It was already dusk and Jane was still sitting in a chair in Café France. Her seat was beside the window and it had this magnificent view of the setting sun. Shades of red painted the sky like a kaleidoscope. She enjoyed that moment of peace as much as she could. As the song goes, the world spins madly on and this is just her taking a breather from that dizzy ride.
The waiter at Café France was eyeing Jane for a while. He noticed that when Erika left, Jane did not go with her. He thought she was waiting for someone but it was already about 15 minutes and she has not stood up or looked around. All she did was look at the sky outside. The waiter waited for another five minutes before garnering the courage to approach her.
"Ummm, can I get you something, miss?" the waiter shyly asked. The waiter originally planned to be confident but as she approached Jane, the more shy he felt. Something about Jane's beauty made him stutter which was unlike him. His attempt at service however was met with disinterest and a deafening silence.
"Umm, miss." The waiter slowly raised his voice. "Hello, miss, can I get you something else?" The waiter raised his voice even louder and ultimately caught Jane's attention.
Jane finally slipped out from her stupor. She looked at the waiter. "I'm sorry…" She looked at the the waiter's nametag. Brian. "Oh, you're called Brian, too." She accidently blurted out what's on her mind. Waiter Brian was about 24 years old and had a barista-demeanor with a tattoo on his right arm. He had a buzz cut which was probably required by management and had a lean build which he really worked on.
"I'm sorry. I did not quite hear that." Waiter Brian was confused with what Jane said. However, he did not want to pry so he pretended that he had not heard it clearly.
"Nothing." Jane quickly retracted what she said. Remembering waiter Brian's question, she then added, "I probably don't need something. I'll probably leave."
"Okay. If you ever need anything. Don't hesitate to ask." Waiter Brian assured Jane.
A minute after waiter Brian left, Jane took one last look at the sunset. What a beautiful array of red. She thought. She loved the color red. It was the color of passion and the color of fire. She had worked with fire more than half of her life and she knew that life is like fire. It could consume you and burn you out or it could cook you to become a better version of yourself. There is a fine line between being just perfectly cooked and being burnt.
Ring! Jane's deep thoughts were cut short by the ringing of her phone. She picked up and looked at it. It was an unknown number. She did not answer it directly and thought first of who the caller could be. Could it be Erika? Maybe she called and wanted to schedule for another interview. Jane thought. She was positive that Erika left without finishing the interview because she probably left for a personal matter.
Thinking it was Erika, Jane picked it up and immediately said, "Hey, I'm sorry I said something to upset you earlier. I can clear up my schedule for another interview if you want." Jane was apologetic in her tone.
"Oh, I'd like to take you up on that offer. I'd like to chat again." It was a man's voice. Jane thought before later realizing that it was John. She visualized facepalming herself. "I'm sorry, John. I thought you were Erika."
"Who's Erika? Don't tell me you're…" Realizing the meaning of John's joke, Jane quickly rebutted, "No, I'm straight." John laughed out loud at her cute pouty tone.
Listening to John's chuckle gave Jane the leeway time to stand up from her chair and gestured at waiter Brian. Brian quickly turned to her direction only to see a smile and a wave with a simple "Thank you."
Jane then quickly went outside the café to settle at a bench under a palm tree's shade near the café. Poor waiter Brian was left in a daze. The last thought on his head was simply the beauty of Jane's smile.
"I'm just kidding. Anyway, how did you know it was my voice?" John was slightly elated that Jane recognized her voice.
"Probably because it was too annoying to forget," John loved Jane's humor. "I'm flattered." John's reply was also met with a chuckle.
"Anyway, how was the business meeting?" Jane remembered that John told her that he was going to a business meeting which is why he left in a hurry at Oliverde's.
"Oh, it went great. I completely vibed with this famous local music producer named Allan. We made some experimental tunes with the song that I was writing. It was already acoustic, but he wanted to add some pop funk element to it. It was great." John eyes sparkled as he was talking about his day. Jane could feel the excitement in his tone and she could not help but feel a little happy for him as well as sad for herself. Ever since she got her memory back, she dreaded the moment when she will meet Brian again. What will she say? Her feelings are a bit complicated and letting it all out would be foolish.
"But, this is not why I called you." John's tone became serious. Jane gulped. She anticipated what John was going to say. "I called you because Allan invited me to his famous club in Town center named No Feel. It had tons of loyal customers who are rich. He thought he might test my song there and it would also be good exposure for me. Anyway…" Jane could visualize John shyly rubbing his nape and slightly looking down like a typical guy shyly asking a girl out on a date. Jane's imagination reflected her immature true self. The one trapped in a mature body. "I wonder if you'd like to go have a listen. After all you promised." John's words slowly seemed to fade in intensity.
"I'd love to go. I don't usually go on a date with a guy I just met but lucky for you, I'm a sucker for music." Jane said with a smile.
"That is the best news I've heard all day and I just closed a deal with Allan in producing a few songs for my album." John's excitement was off the roof.
"Oh my God! That's great news." Jane almost shouted.
"I'll perform at maybe 8 there. I hope you'll be there." John was ecstatic.
"I promise I'll be there." Jane then hanged up.
John was walking in a road when the call ended and ultimately jumped for joy. The people in the streets all stared at him. Realizing the unwanted attention, John casually recovered and walked calmly towards the town center which was only a few blocks away.
It was already 5pm and Brian was already in his condo unit and already cleaned out the place. However he did not clean his own room. He left it completely untouched. He thought that it was probably better to just leave it as Jane left it so as to not confuse her where she left her things.
Seemingly proud at the feat of cleaning, Brian sat down at his sofa at the living room with a sigh. He then looked at his phone for the first time since he used it to call Jane. He noticed it was already dead and went to charge it. Just as he plugged the charging in, he heard the buzzer at his door.
Brian thought it was Jane, so he hurried towards the door leaving his phone in the living room charging. As he was nearing the door, he instinctively asked, "Who is it?"
"It's me John, Erika." Hearing Erika's voice, Brian stopped in his tracks. The first thought in his mind should have been 'Why is she here?' or 'Damn, Gabe gave her my address' but it was not either of the two. It was 'Where is Jane'.
The guest that he expected was not here and instead, the one actually here is the guest she dreaded. Erika had not been a subject of his thoughts lately, but she used to be, a lot. He knew this moment would come. For some things to be finally cleared out and feelings to be faced.
They both had been delaying this moment for a long time. They both had some varying degrees of longing since they had their separate ways in New York. And this longing, one way or another needs to come to some sort of conclusion.