Thinking of You
By
Alyson Grant
This was his thing, he explained as he set the two steaming cups of coffee on the table. It was his weekly ritual.
Sometimes more then weekly if necessary.
As I looked at him through the steam and took another cautious sip, he elaborated when he said that this place was his for relaxation. This was one of the places he went whenever he felt stressed or needed to think.
This was where he went for some coffee, some music, and the latest issue of Billboard magazine.
He'd been a regular for years. Even during his boy band days.
That's why the guy behind the counter knew him so well.
They both shared a common love for coffee. And Europe.
(He owned the business and was semi retired and loved to travel. So these days they only saw each other once in a while.)
One of the reasons Tommy liked this place so much was because it reminded him of this one café in Italy that had a similar ambiance.
Both of the café's had rustic decorations, was low key, and could be described as casual yet effortlessly classy.
It just had a sincere vibe that he liked and connected with.
I wisely never asked if he'd ever flipped the pages of Solid during his afternoons spent here. Darius is not a favorite topic of Tommy's.
That got a whole conversation started on certain places we'd both go to relax.
I told him about this little music store on Dundas that I liked and the way I felt when I was in my parent's country house.
My family used to go there a lot when I was younger but not so much anymore.
I couldn't get there nearly enough since I didn't have my license to go at whim and asking my parents or Jamie to take me there every time I needed to get away just wasn't an option.
He'd just started to ask me exactly what I needed to get away from so often when the food arrived.
For some reason even with him the answer would have been… complicated so I made a big show of digging in and changing the topic.
He probably knew what I was doing even if he didn't fully know whybut let it switch.
We were interrupted twice.
Once when the food we'd ordered arrived and again toward the end by four fans of his. Well, the two girls squealed like crazy when he gave them each an autograph but the guys they were with just stood there acting really cool and very casual as if they could care less.
And the truth of the matter was that they probably couldn't.
They only smiled halfheartedly in the pictures I took at first with one girl's cell phone and then with more excitement when one was elbowed sharply in the ribs and the thinly veiled threat was made: Smile like you mean it or else.
Those girls were crazy.
One of the funnier moments was one Tommy didn't even notice because he wasn't facing them.
As they walked away one of the girls turned around and snapped yet another picture on the sly. That was funny to me because they were both so excited about having just met him.
I remember the way her dark curls bounced and glistened in the fading sunlight. And when her green eyes caught my blue I smiled, thinking somewhat bemusedly…
Excitement sure wasn't my reaction when I first met him.
When they left he smiled and said that soon this would all be happening to me.