An Ending That Fits

Nneoma walked into the coffee shop on the corner of Heritage and Light streets. It'd taken her two minutes to decide whether to go into the Dunkin' Donuts across the street or the Starbucks, but in the end laziness won.

"Good Morning, what can I get you?" the barista behind the counter asked

After a brief glance at the menu above, Nneoma orders a venti peppermint white chocolate mocha with whipped cream and a lowfat red raspberry muffin "to keep it healthy" she tells herself

The day had begun like many before, Nneoma had been awakened by the sun streaming through her window in the big strong arms of her fiance. Today however, she'd taken the day off work to do some wedding planning having put it off for so long. She made a list of the things she needed to accomplish that day as she waited for her food.

"Your order is ready Miss" said the barista handing Nneoma her coffee and muffin.
"Thank you" she replied paying and then glancing around for an empty table. It was 9am and most people were already at work so she opted for a table outside to enjoy the sun.

Atlanta had been enjoying an unusually cool summer and the weather was nice, 75 degrees and sunny. Propping her purse on one of the empty seats and her food on the table, she sat down silently cursing herself for wearing heels. Sure these whiskey colored Seychelles sandals were cute and went perfectly with her olive military style shirt-dress, but they were only comfortable for about 4 hours.

Fishing through her purse for her Blackberry, she finally let herself recline and take a sip. "Mmmmmm chocolate!" she whispered to herself as she licked the whipped cream off her lips.

She went through her emails and responded to text messages while she had breakfast. Once she was done, she spent a few moments going over her to-do list and people watching. By 9:30 she felt rejuvenated and ready to take on the world.

Grabbing her things, she put her sunglasses on and strolled down the block in the direction of her first appointment of the day with the florist. As she reached down into her gigantic bag to fish for her ipod, she heard a familiar voice. Her head snapped up at once and she turned around quickly to see if she recognized anyone.

The streets weren't particularly crowded but there were a few people rushing by in all directions. She turned back around telling herself she was mistaken, willing herself to keep walking but only taking a couple of steps before she heard it..that laugh!

This time the hairs on her neck stood and her heart began to race as she turned around searching more intently this time taking quick long strides towards where the laughter was coming from.

Then she saw him, his back was turned away from her but she knew it was him. After all these years he was right there in front of her. If she reached out she could touch him.

Everything seemed to be going in slow motion around her but her head was spinning and her heart was beating so fast. She took a deep breath to center herself trying to decide what to do. Knowing that her decision could change her life forever.
"I could just walk away like this never happened and move on with my life, nobody has to ever know" She reasoned
"But it did happen!" Her heart screamed "This is not a dream and this is real"
"I can't do this right now" Her head concluded and resorting to her favorite coping mechanism, she turned to walk away.

"Nnem?" the same voice called stopping her dead in her tracks.