Page 96 of Poems He Wrote

I watch the old couple play some more, while people are slowly leaving the store, as closing hour nears. I don’t rush them. I don’t dare break the spell they are in, but I scan the barcode on the keyboard box and pay for it. It’s the least I can do for them.

Mats and Jensen leave, taking the teens with them. I flicker most of the lights off and turn the sign on the door to ‘closed’. The music echoes through the space, giving it life. Everything around me feels clearer and easier since I realized what I truly want.

“Oh, look at the time!” the lady says, rushing to me. “I am so sorry, I got carried away. Thank you for letting me play, young man.”

“Thank you for letting me listen.” I nod to her, lifting the box and putting the keyboard in. “Could you do me a favor, please?”

“What favor?” The man comes up behind her.

“Please take this home, I can’t let you walk out of here without it.”

Tears fill the old lady's eyes. She looks up at me, shaking her head.

“I can’t take it,” she whispers, lifting a finger up to her eye.

“Please, look at it as a birthday gift.”

“Are you sure?” the man says, and I nod, placing the box into his hands. “What’s your name, boy?”

“I’m Noah.”

“Thank you, Noah,” she says, reaching over the counter to take my hand in hers. “I will pay you back.”

“You are welcome to play here anytime you want. That would be more than enough for me,” I say walking to the door.

“Thank you, this means a lot to us,” the man says, as they walk out into the street. “You are an angel.”

I smile back at him, waving my hand and locking the door. I feel a lump in my throat get bigger and bigger with each step they take away from my store. The lady leans into him, linking their elbows the way she did when they came in earlier today, and the longing in me grows.

I will wait for her to come back. I would wait a hundred years, just to hold her in my arms again.

I walk to my office, grabbing the phone out of my pocket. It’s almost ten in the evening. My dad must still be awake.

I have something to show u, can I come over in an hour?

I have to finish up something at the store first.

Not a minute after, my phone chimes with a response.

I’ll be waiting. I made apple pie. Don’t let it get cold.

There are not many things that can make me finish work faster than my dad’s homemade apple pie. I make a cup of coffee and run over the papers, checking dates and prices, returns and receipts attached, new orders placed… They did a pretty good job without me here. As far as I know, it was all Jensen. He is ready to open up his own branch, and I will make sure to support him with all I have.

Lifting my mug to my lips, I finish the coffee in one huge gulp, already giddy with impatience, wishing I asked my dad to come over to the store and bring the pie with him.

As if on cue, someone knocks on the backdoor. I look at my phone, checking the time. Half past eleven. It must be dad, since I am late and the front door is locked. Without looking at the peephole, I open up.

Christine.

“Uhm… Hi, Noah. Can we talk?”

***

I step away, leaving just enough space for her to walk past me. I don’t like this. I don’t like it one bit. She walks up to my desk and sets her purse on it, before plopping her ass down into one of the armchairs in front of it.

“Sure, Why don’t you just make yourself at home?”

“Snarky as always, I can see,” she says, turning to face me. “I actually wanted to apologize.”

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