Sidewalk Cafe - 3AM Epiphany #34

Chad was sitting at his normal table at the Sidewalk Cafe, reading the paper and sipping his coffee. He was really having a tough time concentrating today – every day since that party last Tuesday night. Without thinking, he rubbed the back of his head by his ear. It felt like a mosquito bite. Maybe it was a spider bite. He scratched the lump hard but the itch remained. The swelling wasn’t going down, and he wondered if he needed to break down and go see the doctor. He finished the coffee and set the paper on the chair before he got up and walked away. Whatever he’d just read was already gone, and all he could think about was his next destination.

As he approached the last table, he noticed a lady yammering at a confused man sitting across from her. Then she started whining, “So what do you think I should do?” Her top was pretty low, and he couldn’t resist glancing down at her as he walked past. He smiled at the sight, and neither one of them noticed.

“I’m sorry, what were you saying?” Chad chuckled. Isn’t that always how it is? Who knows what any woman is ever talking about? After he turned the corner, he couldn’t hear the rest of the conversation. He almost ran over an old man, but was able to dodge past him without knocking him down. He belched through an apology but just kept walking.

Chad glanced back to make sure the old man was OK, but he’d just stopped in his tracks, holding up his hand as if he was about to shake someone else’s. “Nice to meet you,” he stammered at the air in front of him. Another lady walking past just shook her head at the old man talking to himself. “Can you help me find my elevator?” His shrill voice made the woman just stop and stare. That is one crazy old man, Chad scoffed as he kept trudging on. He really wasn’t sure where he wanted to go, he just knew he wasn’t there.

Then, after two more blocks, he was there. Here. He wasn’t sure where here was, though. This was some kind of construction site. He stepped over the yellow caution tape and skipped over a couple of potholes as if he knew right where they were.

“What the hell are you doing here?”