The late lunch rush is finally over and it takes a while for me to adjust from the rumble of overlapping loud conversations and the constant clinking of plates and cutlery to the low hum of the waitresses’ gossip while on their smartphones. The sudden barrage of sounds coming from the mounted television seems to be the prevailing sound above all others now. Local sport commentators seem to be trying to outsmart one another and out talk each other with their best options for the local Bobcats team upcoming game this weekend. As if I need more reminders that this is a college football town, a couple of students come in wearing their best Bobcats gear and sit way on the back of the cafe. I finish my grilled cheese and onion rings, push the plate away and finally lean back in my chair, sipping the last of my coffee and look around the place.
About a dozen Formica tables adorn the long but narrow space and it seems to make it a lot bigger than what one would expect from the outside looking in. A long service area counter with Diner style seating occupies most of one side of the cafe. The sounds coming from the kitchen contrast with the sudden quietness of the place as the TV sound is adjusted. Jet streams of water and clinking of dishes and machines whirling full blast almost drowning the sound of the commentators on TV who are soon interrupted by a commercial break. A sale of mattresses this coming weekend with promises of slashing prices up to 80%. A scintillating man wearing a Viking outfit is slashing mattresses left and right on a parking lot with a nine-foot long shinning sword, as if the spoken promises isn’t enough to entice costumers.
I open up my notebook and look briefly at the empty page before turning my attention to what’s going on outside the window overlooking the square, as if looking for inspiration. My waitress Rose, a young woman in her early 20’s, comes by with coffee pot in hand and asks if she can take the plate away for me in her most adorable West Texas accent. She smiles as she juggles the plate in one hand, and looking at my almost empty coffee cup, fills it up with the other hand saying, “Let me top that off for you”. She looks at my empty notebook and asks what I’m writing. I say, “Nothing particular, I just like to look for interesting stories to write about whenever I’m traveling”. She asks if any of them turn out to be love stories, her favorites. I say “Sometimes but they’re hard to come by these days for me.” She ponders and offers an “Hmm” as she leaves, her voice lagging on as she says to let her know when I’m ready for the check, but offers that I’m welcome to stay and enjoy, while looking at my open notebook.
A middle age couple comes in and sit at a corner table overlooking the square. They seem to know each other only slightly and their awkwardness is evident by the way they keep trying to avoid looking at each other’s eyes for too long. It’s safe to assume that they are probably on a first date as they soon resort to small talk about the weather to try to patch up pauses in their conversation. I sip from my coffee cup, take out my pen and sit back watching the steam off my coffee rise up and disappear. I look around for inspiration, for some sort story to present itself to me, but instead notice the big display case behind me with the biggest, most delicious-looking desserts. I call out for Rose and ask her to bring me what she thinks it’s her favorite dessert since I can’t seem to make up my mind. She smiles widely and, in her own words, accepts the challenge.
On TV the commentators are at it again. It seems the opponent’s team quarterback is coming back from a knee injury and so the consensus among all of them is to take advantage of that in the defensive plays. That seems to have left the moderator without any other questions for the commentators and it’s the best he can do to fumble through his attempt at calling out for a quick commercial break. Even the Bobcat wearing young men, who had up until then pay little attention to the commentators, stop talking and look in disbelief at the TV and the few seconds of dead air. Rose comes back with an enormous slice of raspberry cheesecake. She places it in front of me and asks if I want her to top off my coffee cup again. I nod and she proceeds to do so and says, “Hope you’ll like our cheesecake. It’s made right here in our cafe everyday”. I smile as I take a big bite of off it and hurriedly give her a thumbs up as my mouth is filled with more cheese cake than I should have had in one bite. She laughs as she leaves saying “Enjoy it.”.
Outside, afternoon is leading up to evening and foot traffic is picking up around the square. A group of students come running down as they cross the street, all in their game T-shirts, and go in into a sports bar. Streetlights are being turned on around the square, giving a more respectable view of the majestic Hays County Courthouse in all its glory. There’s a few Band-tailed pigeons sitting atop Jack Hays statue, that take off together when a dog on a leash stops and barks at then. Three women in their early 40’s come into the cafe, laughing hysterically at something that has happened earlier in the week in their office party. They stop laughing as they look around the cafe and pick up the mood of the place. One of them offers a silent “sorry” with her hands and nods to me as a way of apologizing and I smile my understanding back at her. The couple at the corner table are now holding hands on the table, whispering something between each other that is surely making both happy by their wide smiles.
On TV the programming has changed to the local news and the upcoming local elections for the council. The women have finally settled down on a table to sit and are now looking at the huge menu. The woman who offered an apology in my direction looks at me and waits as I finish the last of the cheesecake to ask me if that was as good as it looked. I say “Even better”. She thanks me and calls out for Rose to bring three slices of the delicious cheesecake along with a pot of herbal tea for the table. I smile and raise my coffee cup at her and sip from it. The Viking mattress sale commercial is back on and it’s all I can do not to be lost again in such a poor executed but still engaging spectacle. I smile at the screen and the insanity of it all that ends with a group of Vikings sailing on the North Sea on the way to their land, their dragon-carved shallow and narrow boat filled with mattresses as the they celebrate another kind of victory. The women are indulging themselves on their cheesecakes and resume their earlier conversation about their office party but now use a lower, almost whisper of a voice, to detail some sordid details about some of their colleagues.
I finish my coffee, close my notebook and just sit and relax for a moment. The sun outside is setting fast, with orange hues sprawled across the horizon. The dark of night is fast approaching but the town seems to be coming alive all of a sudden. The middle age couple are now exchanging stolen kisses from one another and giggling like a pair of teenagers. I smile as I look at Rose stealing looks at them while pretending to be on her smartphone, daydreaming of the day the love story will be hers. On TV, the local weather is predicting clear skies and sunshine for the Bobcats game day. I linger awhile longer not to disrupt Rose’s daydreaming and look at the women’s table where the cheesecake is gone but the talk and the tea keeps happily flowing. When Rose comes in to their table I finally ask her for the check. When she comes back, she places it on the table and says, “Whenever you’re ready”. I thank her and she asks me, “How was everything?” I pause and look around the cafe before my eyes land back on her looking at me. “Did you get what you needed?” she asks, with a smile on her face. When I don’t answer immediately she offers, “Hope everything was alright”. I smile and say “Everything’s perfect, just as it should be”.
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