Finding Sage (Young Adult)

Two: Lost Trinkets

My return to New York was not as great as I imagined it would be. Jazz and Jasper, for which I shared a horrible but affordable apartment, never bothered paying our rent while we were on tour, so our place was rented out to new tenants. The new tenants, also, assumed our furniture that the landlord kept as payment. Luckily, I put most of my important personal things in a storage container, only causing me to lose a couch, a bed, and a cheap keyboard.

After scouring the papers looking for a new place, Gillian and Adam helped me find a temporary flat. NYU students are always looking for someone to sublease their apartments during their summer holiday. I have a few weeks left on the lease but rumor has it that one of the tenants may not be returning.

Roxy, her boyfriend Mark, and I have been hanging out a lot since I have been back in the city. Naturally, since Gillian is Roxy's best friend, Adam and Gillian show up most of the time we are together. Socializing with my ex-girlfriend and her finace' is a turn in my life that I would have never seen coming, but Adam and I have become pretty good friends and seeing the two of them together made me stop wondering what my life would have been like if Gillian had chosen me.

My patience is tested as I stand in what must be, the most crowded Starbucks in Manhattan. The humidity from someone's breath bounces off my neck, repulsing me. To top off the torture, someone sneezes without covering his face. I turn to search for the offender with a scowl. It makes me wonder, where have all the common courtesies gone? Things like covering your mouth when you sneeze and saying 'excuse me' when you rudely bump into another person?

The guy in front of me orders a venti upside down caramel macchiato with whipped cream. I glare at the back of his neck, wondering if that's a real drink, or something he made up? When did coffee become milkshakes that are acceptable to consume at eight in the morning?

Once my order is placed, I shimmy my body through the crowded cafe' to wait by the pick-up counter. My foot kicks something small, drawing my attention downward. Scuffing across the floor is a pink, oval shaped item. I bend, pick it up, and discover a little compact that someone must have dropped. Hoping to find the owner, I look around the place. No one seems to be in search of anything, leaving me disappointed.

A few feet away, I see another small object on the floor.

The phone in my pocket begins to ring as I pick up the trinket and hold it in my hand. Lip-gloss? Yes, it's lip-gloss.

"Hello?" I answer the call even though I am distracted.

"Hey man," Adam says with too much cheer. "Greg's bugging me about how many people we can expect at Smash tomorrow night. He's got some new menu items he wants us to try." As Adam is speaking to me, I search the floor for other lost articles. "So, are you in?" he continues.

Then, I see it happen. Something slips out the side of the purse a woman has draped over her shoulder. The item falls to the ground, unbeknownst to her, while she walks from the back of the shop toward the serving counter.

"Yeah. I'll be there," I say to Adam, while picking up a small silver case with a peacock etched into its side.

"Great! Are you bringing anybody?" Adam asks.

As I move closer to the woman, something else tumbles onto the floor, and I cannot believe she does not notice what is going on around her.

"Uh, hold on!" I tell Adam and lower the phone.

I retrieve the most recently fallen thing and walk over to her.

"Excuse me," I say, tapping her shoulder from behind. "I believe these items are yours? They are falling out of your purse."