A lonely woman sits in a cafe. It’s a nice cafe so I can understand why she would come here. It has quite a homey feel to it. The lights aren’t bright white but instead a warm yellow hue. The owners also have huge green thumbs, so there are veins all around the store; whether they’re real or not is a secret only employees know. And the large glass windows allow for much sunlight to shine through. She has come every day since I started working here. All she does is stare out the window and sketch. She orders the same drink every day, an iced mocha latte, with two shots of espresso, and light ice. The only thing that changes is the name that she gives to me. One day it’s Claire, next it’s Alyssa, then Margaret, and so on. Each day it’s a new name. My mind floats with theories of this woman and her identity to the point that I even forgot to tend to the next customer. 

I can’t deny it, I do like to watch her, as she is quite beautiful. She has this ginger hair that changes with the lighting of the sun, and even though I know she most likely doesn’t pay much attention to her hair, she still manages to make it look perfect. She wears these librarian glasses, but behind them are some of the most striking green eyes you’ve ever seen, reminding me of a lonely doll at times. Although I have tried to approach her in the past,it seems as though she has no interest in interacting with other people. But that’s okay with me. I enjoy the mystery behind this beautiful woman. 

One day, however, she comes in and something has changed. She no longer has her glasses on. Her hair has been pushed back into a ponytail, but that’s not all. Her regular coffee order, of an iced mocha latte, with two shots of espresso light ice, has changed as well. 

“I would like a black coffee please,” she says.

Maybe I was just so dumbfounded by the situation, that I didn’t quite notice the look I had on my face. 

“Are you alright?” she says, as she notices my shocked face.

“Oh yeah, of course! My apologies.”

Why would she do this, this isn’t like her. Is something happening today? What happened? 

As I proceed to make her order, with yet another new name, I can’t help but dive deeper into this confusion of mine. We had a routine… So what happened? Curiosity devours my thoughts. Throughout the day as I stare at her, I decided that today I must talk to her. Hours pass and I see her getting ready to leave. I know I’m still on the clock, but I can’t let this moment pass me by. This is my only chance! I sprint to her and catch her before she leaves. Yes, I made it! As I begin to gasp for air I find a way to make the words finally come out of my mouth.

“Please wait! I need to ask you something,” I say as I’m still catching my breath.

She turns around and with a bit of confusion says, “Are you talking to me?”

“Yes. I’m sorry I know this is really abrupt, but would you like to go on a date Friday night? I just see you at the cafe all the time and you seem to be alone, so maybe you’d be interested to go out with me. You seem like a nice person and, when I serve you your coffee I’ve seen some of your sketches they’re really nice. But I wasn’t doing it or purpose or anything I just… I just–.”

I can feel my cheeks turning red as I ramble but I catch myself. I take a deep breath and say

“To be honest I think you’re very pretty and today, I just couldn’t let you leave without asking you out first.” 

The silence and confusion on her face makes me feel embarrassed. I kept rambling to her.  Damn it I’m so stupid she’s probably going to say no now and never come to the cafe ever again because of me now. Ugh! But then she laughed. She laughed!

“Sure, why not? I’ll see you Friday night,” she says with a grin beginning to appear on her face. 

The smile on her face which she left me with feels contagious, and I can’t help but feel my heart bumping out of my chest as I walk back to the cafe.

The cafe feels lonely today. Maybe it’s because she didn’t come in, but I know she won’t, not after Friday. But yet I still continue to stare at her seat. Thoughts of her run through my head until I’m rudely interrupted by the TV as breaking news appears. 

“Hello, we bring you sad news tonight as a young woman has been found near highway 58 dead. Police have identified the woman as being Cynthia Evans, a 28-year-old woman better known to close friends and family as Cindy. They describe Cynthia as being a quiet but caring woman who loved and cared for everyone. She loved to try new things and you never knew what would happen next when you were with her. Cynthia went by many aliases during her life due to an extreme case of stalking. Family report that Cindy had started to try and get her life back by getting a fresh start, but couldn’t as she got news her stalker had found her once again. It was a surprise to everyone as the last time he had been spotted near her was 2 years ago. Sadly, Cynthia would not be able to escape him this time. Police say that they found her with over 20 stab wounds to the chest. As the police try their best to solve this gruesome case they encourage the public to bring forth any evidence or witness accounts that may help find the culprit. I will now go on to give information that has been provided to us by the police. She was last seen late Fri…”

Everything starts to feel hazy and the words coming from the tv don’t seem to form actual sentences in my brain. During this time they put a picture of “Cynthia” up or better said Claire or Alyssa no Margaret sounds better. The news of her death saddens me quite a bit especially since she has such incompetent police on her case. I mean, they have yet to find the bullet wound I also left on her. 

 Anyways now that this stupid goose chase is finally done with you maybe it’s about time I cut this hair, it has been annoying me quite a bit, and oh! I can’t forget about all that dye and color contacts I bought. I didn’t think this day would come so quickly. But damn, did you put up a fight Cindy. 5 years grasping for your love, but you were just too selfish. You played me like a puppet, making you do all your dirty needs while only calling me a ‘good friend’ to others when you knew the clear chemistry between us. You knew my love for you! But that’s alright now it’s all over. Now you’re finally mine. My lonely little  doll. The only owner of your heart.