Sitting alone by the window, Alex stared out at the empty
streets, watching the occasional car pass by. He had been coming to the
Midnight Café for weeks now, drawn to its quiet, almost secretive atmosphere.
It was a place where no one asked questions, and that was exactly what Alex
needed. Life had a way of slipping through his fingers lately—work had become a
series of meaningless tasks, and his relationships felt shallow, as though he
were watching his own life from the outside.
As he sipped his coffee, the door chimed, and a woman walked
in. She was drenched from the rain, her dark hair sticking to her face. She
paused for a moment, scanning the room before choosing the table next to Alex.
She didn’t seem to notice him, but he noticed her. There was something about
the way she moved, with a quiet grace that seemed at odds with the wild storm
outside.
Alex couldn’t help but glance over as she sat down. She
pulled a notebook from her bag, flipping through its pages with a focused
expression. He was curious, but he didn’t want to intrude.
After a few moments of silence, the woman spoke without
looking up. “Do you ever feel like you’re waiting for something, but you don’t
know what it is?”
Her question startled him. Alex hesitated, unsure if she was
talking to him or just thinking out loud. But something in her voice felt familiar—like
she had put into words exactly what he had been feeling for months.
“Yeah,” Alex replied, keeping his gaze out the window. “All
the time.”
The woman looked up at him, her eyes sharp and curious.
“Then why do we keep waiting?”
Alex didn’t have an answer. It was a question he had asked
himself a hundred times. He had been waiting—waiting for a promotion that never
came, waiting for a relationship that felt real, waiting for life to
feel...different. But the waiting had stretched on and on, and he realized he
had stopped moving altogether.
“I guess... because it’s easier than acting,” he finally
said. “Waiting feels safer.”
The woman nodded, a small, knowing smile appearing on her
lips. “But what if nothing changes unless we make the first move?”
Alex was silent. He hadn’t expected a deep conversation at
this hour in a random café, but here he was, talking to a stranger who seemed
to understand his thoughts better than most people in his life.
Before he could respond, the woman closed her notebook and
stood up. “The rain’s stopped,” she said, pulling her coat tighter around her.
“Maybe it’s time to stop waiting.”
She turned and walked toward the door, leaving Alex alone
with his thoughts. He watched her disappear into the now clear night, her words
lingering in the air.
For the first time in a long while, Alex felt something stir
inside him—a restlessness, a need to move, to do something. He finished his
coffee, stood up, and stepped out into the cool night. The city, though quiet,
felt alive in a way it hadn’t before. The waiting was over.
And just like that, he started walking—not sure where he was
going, but finally ready to find out.
The End