Nodding, he steps closer to me and hugs me around the waist. “Thank you.” He pulls back, happiness dancing across his face. “Let’s get some coffee, then we can walk around. Or do you want to take our bags home?”
“We can do coffee and see how we feel.”
The coffee shop is only about a block away. I marvel at it when we step inside. It’s not how the coffee shops used to look before my curse. The ones I remember used to have a restaurant attached, booths set up, and waitresses walking around in high heels.
Here, bookshelves line the walls, filled to the brim with books large and small. There are several armchairs around the room with round tables next to them. Plants are dotted all around the room, giving the shop an earthy smell that mingles beautifully with the books and coffee.
Maverick inhales deeply, holding the air in his lungs and exhaling softly. “It always smells so good in here.” He looks at me through his lashes, a coy smile on his face. “Second best to you.”
I hum and drag him to me, kissing him hard. “Keep this up and we won’t have time to walk downtown.”
He cackles and slaps my chest. I let him go so we can step up to the counter.
Peering up at the menu, I try to figure out what I want, but the screen moves, as if someone changed the channel. A new menu pops up in its place. “Wait,” I say, looking down at Maverick in a panic. “I didn’t get a chance to read it.”
Patting my hand, he pulls me out of line so other people can place their orders. “It’s okay. It’ll come back around. They usually stay for a few seconds, then come back.”
“Why do they change?” I ask, not missing the despair in my tone. “Why don’t they just leave them so people can see what they want?”
“I don’t know, baby.”
Glancing back at the menu, I try to read the new screen, but it changes again, this one showing tea instead of coffee flavors. Everything looks so complicated, like it’s all made-up shit, but they must be popular if they’re on the menu, right?
Just when I want to ask about one of the teas, the menu changesagain, showing food this time.
My head spins with all the options, with all the changes, with all the differences. I watch as the people in the shop peck away on their cell phones, as they type on their portable computers, as their headphones without wires are plugged into their ears.
So much time, so much has changed, and my mind is still stuck in the seventies. How did I fuck up so badly that I put myself in a position to let life pass me by?
I did this. This is my fault. Being sobehindon shit that should be second nature to a man my age is…it’s overwhelming.
“Maverick,” I say, my voice small and scared to my own ears. “I wanna go home.”
He looks at me, not with pity, but with understanding. “Of course. We can try again another day.”
“I don’t deserve you,” I say as he leads me out of the shop.
“Of course you do. I’ll help you through this. I promise.”
Maverick juggles my bags in one hand so he can hold tight to my other.
He whispers soft, soothing words to me the whole walk, but I’m still in my head.
Everything is sodifferent. Even something as simple as vehicles have changed. Gone are the large boxy cars that are built tough, most of the cars now curved and sleek. Even the larger models are elegant angles and neat lines.
The buildings have also changed, taller and more airy, not filling the spaces with needless colors or furniture.
Everything is past me and I’m trying to play catch up.
I can’t stop the melancholy feelings from descending on me, regret from my past actions almost eating me alive. It’s even more apparent how much I fucked up now, when a simple trip to get coffee makes me break out in a cold sweat.
When we’re home, Maverick leads me to the couch and sits down beside me. “What can I do to help?”
I sigh, running my hands through my hair. Only one thing will ground me, and it should be the last thing I want to do. But right now, I don’t know what else will calm me down enough to think clearly.
“I need to shift. Can you sit on me when I do?”
He smiles and nods. “Of course. Anything you need. For how long?”
