The Magnolia Café

Chapter 29

"So, I have a question." Everyone looks at me. "What's up with people around here saying the Magnolia is magical?"

They stare at each other and then chuckle.

"Well, it's not the Magnolia but the building itself. No one knows who first build that building. But everyone knows it has been a lot of things. All the businesses there were quite successful and even though all closed, they closed because the owners retired and decided to sell," Rita explains.

"It's just a local legend. People think that the building brings good luck to everyone that steps foot inside. People fall in love, people find their dream careers, creatives have had their best ideas while they were inside and etcetera. Who knows if it is true or not?" Connor says.

"I, for one, think it is," Jorge says, and we all look at him, surprised.

"I thought you were the more analytical and sceptical one," I say.

"And I am. But that's where Rita and I meet. The first time, at least."

"First time?" I ask.

"Before Connor opened the Magnolia, the building was abandoned for a while. And before that it was a restaurant where I worked at when I was sixteen," Rita says.

"I was also sixteen, visiting family here in Greenshire during the summer and I met Rita at the restaurant. We had a summer fling before I went back home to the city."

"And we never spoke again for eight years."

"Then how did you meet again?"

"She dropped a paintbrush dripping with canary yellow paint on my head."

I cackle. "What? I need to know the details of that story."

"I was painting a mural at the company he worked at. I have no idea how it happened, but the brush just slipped from my hands. I went down the ladder as quickly as I could, yelling 'I'm so sorry' over and over again. When I finally faced the victim of my clumsiness, we recognized each other."

"Fast forward another eight years and here we are."

"Ellie told me that the building gives you what you need and not necessarily what you want."

"If we think about it, that actually applies to us. We never spoke after that summer and eight years later, when we were both in weird phases of our lives, we met again. I suppose we did meet again when we needed. At that age, I didn't even want to marry or to have kids. So, if you had asked my twenty-four-year-old self if I saw myself married to someone like Jorge, I would've laughed at you and said no way in hell."

"Why?"

"I was a lawyer just starting out, very serious, stiff, anxious and depressed all the time, an introvert. You get the gist. I looked put together and on top of my game climbing the corporate later, but I was falling apart. I was focused on making it big as everyone is as soon as they finish their degrees. But like it happens to many people, I lost myself in all of that. And Rita was just this bundle of joy and energy, a true extrovert, one of those people that you just like to be around. She still is. I guess we balance out each other quite well."

"But despite all the good things you just said about me, I was also with my head above the clouds all the time. I was a fucking mess, to be honest. Terrible at managing my time, my money, my work. I wasn't keeping it together all that well at the time. We started out as friends after we were reunited, and we had an extremely positive influence on each other."

"So, maybe that building does help you find what you need. I don't think that you should depend on another person to heal your wounds, but being surrounded by the right people, by the right friends, it certainly helps."

I can't help but to agree with Jorge. I doubt that it there's actually magic there, but in the short time I've been here I've made great friends. I feel better; I feel like I'm healing and, most of all, I don't feel alone. It's been a while since I haven't felt lonely.

"So, there's everyone here believe in magic, now?" Connor asks.

"You don't?" Rita asks. "Let's think about it. Carla met Miranda there, I met Jorge, Ellie met Vincent. The place was abandoned for years, no one bought it and suddenly when you were lost and without a job the opportunity to buy it at a low market cost appears. Too many coincidences. There has to be something."

"I doubt it. It's just something people around here say. We've been hearing that since ever. That's probably why we see connections everywhere."

"Well, what do you think, Isabella?" Jorge asks. "You haven't been here that long, so you have a fresh take on it."

"I... I don't know. I don't believe in mysticisms or the supernatural or anything like that. But the Magnolia has given me good things. Things I didn't know I needed. I never thought that working at a café would be something that I would enjoy this much. And I met great people. Above all else, I started to feel like myself again."

"Three against one," Rita grins.

"Fine," Connor sighs and rolls his eyes. "I give up. I know I can't win this fight."

Rita, Jorge and I chuckle.