Then I Met You | Mat Barzal

The Blackbird Café

Mat wakes up late Friday morning with a headache - groaning as he glances over at the clock. He wants to let sleep take over his body again, but the ache in his empty stomach and the dull pain in his head wouldn't have let him.

He lifts the covers, swinging his legs over the side of the bed as he sits up, rolling his shoulders before getting up. He cranes his neck from side to side, breathing out as he hears the bones pop. He pulls on a pair of sweats, moving quickly to find socks to warm his feet from the cold floor.

He pulls on a hoodie as he walks out of his room, walking straight to his door to put on some shoes. He didn't bother putting on a jacket, even though the air in the hallway is even colder than his apartment. There's a hurry in his steps as he walks down the stairs to the tiny lobby. As he walks out the door he instinctively wraps his arms around himself, huffing out as the cold air hits him.

He doesn't waste time walking to the next door over. The familiar noise of the bell over the door comforts him - his headache lifting a bit already.

"Hey, Lucy" the sleep is still evident in his voice as he closes the door quickly behind him. She perks up when she sees him, instantly starting to make his usual coffee as she greets him, "Mat's here" she says, quickly peeking her head into the kitchen.

Mat sits down on a barstool by the counter, gladly taking the plain black coffee from Lucy when she hands it to him. "You're late today" she points out. Mat takes a sip of his coffee, nodding as he hums - "couldn't sleep"

Lucy raises her brow for him to elaborate, there aren't too many people in the café so she has time to talk to him, and her dad isn't around to scold her for taking a break.

"I woke up in the middle of the night, and-" he pauses unsure of where to start. "So there's this song I've been writing, and I've been stuck on it for the longest time" he takes another sip of his coffee. "And then it just came to me, and I couldn't sleep until I'd written it all down and finished it, you know"

"So, there's a new song in your set tonight?" Lucy hopes. It's not that his current set was bad, not at all. But, having heard the same songs for months on end, the thought of a fresh song excited her. "Oh, I don't know about that" Mat averts her eyes, his voice low and void of confidence.

"Mat, please, I'm sure it's great" she tries to encourage him, but he's still not sure. "I'll give you free coffee for a month" she tries to bribe him, but he scoffs - "I barely pay for them as is"

"I'll think about it," he says after a moment, and the sheer joy on her face is enough to convince him - but he won't tell her that she's won just yet.

Lucy's like a little sister to Mat - her dad, Daniel, owns the café and the two apartments above it. That's how he landed a spot to play every first Friday of the month at the café. Daniel helped him move into his current apartment, and when he saw all the instruments he asked Mat to play him a couple of songs. That was almost three years ago, and Mat was still here.

He was beyond grateful for what Daniel did for him, he was sure he wouldn't still be in New York if it wasn't for him and this café. If Mat ever struggled to make ends meet, Daniel would help him out any way he could. Whether that was giving him a couple of shifts at the café or hooking him up with various bands in need of a substitute guitarist, pianist, or back-up singer.

But Mat had hoped he'd have gotten further by now.

Sure, he was living off of his music by now. He was able to pay rent and stock the fridge with the money he made off of writing songs. But he didn't want to write meaningless songs for other artists to fill out a blank spot on their album.