Espresso Love

Spring Melodies

Maverick

The next few days I avoid the coffeeshop and focus on the tasks at work. Jess texts me about Anna's loneliness, but I ignore them, trying to concentrate on the plan. It will all work in a few days. I make calls to my friends, and I see the plan fall into place, warming my heart during the rainy spring week.

By Friday night, I find myself setting up a microphone on the first floor of Jess' coffeeshop while a few of my friends plug in their amps and tune their instruments. I finish twisting the mic stand together when I feel a tap on my shoulder. Jess stands before me with a bottle of water. "Tonight's daily special for the musician." Her lips perk up at the corners.

"Thanks again, Jess, for all this. I'm not sure if it will even work." I glance around the filling first floor searching for a familiar face to no avail.

"She came in earlier. She's sitting upstairs right now." Jess hitches her thumb over her shoulder. "You should go say something."

"I can't. It would ruin the surprise of it all." I nervously grin.

"Well, right now with how this week has been going on this front, it won't go so well." Jess raises her eyebrows with a smug look and returns to stand behind the counter for any customers.

I wait a few more minutes while the rest of the crew finishes setting up before testing out the microphone. "Ehem... um... okay." I tap the mic a few times before beginning. "I guess since I'm getting sound out of this thing, it works, right?" A few of the audience members give me some pity laughs as Eric, the guitarist, strums some chords. "So, I know you guys are expecting something amazing, but we haven't played since college. We may be a bit rusty." Turning around, I mouth the name to a song we wrote during a midnight run to the gas station. I see Anna coming down the stairs as Carl, the drummer, taps out the beat on his sticks.

Annabelle

His voice carries from the floor below. At first, I ignore the noises. Then I hear Maverick explaining that he, and other people, may be a bit rusty. Curious, I shut my laptop and pick up my bag. I hear a drummer tapping out a beat on his drumsticks when I step onto the top step. On the first floor, I see a small stage area cleared and Maverick sitting on a stool in front of a microphone. A few other musicians surround him already creating music while Maverick's eyes meet mine. Without breaking the stare, he opens his mouth and begins singing. His voice rises over the quiet din of Jess making coffee and getting baked goods for the customers. He closes his eyes and begins to sway back and forth on the stool. The melody rising out of Maverick hums through me as he sings about a late night car ride. I walk the rest of the way down the stairs as Maverick loses himself to the music.

"He's something else, isn't he?" Jess interrupts my thoughts when I lean my hip against the countertop.

"Always full of surprises." My eyes lock onto Maverick.

"When he asked me if he could play here, I did not expect his entire band to come. Normally he'll do an acoustic set every so often, but it's been awhile since he brought all his friends." This surprises me, so I glance over at Jess who smiles at me. "You didn't know he was in a band, did you? Man, he's good." Jess shakes her head and laughs to herself while turning to finish a customer's order.

"How long has he been in a band?"

"Oh, longer than I've known him," Jess replies.

We finish talking along with Maverick's song. He pauses and turns to discuss something to his band members. "Thanks again, everyone, for having us here tonight." Maverick talks for a few minutes before diving into more songs. I sit, entranced, for half an hour. In my head, I fail to find words to describe his voice or how the lyrics make me feel. The band flawlessly follows Mav's lead as he nods his head to the beat and moves his hands out to his sides and back to the mic stand.

I barely notice when they stop and Maverick begins talking again. "I have a story to tell everyone. Months ago, I noticed a girl sitting in a booth in this coffeeshop." He pauses to smile at me. "I tried to think of how to get her attention to no avail. Until I told her I accidentally took her disgusting black coffee when I had actually ordered the drink for her." A laugh escapes me, but worry sinks in my stomach. "As I sit here, staring at this beautiful girl in the very coffeeshop we met, I would like your help to ask her something."

Dread overpowers the worry. I abruptly stand up, and my chair falls over. People around me turn to see the girl Maverick is talking about, but that girl leaves. Maverick stops talking as I rush out of the coffeeshop and away. I start racing down the street, away from the coffeeshop away from my apartment, away from everything. Footsteps hurry behind me, but I don't stop. "I can't. I can't. I can't." I repeat these words over and over until I feel Maverick's hand on my arm gently pressuring me to turn around. "I can't, Maverick."

"Hey, I didn't even get to finish," he whispers on the still street. The stars twinkle above his head, and I focus on that instead of him. I can't bear to see the worry and pain on his face.

"You don't need to. I know where it was going, and I can't." I shake off his hand and cross my arms in front of me.

"Why?" His brows scrunch together, and his forehead creases, aging him ten years. "I thought everything was going well."

"It is... was. Which is why I can't. I'm not ready for this." I wave my hands in between our bodies. "I can't get stuck in another relationship when all I want to do is... is... leave!"

"Then leave! Go on your adventure! Write your book!" Maverick shouts the words without malice at me. "You deserve better than anything anyone can give you, better than I can give you. Anna, if you want an adventure, then have one." His chest rises and falls with a deep sigh. I reach up to brush away a piece of hair that has fallen into his face. "I won't hold you back."

"It's not that easy. You know it isn't. I have things keeping me here just like you have things keeping you in an office you don't want to be in every day of your life." I regret the words as soon as I say them. Maverick's face crumples.

"You know that isn't fair or right," he whispers, no longer enthusiastic about me going on an adventure. "You know why I can't leave the office."

"I know that everyone has a choice. This is my choice to stay here. It's your choice to not pursue a different career of tour guide or YouTuber or... musician!" I pause. "Maverick," I state, placing my hand on his arm, "you were amazing in there. Your voice..."

He raises his eyes to mine. "Anna?"

"All I want is an adventure before anything else," I say, no longer upset. "I just want an adventure."

"Okay."

Before he can say anything else, I head back to my apartment, silently crying the entire way.