Taking Chances

There is nothing like the morning air burning my lungs as I let my mind go numb. The only sounds I hear are the sound of my even breath and the pounding of my feet hitting the pavement. With every breath my mind calms a little more and I let go. My body is in a trance only remembering to run by pure habit. This is the only time I am at total peace. The sound of a car horn brings me back to reality. I smile a sweet smile and wave an apologetic wave to the driver. Instead of smiling back he flips me the bird, so much for killing him with kindness. There seems to be more traffic than usual today. As reality sets back in I notice I am almost back to the coffee shop. I have had the same routine since Jonah started Kindergarten: drop him off at school, park at the coffee shop, run, get my morning coffee, go home to get ready and go to work. I have been doing this for three years now. Diane always has my coffee ready and waiting. She too has my routine down to a science. The air is thick today. The leaves on the trees seem to feel the heavy weight of it as they sag. Between my sweat and the humidity in the air my clothes are clinging to me and my pony tail has brown unruly curls sticking out everywhere. The coffee shop is a homey little place. It is full of cherry wood tables with matching chairs. A horseshoe booth sits in the middle like a center piece. Off to the left is a tiny nook with a table for kids. Jonah loves it because at the end of the square table is a roll of paper that expands its length. You can tear your paper off to take home with you after you color your masterpiece with the crayons from the big glass coffee mug. As I walk into The Coffee Bean Diane can’t suppress her giggle as she sees my hair and clothes. “It’s so nice to know you are one of those friends who will tell me if I have lipstick on my teeth.” I say as I take my coffee from her. “Lipstick on your teeth wouldn’t be near as funny. I saw on the news last night we have some big storms moving in this evening.” Diane says as she hands me a muffin. “Consider it an apology.” I smile and take the muffin from her. “Hopefully I will see you tomorrow.” As I turn to go I notice everyone inside is talking and staring at the corner of the store. I make my way to the door and see what they are all gawking at. Isaac Benham. He is the current Hollywood heart throb. I heard he was in town filming a movie. He is sitting in the corner working on a laptop with a cup of coffee sitting by his newspaper. As I walk by he looks up at me with eyes the color of the ocean. I give him a sympathetic smile and mutter “good morning.” He chuckles as I walk by “hi”. All I can think as I walk to my car is how my sister Ireland is going to die when I get to work and tell her who I saw at The Coffee Bean. As I pull up to the gift shop I own with my Mom and two sisters, I can’t help but think of how it has saved me through the years. We started the business when Grady and I were talking about starting a family. My Mom and I always wanted a gift shop we could decorate for the holiday’s and play in all the other days of the year. This was a way I could bring my baby to work and between my sisters and Mom, could still be involved once he started school. Little did I know it would become my life-line. When I walk in my younger sister Ireland is dancing to Demi Lovato. This is another thing I love about our shop; we don’t play the normal “store music”. We play anything from Bon Jovi to Wicked and love every minute of it. We take turns throughout the day playing our own collections from our IPods. I am guessing Ireland is starting off the day today. “Ireland, you will never guess who I ran into at The Coffee Bean this morning.” I say as I walk to the middle of the store where we have a square shaped counter and work space. “Do I get any hints?” “Sure, he has dark brown hair, eyes the color of the ocean, and if you would have been there I would still be picking you up off the floor.” I can hardly contain my giggle as her jaw hits the floor. “You saw my future husband Isaac Benham at the freaking Coffee Bean?! I heard they were filming in town but never in my wildest dreams did I think one of us would see him! Do you think he is still there?” She would be a catch for anyone with her long brown hair and deep green eyes. She too is a runner and has a body to die for. “Ireland, you won’t believe it but he even talked to me, he said “hi”. “He spoke to you?! I can’t believe he spoke to you and you didn’t call me right when you left. I could have made it to the coffee shop before he left. You might have just cost me my first husband Isabelle.”