Hope's Café

by Sana Abid

  "Why? Would that be a problem to you?" He chuckled with humor.

  "Not really." I smiled sarcastically. "I'll rather have you kill me then go on with the rest of the night."

  "It was that bad, huh?" he asked just when I bit my tongue, realizing I had said too much already. Even though the man sounded more sincere than anyone I knew in my life, I just couldn't discuss personal matters with him. It was already embarrassing he knew how shitty my night had turned out to be.

  But then again, when would I ever see him again?

  Never. Exactly.

  I could say anything to him because after this, our paths would never cross again. Plus, he sounded like he had a PhD in psychology. Maybe he could help me...

  "Tonight, was the worst night of my life," I started. I expected him to tell me that I didn't have to talk about it, but he just stared at me, waiting for me to continue. I swallowed the giant lump in the back of my throat, my eyes already stinging as flashbacks played in my head. "I got a text from my best friend, Eva. She said that my boyfriend was cheating on me, but I didn't trust her. How could I have? She dated my boyfriend years before I did, so I just thought she was just jealous. You know, like she finally realized she wanted him back. We got in a huge fight. Huge. She basically said she never wants to talk to me ever again. After thirteen years of our friendship. Then, I went home after work, dressed up because Ron and I were supposed to go out to dinner; it's our anniversary. After that, I drove to his house and guess what I find…" Tears ran down my cheeks, so hot and fast that I didn't even feel them. I was numb with my lips quivering. "I found him with another girl."

  "Hey, you'll be okay," Jay tried to hush me with the tone so sincere that I almost collapsed in his arms. Almost. Instead, I ran a hand over my face before brushing my hair out of the way. "I'm sorry that happened to you."

  "I'm good." I sniffled.

  "No, you're not."

  "Yeah, well, lying is better sometimes. It's comforting," I told him. Something changed in his expression as if he was fighting a battle with himself: whether to respond back or not. "What?" I asked as he hesitated. "Come on, you already invaded my privacy. Might as well go on with what you want to say."

  "There are better ways to comfort yourself than lying." His words sparked my interest.

  "Really like what?" I asked sarcastically, but he didn't seem to catch on.

  "Many things."

  "For my situation name me one. And don't say move on. God, I promise you I'd leave if you do."

  "What you really need is an escape from all this bullshit—from your life," he spoke like a freaking mind doctor. I swear, it was amusing and terrifying at the same time.

  "And how can I escape?" I asked, not sure if I really wanted an answer.

  "For starters, you should let me beat the crap out of him," Jay said getting a chuckle out of me. He couldn't be serious.

  "Some other way, please. I don't want you to go to jail because of that douchebag."

  "Another way, hm?" He scratched his chin. "I can show you another way." He blinked. From the innocent look on his face, it was clear as day he wasn't talking about what I thought he was.

  "You are not talking about sex." It was a statement rather than a question. "You don't want me to sleep with you."

  "God, no, that's not what I meant." He laughed splendidly. Still it wasn't enough to cover up the crimson blush on his cheeks. Not even the dimness hid that well. "Drugs?"

  "No."

  "Then what are you suggesting?"

  "You're going to think I'm crazy, that I'm on drugs," he said, avoiding eye contact. The old cheeky guy before was gone. Whatever happened to him? It got me to raise an eyebrow.

  "Go on," I asked, intrigued as I wondered why I was still here anticipating when I should be running away.

  "Let me take you inside."

  "Inside?" Inside where?" My heart sped up with the suspense in the air.

  "A book."

  "A book?" My face scrunched up in confusion as my head tried to wrap itself around his words.

  He wanted me… inside a story.

  Oh, this was precious. Oh, this was so damn precious, I thought before bursting into laughter, uncontrollable laughter, the kind where you bent over and clutched your stomach to ease the sweet pain. "You want me to read a book?" I shouldn't have said that out loud. My laughter only grew louder because how ludicrous I sounded, how ludicrous he sounded.

  "No." The single monosyllabic word killed my laughter.

  "What?"

  He shook his head. "Never mind." Suddenly he was back up against the wall opposite from me, his eyes on the pages of his book, shying from me.

  "What do you mean by 'inside a book'?"

  "Forget about it. You wouldn't believe me, or you wouldn't want to believe me."

  "You don't know that. Come on, tell me."

  He smirked before moving back next to me. "Okay. Then, pick a random book," he told me.

  "What?"

  "Pick a random book. Preferably something that you read."

  "Any book?"

  "Any."

  I reached out for a title that seemed familiar to me and yanked it off the bookshelf before setting it on my lap. I stared back at him for further instruction. "Now, what?"

  "Now, choose a page. Any page." I slid my fingers down on the paperback. It had a brown cover, navy blue cursive letters curling in the middle, spelling out Run for the World. It was one of the few books that I had ever read. I jabbed my thumb between two pages and cracked the book open. When I pushed it back to Jay, he shook his head and stopped me. "No, you keep it"

  "I don't understand—"

  "Now, close your eyes," he instructed, ignoring the confused look on my face.

  "If this is a joke—"

  "Do you want to forget about tonight?" He stared at me and raised his brows. My mouth went dry as memories from the night flooded my head once more.

  "Yes." My answer was a mousy squeak.

  "Close your eyes, then. I won't touch you." I didn't know what it was that got me to trust him. Maybe it was his deep, sincere tone. Maybe it was the glimmer of honesty in his eyes— no one else ever told me I needed an escape. Or maybe it was the fact that if he wanted to (or had the intention to) touch me he would have done so fifteen minutes ago. We were alone up here.

  "Fine." I closed my eyes, breathing, listening for any sign that might hint his objectives. Nothing. "Look, Jay," I spoke out. This felt foolish. "I'm not up for little games." Or was I? Was I subconsciously enjoying this very moment, keeping my eyes shut as tightly as I could because he asked me to? Because the mystery gave me a thrill? Maybe I secretly wanted Jay to break his promise about not touching me… If I wasn't into little games, then what was keeping me from flinging my eyes open? Open your eyes, the curious side of my brain yelled at me, over and over again. No, my heart bantered, wait for him to say so.

  With the battle going on inside my head, I could have easily neglected the fresh scent of lavender suddenly hanging in the air almost as light as a summer breeze. I could have easily ignored the random fluctuation of the temperature— it no longer felt like I was sitting in a freezer. But I definitely couldn't ignore chirping, the sound of blue jays or some robins or some other species of birds tweeting so close to me, it felt like they were circling around just above my head. What the…

  "Ready?" Jay's voice interfered with the calamity in my head. "Open your eyes." the minute my ears picked up those words, I popped my eyes open, half-blinded by the sudden bright light, half-taken aback by… every freaking thing.

  "What the hell!" I couldn't help but yell. How could I not yell? Who the hell wouldn't yell? My breaths were shaky and unstable, leaving my chest in utter agony. How did one breathe again? Was it inhale, exhale or exhale, inhale? What was it? What was it?

  You want to know what it was? It was as if I had lost my mind. I started laughing. I bent over and tried to laugh out all my mania, but it didn't do anything. Nothing changed. Everything w
as right there. Here.

  "Isn't it breathtaking," a familiar voice hinted at my direction. His voice. I turned my head to the side and found Jay scratching the nape of his neck looking like a child who wanted feedback on his Crayola drawing from his mom.

  Red flashed in my eyes.

  I became a bull the next minute, charging at him before he even got the chance to retreat.

  "Woah!" He stumbled back, but I grabbed him by the collar pulling his face close to mine, so he could see the plain horror on my face.

  "What the fuck is this?" I cried, still unable to calm my breathing. Hot lava would be cooler than the heat in my fiery lungs.

  "You wanted an—"

  "What did you do to me!" I didn't let him finish. "How the hell did I end up here in this fucking meadow when we were at the café?" The books. The faint odor. The carpet. All gone. Now it was the blue sky, the tweeting birds, the fresh tree smell, grass under my feet.

  "I thought—"

  "You drugged my coffee, didn't you?" I spat, giving him a hard shove. "Tell me!" I roared when he just stared at me, unfazed by my wrath. Was he smiling?

  "Are you done?" He rolled his eyes.

  "Tell. Me." I puffed, knowing I was going to get a cardiac arrest if I didn't chill the hell out.

  "I've been trying to." He stepped closer. Seeing him do so, I backed away, mentally preparing myself to attack him all over again if I had to.

  "You drugged me!" How could I have trusted this man so blindly? Stupid, stupid, stupid. "You drugged me. I've never even had a single drop of alcohol. I never smoked! How could you do that?" Tears came tumbling down my eyes like Jack and Jill rolling down a hill, and I did nothing to stop them. That's how helpless my body felt, my limbs numb with the realization. Yes, yes, the night could have gotten worse. It just did.

  "Viv," Jay said, again in his deceitful trusting voice. He closed the distance between us, cupped my face and smiled. "I would never do that to you."

  "No." I blinked away, looking at the gigantic apple tree, the grass, the pale sun in the sky, anything but him.

  "Anything seem familiar to you?" What the hell did he mean by that? The normal chemistry of my brain altered with the dangerous amount of adrenaline rushing through it. It felt like my head had reached its carrying capacity and was preparing to blow itself up. I closed my eyes to alleviate it all, to escape, but when I opened them to face reality, I faced anything but that. There was that tree. It was familiar with a thin branch swaying in the wind. It almost looked like it was about to fall but it never did. Then, there was that house far beyond on the hill, blue with a pale-yellow roof and broken windows.

  My eyes widen at the realization.

  This was no ordinary place. The birds, the grass, the meadow of purple lavenders. It was all part of the book

  "I can't breathe," I said backing away, wheezing and begging for my lungs to take in oxygen. Did books even have the idea of breathing in oxygen? I doubted fictional characters had evolved within their stories so they could do such a common thing like breathing. Wait, I wasn't really accepting the fact that I was stuck in a paperback. Was I?

  "Please." Jay frowned. "Let me explain."

  "No need." My left eye twitched. "I know I'm dreaming. You're in my dream. I fell asleep because of that boring book on my lap. Yes, that's exactly it."

  Jay smirked. "You're handling it better than I thought."

  "I'm leaving," I said ignoring him.

  "Where are you going?"

  "I need to lie down."

  "The bed of flowers—"

  "No," I cut him off, "I need to go far, far from you." My voice was bitter like the darkest chocolate found on the planet, deep within the jungle of the forgotten indigenous tribe.

  I knew I was being really unfair to Jay in this dream, mean, cold-hearted. The innocent look on his face did nothing to help the situation; it only made it worse. A part of me wanted to forget about this nightmare and befriend the dreamy man in front of me, never mind his smug exterior. At least he'd be some sort of company, annoying but company nevertheless. But I couldn't. Not with my head hot like a stove.

  "I'll be here whenever you need me." He smiled once more as of this was an average day for him, then he walked and sat near the edge of the meadow where lavender flowers bloomed over him as if they desperately wished to shade him from the sun. He stroked their petals, his finger against their skin. "You can come here, you know? They smell nice," he called me over. His side profile displayed a smirk.

  "I'm leaving," I replied stubborn as an oak. Spinning on my heels, I walked away to grow some distance between the arrogant man and myself. To where? I didn't know and I didn't care. I didn't care about him stroking the pretty flower. I wasn't jealous. Nope. Pft. I did not wonder how those fingers would feel on me not one bit, nor did I imagine them brushing up and down my own skin, didn't crave his touch…

  "Be careful of the bears and wolves in the woods," he yelled. I ignored him and practically ran away from the scene before he could catch the desiring expression on my face.

  So, night fell rather quickly.

  One minute I was in plain daylight, the next I was looking up at the silver banana bright against the ebony sky. Stars scattered through the shared sky, and let me tell you, wow, were they breathtaking. We didn't see stars often in the city because of the pollution and all the artificial lights. It mellowed me a lot, and I was sure this was the only time I could really enjoy a night like this, even if it wasn't reality.

  Following the moon's path, I ended up near the edge of the woods. Three more steps, and I'd be engulfed by the tall redwoods. Already, their dark silhouettes loomed over me, giant shadows that promised danger. At the sight of the ominous setting, I drew back with the pounding of my heart suddenly louder than the crickets' songs. Fear took over my body as if every cell placed a red flag over itself, an alarming blanket that signaled my brain to take a flight.

  But that would mean I'd have to go back to him.

  I gulped, swallowing the warnings that my body gave me. The woods didn't seem so bad, I thought as I took in a shaky breath. My forehead was sweaty, and hair stuck on the sides of my face. I felt hot all of the sudden with an unsettling feeling making its home in the pit of my stomach. I took a step closer to the trees, the ones in the outskirts of the woods. Okay, this wasn't too bad. I could do this. Yeah, take this! These were the same woods described in chapter seven of the novel. I was pretty sure no wolves or bears or even Bigfoot lurked around here. None that were described. A smile cracked on my lips.

  "Stupid Jay, trying to scare me." I shook my head, ready to follow the trail into the woods when I heard a growl, then two, then three. Then, I remembered. No bears or wolves or Bigfoot lurked in the woods, but black panthers did.

  I fled.

  "Found the Panthers?" Jay asked lying amid the flowers.

  "They… they found me." I panted for air.

  "And you got scared."

  "No," I lied, "I just—"

  "It's okay." He chuckled and sat up. "You can't get hurt in here anyways. None of it is real."

  Oh, right, my dream. "I can't seem to wake up from this nightmare." I groaned before sitting down on the ground next to him. The flowers kissed my skin softly when I did.

  "Still calling it that, I see," Jay said.

  "Nightmare, hallucination, whatever."

  "Hungry?" he asked. He scooped something off the ground. I grimaced. "Don't worry, it's safe to eat."

  "You said I can't get hurt in here, so why not?" I shrugged holding my hand out so he could place the plump apple in it. "Thanks."

  "Don't mention it." He smiled. We both pledged silence after that, watching shades of purple around us—I'd never seen flowers so pretty before, not even in my dreams— and feeling the warm wind caress our skin with its gentle touch. That was until one of us decided the quietness was too much to handle.

  "You're not hungry."

  "Not really." I sighed and looked down at the round fruit in my
hands. I was still rolling it between my palms. "I'm confused. This doesn't feel like a dream. It feels so real, but I know it's not."

  "It is real." Jay turned to me, then he snatched the apple from my hands so I could stop toying with it. I narrowed my eyes at him.

  "But you just said none of it is real."

  "Well, once we get out of here, it won't be real. But being here is real. This is your escape. For now, it's real," he exasperated excitedly, dropped the apple on my lap, and held my hand in his.

  "How?" I choked.

  "Heard of the Stonepelt family?"

  Well that was a random question. "Of course. Everyone has heard of them."

  "What do you know about them?"

  "Know?" I asked. "I only heard rumors about them."

  "Rumors, huh?"

  "Yeah. I heard people say they're bad news, that they deal with satanic black magic kind of shit. On Google, it says that the parents went completely senile and sacrificed themselves for the protection of their kids from the Devil. Wait, why are you asking me about the Stonepelts?"

  "Black magic shit? Devil? That's the image that we have? I mean I knew it was bad, but not that bad."

  We? My eyes widened as the realization hit me, fear crawling itself back into my body and leaving me possessed with horror. Jay blinked once before smiling at me. It was probably a gentle smile, but in my head, I received it to be the vilest, the most sinister grin ever.

  "Jay Stonepelt…"

  "The one and only." He half-bowed.

  "You…you're… thi… this is—"

  "Calm down," he said, chuckling before he got up and sat opposite from me. I exhaled in relief at the new distance between us. "I didn't want to tell you who I was, but it would've been unfair to you."

  "I thought I was dreaming…" I couldn't go on, not with the horrific thought of permanently being stuck in here flashing in my mind like police sirens.

  "We don't do black magic shit," Jay said, rolling his eyes.