I entered through the back of the shop. The front was locked, and shades used to be down. Now they were open. The chairs were set around the tables as usual, but no coffee mugs were found. Like the rest of the town, it was devoid of life, except for the man waiting by the window in the corner.

He must have opened up the curtains I thought as I walked toward him. He was sitting on a chair, with no table in front of him, and another chair was there for me. He seemed rather content, as the weather was clear, with the sun bleeding from the horizon through the windows.

He greeted me as I made my way past the back hall way and I moved towards him. I sat down in the chair and looked at him. His face was turned towards the window, staring at the sky, and the smoke of the buildings in the distance. For once, it seemed clean, the world that was outside.

“I’ve wanted to see you here for a while,” I told him. He smiled in response and said,

“You know why you never did.”

“We both live different lives. We wanted the same thing, and that wasn’t each other.”

The conversation was turning out to not be as painful as I thought it would be. I had already come to terms with what had happened. I felt like it was possible that both of us died a little on the inside when I said that. It was a tragic way life fell into our hands. We could only stare at each other when we built our lives.

“I’ve always wished, always hoped that I could have been the one to love you.” I admitted to him, at first staring down, and slowly looking up.

He turned his head to the side again, and I could study is face. Even now, it felt like it was out of my reach.

“I'm…sorry I could have never been there for you.” He said. I knew he understood what I was saying, and what was going on inside of me.

For the next few moments, we were silent. Thinking of what I still had to do, while he thought of the world he still was in.

Finally, he looked straight into my eyes and took hold of my hands. As much as we could have done, this was the limit. The warmth was really the only thing that could be felt, as we knew that no longer could we possibly be happy together.

I stood up. I let go of his hands, and he laid them back in his lap. I looked at him and nodded. I began to walk towards the front exit, and he stayed in his chair. I took one last look behind me as I reached the door, and he still hadn’t moved. Opening the door, I understood that I was leaving him behind.