The Last Drop of Normal
Even before dawn, the bell above the door chimed as Isabella Rivera slipped into her coffee shop—The Mocha Mist—turning on the soft amber lights that made steam glow like ribbons of gold in the morning darkness. She pressed her palm to the cool wood of the counter and closed her eyes. It had become her ritual: breathe in deeply, breathe out slowly, pretend for a moment that magic was still possible.
But tonight—even this ritual felt hollow.
Her husband, Marco, shouldered in seconds later, laptop bag slung over one shoulder, suit slightly rumpled from another sleepless night at the law firm. Their two children—Luca, seven, and Sofia, five—were already at school, their energy absent, leaving the café emptier than usual. A reminder.
Their marriage had grown solid in routine, quiet in its reliability, but passion had surrendered under piling responsibilities. Marco kissed her cheek before wandering to his favorite corner to check emails. Isabella busied herself with the grinder, coffee beans tumbling into the basket, the rich aroma spinning around her.
She smiled at the hum of the café’s first real machine noise. A ritual born of love—her love, once shared with Marco, now private. Moments like these magnified what she missed: a simple exchange, a look that said more than “How was your day?” They were survivors of busy, not lovers. She had tried dinners, weekend escapes, early mornings together—sometimes managed to pry inertia enough to feel connection—but the spark slipped through her fingers every time.
Isabella drew a circle of cream into Mr. Dalton’s Americano, stirring patterns that flashed in her mind—lines of poetry she’d long ago written, stashed in her journal, words that spoke of longing and freedom.
Mr. Dalton, their regular—mid-forties, journalist, always serious—twisted his gaze toward her. He saw it first: a flicker of sadness in her eyes.
“You okay?” he asked in a low voice.
She forced a crisp smile, voice warm but tight. “Running low on sleep, that’s all.” She handed over the cup. “Extra sugar?”
He nodded, patience echoing in his smile.
Later, Marco closed the front door behind the final customer and walked to the back office. Isabella followed, dragging the tension with her. A staff meeting? No, never meeting. Just silence shared over coffee-stained desks.
“I’m exhausted,” she blurted, unable to hold it in. She leaned against his desk, arms crossed protectively.
He didn’t look up. Tapping keys at the laptop, his shoulders rose with strain. He exhaled. “I am, too.”
More silence. Their marriage lived in these blank spaces—neither of them stepping across the abyss.
They scheduled a weekend away. Confirmed it. Then failed to book a room. Excuses: deadlines, after-school pickups, Monte Carlo cookies.
That night, Isabella lay beside him in their king-size bed, the duvet a white wave. Marco’s back was turned, his breathing steady. In contrast to the familiar shape, her body ached with loneliness. Lying awake, she reached for the warmth she used to crave—the brush of his hand, the brush of his lips. Only emptiness answered.
Morning arrived with choreographed motions. Brush teeth, breakfast, school drop-off, kitchen cleanup, and return to the café where she felt most alive—even if what she created for others felt veiled. Her coffee measured, cups placed, pastries aligned. The shop opened: a business by day, an emotional battleground at night.
The bell chimed again in the early evening. As Isabella flipped the sign to “Closed,” she felt something flicker: vulnerability, hunger, a trace of possibility. She locked the door behind her, slid the deadbolt, and switched the neon off with a satisfied click. The hazy lights left only the warm glow of Edison bulbs overhead—a spotlight on deserted tables.
She lurked at the counter, heart loud in her ears. The faint hum of the espresso machine filled the hush. She ran a damp rag over oak; water pooled on the edge and she wiped it clean. Wipe, wipe—like scrubbing off her own anxiety.
Then the door chimed.
A man stood in the glow that still seeped through window panes. Tall, dark hair, suit jacket in hand, tie loosened. Heart clenched at the shape of his jaw.
“Isabella?” he asked, voice low.
Her breath hitched. His presence blurred the distance between then and now.
She frowned—recognition pooling in a soft ache. “Jason.”
He swallowed. His eyes glistened in the café gloom. Even after all those years. She swallowed the catch in her throat. Had he changed?
He stepped forward, hands in his pockets. His voice cracked slightly. “I hope you remember me. I… I found this.” He pulled a small notebook from the inside pocket of his jacket. Leather-worn, yellowed pages visible.
“My poetry,” she breathed. High-school Isabella—full of dreams and quivering hope, words raw on empty dried pages.
Jason held it out as if it came from a different world. “You gave this to me,” he said softly. “When you trusted me.”
Memory hit like a snowfall in her chest—writerly dreams flickering, late-night study sessions, his encouragement, the first time her words reached beyond her own soul.
He stepped closer. A tremor passed between them. Steam rose in the café’s cold light, curling in invisible tendrils—like permission.
Her hands shook as she reached out, traced his pulse point at the wrist. “You… you have this?”
He nodded. “I kept it all this time.”
Silence pulsed between them. The coffee shop, so quiet, became their world again—a space of potential.
He met her eyes. “I want to show you what I saw back then.”
She swallowed the tension crossing her chest. The air felt thin and urgent.
“Why now?” she asked, voice small, rough.
He shifted, took a breath. “Because I… needed to tell you. Because I never forgot.”
And then his hand hovered inches from hers over the notebook.
Her pulse thundered. Marco’s words from last night—“We’re not okay”—echoed. These words met something else: hers, his, hers again—renewed promise.
She closed her eyes. Heat summoned in her body. She recognized the ache in her veins. Heart pounding, she placed her hand atop his.
He shifted until the table stood between them. Voices unsaid thrummed in the silence.
“I don’t know what this means,” she said, quietly.
Jason’s eyes softened with longing and uncertainty. “Maybe… we could remember.”
She met his gaze—pulse in her throat—and nodded ever so slightly.
Outside, a distant siren wailed, and inside, two hearts cracked open.
As she looked into Jason’s eyes, the café lights flickered... and went out. In the sudden darkness, her breath caught—and she felt more alive than she had in years.