The Lone Old Lady

It is deserted at D's Coffee, and the only people throughout the whole cafe was the two baristas, a lone old lady, and I.

The lone old lady sits at a table flipping through one of those "romantic" soft porn novels that are sold for five dollars because that's the most they would ever be worth. She has a mug of coffee, and a scarf around her neck because of the recent rain chilling the warm Mesilla Valley. Lone Lady sifts through her book at a rapid pace, turning a page every thirty to forty-five seconds.

I watch her, as the baristas are in the back of the cafe doing who knows what. She keeps reading, eyes behind thick rimmed glasses, rapidly moving across and down, absorbing all this book has to offer. I wonder if she fantasizes about what the story offers.

A young man walks into the cafe, the old lady does not look up, and stands at the counter while the baristas are no where to be seen. He stands there for a good five minutes before one appears, and takes his order. The Lone Old Lady still reads on.

Young man gets his coffee and departs, throwing some money in the tip jar, and whistling as he leaves. The Old Lady flinches slightly when he begins the whistling. I thought that was interesting.

Lone Old Lady, again sits, eyes still unmoving from her soft porn book, so absorbed into the book, its becoming alarming to me, and I get kind of uneasy. The only thing that affected her was the whistling.

She seems cut off from the world the rest of the time I watch her, and it comes time for me to leave.

And even as I leave the cafe, her eyes are glued to her book.