Katherine James is having a bad day
Tales of coffee and sorrow
Katherine James is having a bad day.
She shuffles awkwardly in her wet pants, warm coffee drying in her crotch. Katherine slouches beside the mop in the storeroom. The café is crowded with afternoon shoppers desperate for their over-priced caffeine fix.
“Katherine I could use a hand out here.” Jules voice rises with restrained panic.
“Yeah, coming.”
Katherine is having a very bad day.
It all began with her roommate, Jeb. He is an insufferable sort, especially before dawn. Katherine was treated to a five am lecture on Marxist economic theory with her cornflakes. Then she was once again wrangled into giving Meg a lift to the train station. Meg is her other roommate. She is sweet but spoiled, reminding Katherine of a kitten with a penchant for inappropriate footwear, and men. When she finally arrived at work the 7 am coffee crowd had gathered with pitchforks and forked tongues.
The day had preceded in along the same line that her morning laid down. And so she finds herself damp and huddled into a dark corner with the damp mop.
“Come here often?” she asks the mop, trying to smile, but the joke is too pitiful. Breathing slowly, deeply, exhausted tears overspill, running rivulets down her flushed cheeks.
Emerging from the storeroom Katherine smiles her way through the afternoon rush. As the cafe closes and the sun loses its sting, Katherine’s mind is drawn back to the previous night. It dips and dives into the memory like a bird diving into the ocean. But she is reluctant to think on it too long. For to think it is to want it and to want it is too want too much.