A Choice

A Choice

 “Good evening,” The waitress of the café greeted me as I pushed open the wooden door. Her smile was warm, as the drinks sold in the café were. The warmth was just right.

“Good evening,” I smiled as I replied. She brought me to an empty table. I nodded at her as she gestured me to sit. After taking down my orders, she left me to my book. Not long after that, my order came. I looked on while the same waitress put them on the table.

I glanced at what she had put for a while longer before I turned my head to her. She replied my glance with the warm smile.

“Thank you,” I said. And she left, returning me to my book.

It was really a wonderful evening. Country music could be heard from the speakers at the corners of the small café. It was my favourite genre of music. There were not many people in the café. It was such a shame I could not share this amazing feeling of simple happiness with others.

A while later, the manager of the café decided to join me. She took the empty seat on my side. She was my best friend since junior high school. We parted our ways after senior high when she decided to open this café and I furthered my studies at the university. We still remained best friends and kept in touch during those times.

Enjoying the company of the country music, my favourite book, my favourite cake, and with my best friend sitting just next to me, it was a perfect evening.

“How come you are alone?” She said, starting short conversation for the evening.

“Wonderful evening, isn’t it?” I said. She looked at me with a puzzled expression. I decided to ignore it as I put a slice of cake into my mouth.

“Stacy,” She said, her eyes still focused at me.

After taking a sip of the coffee, I turned to face her.

“We’ve broken up,” I said. Her eyes widened. She wanted to say something, but nothing came out of her opened mouth.

“Just now,” Giving her a smile before I continued. “Five minutes before I came here. He said he had wanted to meet me here, but I guess he did not want to waste any more of our time. Here, this is his message.”

“Stacy, you have the right to express it if you feel sad. Cry it out, you’ll feel much better. I’m here for you, if there’s anything you need, just name it,” She held my hand which I stretched out to let her read the message in the phone I was holding to.

I shook my head. “Why should I cry? I don’t really feel sad.”

“Stacy, don’t force yourself. You…”

“No, I am not forcing myself. What you said just now, it goes to prove that I should be happy. I have you, my family, and a lot of people around me. Why should I feel sad just because he left me?”

She did not say a word. Instead she kept her eyes on me, looking straight at me.

I looked at the coffee in my hand and put it back on the table. It was still full. My sip just now did not cause any difference.

“I really can’t drink coffee. You should exhort that new waitress of yours. She keeps taking the wrong orders since just now. You’ll lose a lot of customers. Not many are as patient as I am,” I smiled at her as I stood up. The waitress was busy hurrying from table to table, apologizing. “Put it on my tab. I’ll pay them at the end of the month.”

“Oh, and you really need to oil these hinges. This door is starting to creak,” I added as I opened the wooden door. She stood behind me, her eyes full of sympathy.

“Come on, Claire. I’m fine, really. Happiness is a choice. He didn’t give me happiness. I chose to be happy when he’s around me. Now, I can still choose to be happy when he’s not with me. I choose to see this day as a wonderful evening, because I choose to be happy. I’m fine. I’ll call you later.”

I turned my back to her and took my umbrella from my bag. The rain was still as heavy as it was when I came here just now.

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Another short story finished!

I wrote an Indonesian version of this to join @writingsession's writing session (LOL!!!)
And I decided to translate it to English, since it got best of the night, since the admin of @writingsession gave such sweet comments on the Indonesian version.
It was labeled 'Happy'.. The theme of the night was 'Happy'...
Why did I wrote a not-so-happy story for the 'Happy' theme?
Coz I wanted to do things out of the box?? LoL...
I have no idea why, but a story of this type came into my mind when I read the theme.


Don't forget!!!

Happiness is a Choice. No one gave you happiness. You choose to be happy!

By the way, critiques and comments are definitely welcomed and appreciated!

Thank you for reading....

Lidya C.Y.