Having Coffee With the Boyfriend

It was in no way a normal date

Cindy was having coffee with her boyfriend at a small bistro table on the sidewalk in front of the cafe. It was Fall and the temperature was perfect to be outdoors. At this time of afternoon there was not much pedestrian traffic nor auto traffic. It was the perfect setting but that did not ease Cindy’s growing anxiety.

Suddenly, as Cindy took a sip of coffee, there was the sound of screeching tires followed by a loud metallic crashing sound. It jolted her, resulting in a few drops of coffee splashed on her face. Wiping the coffee drops away with her hand, she set the coffee down on the table and turned around to see what happened.

It was a traffic collision between two cars, one of which was a taxicab. Apparently someone had rear-ended the cab.

Abruptly, the two male drivers of the vehicles exited their cars and began walking towards each other while yelling obscenities. They were yelling all sorts of things at each other but it was in a foreign language so Cindy could not understand what they were saying. Their gestures and screaming left no doubt that accusations were flying as were a few random American cuss words.

Cindy was shocked by what she was witnessing. The intense rage being expressed by the two men left Cindy sure that they would come to physical blows. But they did not. Now face to face they just intensified their yelling and gesturing.

Meanwhile, traffic was backing up on the street in front of the cafe. People were honking their horns and yelling out of their car windows. Some people were leaving their cars to get a closer look at the fight that everyone was sure would break out at any moment. The drivers and nearby pedestrians began egging on the two men, hoping to see a fight.

Cindy turned back around to look at her boyfriend whose jaw was dropped and his eyes bugged out as he stared at the incident unfolding in the street, “Holy shit, can you believe that?”

Her question was left unanswered as her boyfriend seemed to be in a catatonic state. Cindy turned around to once again look at the drama unfolding on the street.

The crowd had quickly grown. The two men’s yelling was starting to be drowned out by the yelling of the crowd. Everyone was waiting for the first punch.

And then a little girl came out of the car that had crashed into the cab. Cindy guessed that she was around seven or eight years old. The girl was sobbing hysterically as she ran to the man that had been driving the car she had been in. She grabbed onto his leg and screamed, “Papa! Papa! Papa!”

The cab driver immediately backed down. How can you hit another human who has a child attached to them? The decibel level of the crowd’s noise, as well as the two men, quickly dropped to near silence. Now, the loudest sound was the sobbing of the little girl.

Soon, the two men were talking again but this time in hushed voices with no gesturing. They nodded their heads and eventually shook hands. A collective sigh of joy issued forth from the crowd.

And then a police officer showed up and began dispersing the crowd and restoring order.

Cindy put her hand to her chest. Her heart was racing. After taking several deep breaths she turned around to face her boyfriend. They looked into each other’s eyes for a long moment…

… and then she said it, “I think we should break up.”

Copyright by White Feather. All Rights Reserved. This is a work of fiction. More Stories Here

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