Will waited at the coffee shop for over twenty minutes. He had contacted that officer from before and he told him to wait here for him.
Maybe he's busy with his work... Will shrugged and leaned on the table.
After waiting for a few more minutes, he spotted Bryan entering the coffee shop. He had to look around a bit before he could see Will who was seated at a far corner.
"What's up? You sounded pretty..." Bryan trailed off as he couldn't find any particular word to use to describe it.
"I thought you were busy," Will said and pointed at the seat opposite his own, "I actually thought that the first thing you'd ask when you got here would be if I found 'the exorcist"'
Bryan curved up his lips.
That was exactly what he was going to ask; just that he didn't like jumping straight into serious matters.
"So why did you contact me?"
"I felt bored and needed someone to talk to." Will said with a straight face.
Bryan dropped his smile as his face contorted.
Oh, so I'm now a tool to relieve boredom? Bryan face palmed inwardly. He had given him his contact for emergencies and not for some casual, idle chat!
Right, that depends on what he calls emergency, I didn't spell it out for him...
"You do know that I was busy right? And as such I don't like wasting my time on some chat?"
Bryan felt he had to draw the line here in case such things happened again in the future.
"You want some coffee?" Will asked completely ignoring Bryan's complaint.
"No. Hit the nail on the head." Bryan adopted a stoic expression.
"I want to ask you a question," the boy looked at the almost cold coffee on the table, "do you know what it feels like to be singled out and hated?"
"Not really, no." Bryan tersely remarked. He wanted this over and done with.
He could have easily walked out on him but somehow he felt he should just be patient.
"I feel like I'm fighting against the whole world!" He poured the coffee into his mouth like he was pissed with it.
"And this is you getting drunk?" Bryan couldn't help but ask.
He laughed so hard in his mind as he pictured the boy at a bar drinking himself to stupor because of this feeling...
If only he was old enough....
Bryan had to control his imagination from running wild.
"Yeah," he sipped more cold coffee, "this is me getting drunk with coffee."
"You know that question was rhetorical, right?" Bryan felt that from his answer, he might actually be drunk...
Is that even possible? Drunk with coffee? He made a mental note to check it out.
"What are you talking about?" Will's voice was now cracking.
Bryan rubbed his temple and felt bad for him.
What would one do when they meet someone who is drunk with coffee? Call the emergency number?
Bryan began evaluating options because he felt that he was actually really drunk.
"What makes you think that the world is against you?"
"Haha," Will have a short laugh before adding, "When people don't even want to see your face, when they always hate you so much that they could twist facts about you,
"When people just find your very existence as a taboo, when no one wants to be friends with you.
What's that called?"
Bryan felt his head spin in circles.
He had never gone through something like this but while listening to Will; he felt an odd sense of familiarity.
He had been through a lot since he decided to start being a private investigator since he was 15, he had to watch so many things go wrong in his life, his father and him weren't on good terms, he had been fighting an unwinnable battle....
Of course he knew what it felt like to be in the dark. He knew what it meant to watch people treat you differently.
After a long silence, which was only broken by the other customers in the coffee shop, Bryan pulled off his jacket which he had put on to help combat the chilly air of Haston city.
He leaned back into his chair and said with a serious tone, "I need that cup of coffee now."
"I knew you'd want one!" Will smiled bitterly and asked for another cup of coffee.
Bryan had originally not wanted to drink but being brought face to face with his past; he felt he needed to also get intoxicated with this drink. He wanted to be drunk as well but not with beer.
After getting the cup of coffee, he downed it in one go and ordered for more. Will also ordered two more cups. Bryan rubbed his chin and sighed deeply.
Will sipped more coffee and looked intently at Bryan. He could feel the pain that was masked beneath that face; he could feel an overwhelming sense of loss coming from him.
"I didn't know you also had similar experience." Will took the initiative and said as he watched Bryan down the third cup of coffee.