The small coffee shop had a homey feel to it. It was quiet, and set back in a near desolate part of the city, away from the commotion of the day. This was why Craig Taylor had chosen this particular café to dine in; he'd wanted to not run into anyone he didn't have to. Too often lately, he had left the store to go to lunch, or tried to go out to dinner with his newest girlfriend of the week, and had nearly run into his ex wife or ex son, as he liked to refer to the young man.
This place, however, was out of the way. It was small, and relevantly unknown. His secretary had mentioned it in passing, and he had been interested, inquiring more almost immediately. She said the place had a great bakery, and to try a slice of their chocolate mousse pie. He said he'd keep it in mind when he went. Now, here he sat, a cup of black coffee sitting in front of him, a slice of pie on the way.
Craig included, there were only two customers in the shop. Both sat at the bar. An elder lady who looked to be not too terribly much older than Craig himself, maybe six or seven years, sat two seats away, sipping on a glass of iced tea. She was eating a piece of the angel food cake slowly, taking very small bites. Craig looked away from her and toward the window. Suddenly, she spoke up.
"Is this your first time coming here too?" she asked quietly.
Craig started, shaking his cup slightly on the table. He turned toward her, the brown plastic of the stool shifting, his back settling at a different angle against the small back.
"Yes, yes it is." Craig answered.
"I heard about it from my daughter. She just raves about their donuts from time to time, and how delicious their coffee is, so I figured I'd have to try them someday." The woman smiled softly.
"My secretary mentioned their pie and coffee." Craig said.
Behind them, the sun danced in through the windows to light the small shop, glistening off the clean white marble-looking floors and the red and brown booths and tables. It bounced off the display window of the bakery treats up next to the counter. Craig cleared his throat.
"So, what did you do for Mother's Day, ma'am?" he asked, turning more towards her.
"Please, call me Joan." The woman said, smiling.
"Well, nice to meet you, Joan. My name's Craig." He said, returning the smile.
"It's nice to meet you as well. And to answer your question, I didn't really do anything for Mother's Day. My children aren't exactly close to me." She said, smiling sadly.
"I know that feeling." Craig said, thinking back to his own two children.
Ever since the incident with Justin just around three years earlier, he and his blond son hadn't spoken. Recently, Molly had realized what exactly had gone on between her brother and father and had begun to drift away from the older Taylor. Craig Taylor was truly losing everyone.
"You as well?" Joan spoke up, interrupting the man's thoughts.
"Hmm?" he asked, before, "Oh, yes. My son made a decision that was…very opposite what I had in mind for him, and I told him he could live with me or his decision and he didn't pick me. Then my wife divorced me and now my daughter's turning away from me and toward her brother as well."
"Oh." Joan said, her kind smile disappearing. "Yes, I remember when my children were close to me. It seems so long ago. Then my husband died of cancer, and Claire was around for so long, and then out of nowhere it seemed, Brian was there to take me to church one morning."
Joan put a hand over her mouth and took a deep breath before lowering it again.
"I think it was his way of asking for forgiveness. He had made a poor decision as well, one that he will pay dearly for later. And he had the nerve to tell his father about it before he died! When I found out…it seemed like a big joke, and I was the only one not in on it." Joan said, seeming to barely hold back tears.
"That's almost how it seemed with me and my family as well. As if they were laughing behind my back." Craig said, happy to have finally found someone to relate to.
They were both angered at the choices their sons had made, furious with the fact that nothing could sway their feelings or beliefs. Craig should have been proud; he had been the one to teach Justin to never give up on what he believed in, and he truly believed in this and in the "love" he had, however wrong it was. Butt Craig couldn't find it in himself to be proud of Justin. He couldn't find anything but anger whenever he thought about things. Justin had made a selfish choice, the wrong selfish choice, and it had ruined the whole family. But beyond Craig, no one else's life seemed to be going wrong at all.
That just made Craig all the angrier. Now, it seemed this woman knew exactly what he had been going through all this time. She was alone too. Maybe not because of her son's decisions, but she knew the feeling nonetheless. Craig had wondered for ages if he was going to pay before Justin would for almost laughing when he read about the bashing at prom. Justin had taken a bat to the head and hadn't altered a bit in his beliefs or feelings. In fact, it gave him a renewed strength, and while that determination was something Craig would have taken pride in in anything else, in this instance, Craig was more soured than ever.
But Joan knew how he was feeling. She knew what he was going through! She would probably agree with him, especially judging by the crosses adorning her wrists and neck. Her son may have even made the same mistakes Justin had. Maybe she could offer some advice that she had tried on her son- what had she said his name was?- that he could try and use on Justin before it became too late.
"Say, I was wondering if you could give me some advi-"
Craig Taylor didn't get to finish his sentence, for at that moment, the bells hanging on the door handle to the café jingled, signaling someone was entering, and two laughing voices drifted over to where Craig and Joan sat. The two turned to see who it was, but Craig already knew. He had seem the taller man grab the door and knew who he was talking to, whose hand that was resting on his. Now the voices confirmed it. He'd know them anyway. But as he looked at Joan, he saw she had paled as well.
"Brian." She nearly gasped out.
Briand and Justin looked up only momentarily, not even stopping in their conversation. Justin's eyes met Craig's for a split second and dimmed slightly before the blond young man looked back up at his chestnut haired companion, his eyes and smile bright once again as he laughed at something the brunet had said.
"Brian, what are you doing here?" Joan asked, but Brian ignored her.
"Justin?" Craig said quietly. "What are you thinking, coming here?"
Craig nearly blanched as Justin ignored him as well, instead moving closer to Brian as the taller man wrapped an arm casually around his waist lightly. Justin smiled brighter, and it occurred to Craig that his disowning of Justin hadn't made the boy's life any worse. The divorce hadn't crushed him. Instead he seemed to be doing better; much better than Craig himself was doing. Justin had become a man, a very mature man, and a very very happy man. Apparently Joan was realizing the same thing about her Brian. Craig remembered hearing about Brian being fired and the fact that he was now doing very poorly financially and Craig had been pleased. He had been nearly overjoyed; maybe now Justin would come to his senses and realize what a mistake he'd made. Maybe he would apologize.
But now, the firing had seemed to do the opposite, or have no effect at all. Justin was happy; Brian was happy. They were more than happy together. The two walked over and sat down across from each other in one of the booths, smiling at each other across the table, their hands resting on the checkered tabletop and letting their fingers play with one another, dancing across the backs of hands. And for the first time in a long time, it dawned on Craig just how happy Justin was, just how in love Justin was. And that fact probably made Craig lonelier than ever.