StarStruck Coffee

Final Call

The park was alive and buzzing with life as Hannah strolled through. The birds were murmuring high above, the baby ones had just begun to fly, it was truly a fascinating sight. There were two squirrels running in a field of pine cones, bouncing and tumbling, pure joy covered their faces. Geese swam in the river, being fed stale bread by a sweet old couple. The couple were giggling like love-struck teens. She sighed as she took it all in, unable to enjoy it. Not properly.

"That's the plane ticket booked," Hannah mumbled to herself.

She took out a notebook from her bag and sat down on an old wooden bench, facing the old couple feeding the geese. "What to say?" She thrummed her pen against her legs, she was unsure how to word this letter.

She hadn't even had a chance to speak to her brother for the whole trip. She didn't know who he was anymore, but she knew she had to say something, she had to apologise.

She began to write; "Dear Zach..." she muttered, trying to get past those two words. She sat there for a while, staring at the paper, two words written, her brain felt empty. Like an apartment that had just been put up for sale.

Time flew by, could've been minutes, could've been hours, before she heard laughter. Two voices were coming through the tree line, talking about what seemed like everything and nothing. "Zach. I love you." the girl said.

Hannah 's breath hitched in her throat, she felt like she was listening in on a truly private moment for this young couple, but she couldn't move, this could be her brother.

"Beth." The couple came through the clearing and stopped. Where the tree was, she could see them, but they didn't even know she was there. Her heart stopped. This was her brother. He was about to confess his love.

Zach took the girl's hands in his, "Beth. It has always been you."

She looked up at him, and even from this distance, Hannah could tell, this was true love.

The young birds had halted mid flight, to watch from above, the squirrels that had been noisily crunching on pine cones just a moment before had stopped, and were watching now. Even the old couple on the other side of the river couldn't help but smile at the birth of this new love.

The couple stared at each other for a second, before they embraced.

Like a thunderbolt, the park, halted in time, blew back into life. As if the embrace was the catalyst, even Hannah shot up. This caught the couple by surprise, and the girl, ('Beth' Hannah made a mental note of that.) grabbed Zach's hand tightly. "Who's there?" she called out.

Hannah took a deep breath. It was time.

She stepped out of the shade, and looked her brother dead in the eyes for the first time in what felt like centuries. He had grown up so much, he was taller than her now. She couldn't truly understand the sheer difference in him since before he left, when she saw him the other day, because he had run away before she'd got close. But now, she was so close to him. She took a step towards him but stopped, "Zach. Can we talk?"

Zach looked at her for a second, then said to Beth, "I'll meet you at the shop, don't worry 'Mi Amor'."

She looked at him for a second, and smiled, "That's new," she laughed, "I like it though, Mon Amour." She kissed his cheek and strolled out of the enclosed area they were in.

They were alone. Brother and Sister. Neither knowing what to say to each other. "Do you want to sit down?" Hannah offered, moving her back onto the floor by the bench.

"Sure. I'd like that." Zach smiled, he took a shuddering breath as he sat down and rubbed his hand together. It wasn't cold, but he was shivering. "Hannah I'm-"

She interrupted him, "I'm sorry!" she blurted out. "I'm gonna talk for a second, okay." Now she had started she couldn't stop talking. Years of pent up anxiety forced itself out of her mouth.

They sat for what felt like hours, Hannah explaining how nothing that happened was Zach's fault, Zach telling her the same. They only stopped to cry together for a while.

"The sun's going down." Zach stated when they had finally exhausted themselves of tears.

"And you promised that girl, you'd find her." Hannah scolded, "I've missed being a big sister." she chuckled as she nudged him.

Zach was blushing like crazy, he tried to talk but nothing came out.

"Introduce me," Beth said as she grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the park.

***

They walked in silence for a while, just happy to be in each other's company, until they reached Starstruck. Beth was inside, cleaning tables. Zach stood there for a second just watching, hands in his pocket, he rocked back and forth on the ball of his feet, just enjoying the moment, before she looked up and spotted them.

She smiled and waved them inside, but Zach wasn't moving, he was just standing there grinning his head off, so Hannah went in first.

"Sorry to come by so late," she apologised, as the bell tinkled above the door.

"No, no. don't worry about it. I've been wanting to meet you for ages." Beth smiled as she strolled behind the counter. Zach followed her lead, going to sit at the stools, "This is Hannah," he waved back at her, "she's my sister."

"Pleased to meet you," Beth laughed from where she was standing, "I'm Beth. Zach's..." She glanced at him, he looked back and nodded, as he took her hand in his, "I'm Zach's girlfriend."

AUTHORS NOTE

I'm sorry this story has been such a mess. It's taken almost a full year to write. But i'm thankful for you guys reading it. Beth and Zach's story took a lot out of me im not gonna lie, and with school i just wanted to get the end over and done with. but that didn't feel fair to you guys or to them, so i stopped until i was ready to write what i thought was a satisfactory ending. 

There will be one more chapter, but that will be more of an epilogue than a continuation of the story. 

But thank you guys once again for making this a truly enjoyable experience.