You’re sitting in the middle of a comfy café. The sounds of air vents are only barely overpowered by the shitty jazz music they’re play. That’s not to say that all jazz music is bad, just this jazz music is bad. And then you wondered why you needed to justify that thought. Honestly, it’s too claustrophobic in here. There are at least eight people in line, you can feel the heat off of the guys arm in the seat beside you because the seats are too cramped together, and there’s no less than two people crying in the room; you’re pretty sure they’re both behind the [[counter]] too.You close your eyes and take a deep breath. The sound grows dull, your body grows warm, you sink into your seat and you relax. It’s nice. Nothing would be nicer than a warm cup in your hands and a blanket right now. But, you’re aroused from this state when you feel a hand on your shoulder, and open your eyes to see your friend. They smile. It’s a nice smile.
“You’re seriously able to nap in here? How?”
[[#slothLife->Grin]]
[[I was just resting my eyes. Probably.->Grin]]
They grin. “This is your coffee, right? Has your name on it.” They turn the coffee cup to you.
Yup, your name.
[[“Thanks”]], you say, a little flatly.They reply with chin turned upward, as though having performed a great favor. “Hey, no problem. Friends are for coffee and borrowing [[pets]].”You squint at them. “So you have a pet here then?”
“You got one of two things. Be grateful with that.” They bop your leg with a wink.
You smirk a little. Just a little bit though, not too much. Never too much. [[You breathe again]].
“Have you been doing [[alright]]? I haven’t heard from you in [[awhile->sigh]].”You explain how it is, end of a lot of work finishing up, but instead of being excited you’re just exhausted. Doesn’t help that one project in particular stresses you out, but when it’s done you probably won’t see the people involved in it again.
“People come and go. That’s what they do. And worst case, you know how to use facebook [[right]]?”
You hum a little and nod, then look over to a man standing at the counter, looking at his phone. He looks a little suspicious; you're pretty sure you know what he's looking at. His secret.
It's probably just cats.
You look back over at your friend. They're leaning a little closer to you, their eyes set on your face and their brows gently uplifted. You [[sigh]].You explain that you feel overworked. And life carries on, you know, and there’s a point to it. Not existential, just… not where you hoped you’d be right now.
“You don’t need to [[compare]] yourself to others, even if that other is another you that you perceive as yourself.”
You tilt your head and squint your eyes at them.
“You aren’t born with a schedule, you know? You don’t pop out of the womb with a notice of expectation and THE eviction notice.”
You consider this and [[nod]] a little. They smile gingerly and sit back in their chair. And so do you.You look outside; it's snowing, pretty hard too. But right now, it looks like a different world. And even if it's coming strong, you know there's not much snow over the sidewalk, so you won't slip. Too much. Or at least you'll make it around the corner before you do. You ordered a coffee the way you like it: four cream and two sugar. You’d judge yourself for essentially having cream with a little bitterness added in, but your nostrils are assaulted by the coconut perfume of the woman who just brushed past you, mixed with the scent of the wet dog street and vanilla bean room. You think back to the relaxation videos and tutorials you’ve seen; you just need to [[breathe]].