested otherwise.
"So do you come here often?" I asked, suddenly desperate for a change in subject.
"No, I don't," he said, no change in his tone.
My face drooped.
"But I will from now on,"
I perked back up at his words.
"When do you work?"
There was that tone change I'd been searching for.
"8 to 12 on weeknights, and 7 to 9 every other Saturday. Drop by tomorrow night? Maybe after my shift we can go somewhere else?"
He finished off his cake and rose from his seat.
"I'll be here."
"And,
I'll be waiting," I sang.
He smiled and took his leave.