It was Friday night, after five years in college, this was her first weekend of freedom. She went in early, so she got to leave work before traffic got too bad. The week had been long, she was grateful to be heading home. The habits of the last five years were still nagging at her, but tonight, she decided to break them. She could hear music coming from the bathroom and the shower running as she walked up to the house. Her son, the perpetual night owl, was just starting his day.

The night was open for her to do anything. She figured her son would be heading to the local coffee shop, tonight she could join him. She went through the motions of checking the mail and feeding the cats as she waited for him to finish his shower. Her boss had gotten all the women flowers for International Women’s Day. She had brought her flowers home since it was the weekend. Now she had to figure out where she could put them that her cats wouldn’t be able to eat them. She didn’t get flowers often, but every time, her cats made it their mission to eat the flowers faster than they could die.

“Oh, hey, since you are home, do you think you could run me up to the coffee shop?” her son asked as she walked into his room to say hi. Driving, that’s another thing she now had time to do, finally teach her son how to drive. “Sure, and maybe tonight I can hang out with you for a little while.” The book she started last weekend still weighed heavy in her purse, it would be nice to have some time to see if it was worth the read. “Cool, that would be great.”

There was still one parking spot in front of the shop as they pulled up. It was Friday, and Open Mic was starting soon, so it was getting crowded. They walked up, and through the window, she could see his usual spot at the bar was still open. As they walked in, she could see why the stools were missing.

Her son set his stuff down there anyway. “So, where are the stools,” he asked the barista behind the bar? “Matt commandeered them,” was the barista’s reply. “Well, shall we order.” She figured they could stand for a bit, it was Friday, so she wasn’t certain how long she wanted to stay.

“Did you know the barista is leaving soon, she’s moving,” her son told her as they stood in line waiting to order. “Oh, no, I’m going to miss her,” she hadn’t made it out often in the last five years, but she had become familiar and comfortable with the regular workers at the shop. They placed their order. Her son went off in search of their barstools.

She stood at the bar making chitchat as the barista deftly made cup after cup of magical liquid. “So, I finished my bachelor’s degree, I graduate next month with a 4.0,” she told the barista as the barista handed her drink across the counter. “Way cool, congratulations!”

The man at the corner of the bar chimed in, “Congratulations, what did you get your degree in”? She figures it’s a coffee shop, no harm in striking up a casual conversation, “I got my degree in General Studies, with a minor in Creative Writing. I’m a writer and a poet.”

“Cool, I got my bachelor’s and my master’s, I do in the home, non-medical aid,” he says as he looks intently at the almost empty beer bottle in his hand. “This was a good beer.”

She casually walks to the other end of the bar to see the beer selection currently offered and walks back to her spot. “I used to get Blue Moon, but they stopped carrying wheat beers here so there’s nothing I can drink.”

“Oh, The Yard House has a good wheat beer, what is the name of that one, it’s been a year or more since I went”?

She thinks to herself, ah restaurant, Friday night, well there’s a thought. “I don’t know it’s been a year or two since I’ve been there,” she absently replies as she looks down at her coffee cup, lost in the memories.

Next, to her, the man starts to babble on about The Yard House, and beers, and work, and his back, and an endless stream of thoughts she has trouble following. That’s when she starts to focus in and sees all the little nervous ticks and the disconnection in his eyes. Oh, well this is fun, she thinks to herself. I can see glimpses of your world in your eyes. What an odd little world you live in.

“Yeah, I’m just relaxing tonight, I figured I could hang out with my son since I don’t have homework to worry about any more,” she starts scrambling for a way to extricate herself from her current predicament. “But my back is starting to hurt, an old car accident injury, so I think I should be heading home.” She walks to the end of the bar where her son has been crouched on the stool meant for the employees to take their breaks, listening to everything that has been said. “I’m gonna head for home, let me know if you need a ride. “Dude is crazy,” she whispers in his ear as she gives him a hug. She knows he is safe on his own, the coffee shop is his second home. “Yeah, I figured as much,” he whispers back.

“Have a nice night,” she calls out to the man as she briskly walks out the door. How do I always find the broken ones, she mumbles to herself as she gets in her car and drives away? Alright, now, what’s for dinner, it’s Friday!