Part 3
End of conversation
Lee walked into the coffee shop. He sat down where he and Harry would usually sit down.
A new waitress walked up to Lee. Before she could ask anything from him he spoke.
"Where's Sarah?" He said with a frown. He already knew the answer to his question, but Sarah was his favorite waitress. She knew the way Lee liked his milked down coffee.
"Sarah left. I'm Jenny, can I take your order?" She said with very impatiently.
"I'll have a..." Lee had already forgotten what kind of coffee he ordered, because it was always served to him as soon as he entered.
"Just give me the lightest coffee you guys have."
As the waitress walked away Lee looked over to the entrance, a wooden door with a big glass frame in the center of it so you could see everything beyond the door. No sign of Harry.
Lee checked his phone, he barely knew how to use it. It was a gift from his wife ages ago. Only now did he begin to use it, mainly because his old phone kicked the bucket. He wasn't used to the way his new phone didn't have any buttons. Instead it was like a shiny and smooth brick with images on it.
Lee waited, and waited. In between his wait Jenny came back with his coffee. He took a sip and almost choked on how bitter it was. The reality was that it wasn't bitter at all. Lee was just too soft take coffee, the reason why he liked it ninety percent milk.
"Horrible."
He looked around, the band wasn't playing yet, the waitress had walked towards the counter, the room barely had any people in it, and finally his eyes reached the empty seat next to him. Still no sign of Harry. He was never this late. It was always a routine to meet up in the morning, one that had never been broken. Not even if one of them was late for work. Lee knew it was probably Harry's old age that was stopping him from coming today.
After a few more minutes, the cafe turned cold. It was colder than usual.
"Miss, can you turn down the cooling?" Lee spoke from the other side of the room. Jenny gave him a thumbs up and slowly paced her way to the air-conditioning unit. Lee was already impatient, partly because Harry wasn't there yet.
A ring came from the entrance and there he was. Harry walked up to the seat and sat down next to Lee. He didn't say anything until Lee spoke.
"Why the hell are you so late today?" Lee frowned at him.
Harry shrugged, then smirked, then looked at Lee in a serious manner.
"What's wrong? You worried me, you old fart." Lee was getting impatient.
Harry emptied his pockets like he usually does, except this time only a box of cigarettes and his old lighter came out.
The room was even colder than it was minutes ago.
"Miss, have you turned down the cooling yet? I'm freezing!" Lee shouted across the room.
"It's already down all the way." Said Jenny.
"Would you calm your tits, I just got here and I'm not ready for your gibberish yet. Besides I've got gibberish for you too." Harry said, looking away from Lee as he lit his cigarette.
"Why the empty pockets today?" Asked Lee.
"Doesn't matter. What matters is I'm leaving town today."
"Have you even packed?!"
"I've packed enough."
"What the hell are you leaving town for, Harry?!"
"Permanent vacation. I thought about it, and I think it's time for me to get out of here." Harry spoke, then he gave Lee a look.
"What are you talking about?"
Harry puffed.
"I'm talking about going away, you nut."
"And where the hell are you going?"
"Just away. I'm leaving first thing after my... Where's Sarah?" Harry said confused and late on the news.
"She's not here anymore." Lee said softly.
"Lee, there comes a time when people have to move on. You understand?"
"It's just Sarah, we can always just get the new lady to get used to us."
"Lee, this is that time when you have to let go of certain things and move on. Just like Sarah, I'm going away. This will be our last conversation for awhile. I need you to listen to me, okay?"
Lee felt emotional, but wasn’t showing it. He’d never been away from Harry for a long time. The only time he was away from him for a long time, which wasn’t even a month, was when he had a business trip to Europe.
“Look Lee, you be a good boy. I’m always looking out for ya. This could be some sorta test. One that’s going to last for awhile. I’m telling you this because I’m not coming back. I’ve packed and I’ve packed for the long run.”
It was odd to Lee how Harry was saying that.
“Look Lee, you’ve been my best friend. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. Like your coffee, things have to change. You just have to find a way to make your coffee sweet again."
Lee was quiet, he was at a loss for words.
“...Look, I just couldn’t leave without saying good bye. So here it is. You know I’m not good at this sort of thing.”
Harry got up.
“Thank you for letting me know.” Lee just said, angry at Harry.
“You’re going to be angry at me? Right before I leave?”
“I don’t understand you Harry. If this is one of your wise jokes, it’s not funny. I don't have time for this, I'm late for work now!” Lee shouted. He was impatient awhile ago, now he was cold and frustrated.
“Lee, I’m going away for reasons you won’t understand now, okay? You’ll understand soon enough. I'm trying to say that...”
“Look Harry, I've got no time for this right now.”
"... in someone’s life when there are two stories to write about that someone. The story that that someone knows, and the story that others have seen.”
Harry’s voice began to crack. Lee was younger than Harry, a lot younger, so he didn’t understand what was really going on.
“You’re my only other story, Lee.” Harry’s voice was so obviously cracking that he had to try and clear his throat.
“I’m going now Harry, like I said, I’m late for work.” Lee spoke, but couldn’t look Harry directly, he was too angry at Harry for leaving.
Harry watched as Lee walked away. Lee turned his back on Harry.
—
A couple of minutes had passed since Lee left the shop. The wind was cold, and the sun wasn't shining. It started to drizzle. The sky had never been this grey in Lee's life.
His phone started to ring and he was having a hard time picking it up because of how incomplete his knowledge was on using the phone. He missed the call. It was from Harry. He let it be and continued walking to work.
A few minutes after his wife began calling. This one he couldn’t ignore, otherwise he would get a scolding later on.
"Hey honey, I'm on the way to work, I have to go! I'll call you later!"
"Lee, dong hang up just yet."
Lee stopped walking.
"Baby what's wrong?"
"Harry passed away last night darling."
Lee froze.
"What are you talking about? I just spoke to him."
"Honey, he was at the hospital last night because he had a heart attack!"
Lee was quiet. His eyes widened. He hung up the phone started running back to cafe.
When Lee got back it was quiet, and Harry wasn't anywhere to be found.
"Miss... Uh, Jenny! Have you seen Harry?!" Lee shouted, this time from the entrance to the counter.
"Uh..." She was confused.
"The guy I was talking to earlier!"
"Sir, you fell asleep on the counter and kept shouting at me to turn down the cooling."
Lee was shocked at what he heard. He couldn't accept what she was saying.
Lee started calling Harry's phone but it didn't even ring. "This is Harry, leave a message." That was all he heard.
Now Lee realized what Harry was trying to say. It was too late.
Lee sat down on his seat again, and was paralyzed. The room was warm again. The band was playing a soft tune. The people had finally come into the cafe. But it was still empty.
Lee scrolled through his phone and saw that he had a lot of unopened voice mail. He was still trying to figure out how to use his phone.
From 5:32 PM yesterday:
"Lee, I'll be a little late for tomorrow's coffee, I'm going to stop by somewhere and get back to you. Just order mine in advanced, thanks. Oh and don't forget how black I want mine."
Authors note
I was really nervous to post this one, mainly because it was so different from the last two parts. Hopefully anyone who reads this enjoys it anyways.
