… that had to be him, right?
The meeting spot had been simple, purposefully so. Somewhere public, somewhere simple, it’s just a coffee shop by her studio– one she’s been to hundreds of times, at least, before this moment. When she first arrives, the familiar barista says something about the regular only to get an uncharacteristic SHUSHING from the girl flushed pink.
It’s silly, isn’t it? They’ve communicated more than she’s likely ever done with another single soul; but he’s not parchment and pen anymore. Not a picture on a screen, or words in a message– there’s a real man out on the patio, at her very favorite table, the same one she’s sketched at costumes and wrote him back at so many times before. He’s usually brought there in an envelope, but now it’s a flesh and bone someone sitting there… facing the park…
Evangeline had gone to hiding most of her face behind a stray menu, despite being tucked inside. It took a few more moments to breathe, to nod briefly at an offer of that caramel coffee with all the espresso so the barista could take her leave… before she finally found enough spine to lead her to the patio.
She just had to take a seat. She could take a seat and she could chit, chat, and pretend she wasn’t an absolute nervous mess at the prospect of what should be a simple introduction. He already knows her better than likely anyone else does, it’s too easy to be candid in writing, but he’s so much more a Stranger when she can’t work to cross her Ts or dot her Is…
He’s still watching the park. That’s why it’s her favorite table, what a view! She can’t blame him a bit, even smiles to herself when the sight offers opportunity for her to sneak ever nearer. She just had to say something. She could take a seat, say something, and this moment would be over– but something causes her pause, makes her nervous, and it’s silly… and she can’t think… and she wants to just SHOUT that she’s here, that she’s SO HAPPY he is, too…
But instead: Evangeline reaches out, taps enthusiastically at his shoulder;
“I, well, i–” speak, girl, stop poking him! speak!
“I’m… you know, I’m…. isn’t the park just lovely?”
Alp’s been nervous waiting for people before, but not like this.
Before, he’d waited for dates, job interviews, scholarship reviews, Navy recruiters...but now, he’s waiting for the one person he has left. He’d gotten to know her so well through the letters that it feels like they’re already friends...but maybe, once they meet in person, she’ll change her mind. He’s a liability, he knows that, and maybe things will be different in real life. Maybe they won’t be as comfortable together as they’d been in their letters. Alp hadn’t planned on revealing so much to a stranger...but Evie doesn’t feel like a stranger anymore. Not after almost two years.
But she is, because no matter how many letters they’ve exchanged they’ve never actually met, and he realized just a few minutes ago that he forgot to tell her that he doesn’t look the same anymore--not like the facebook photos that haven’t been updated since he was in college (which was only two years ago, but it feels so much longer), and not like the clean-shaven kid who’d facetimed her one weekend back when he was Seaman Yavuz. He’d been sunburned from hours in the ocean, but thrilled because right before he’d called Evie, his mom had said her treatment was almost over and she was feeling much better.
He hadn’t realized then that “almost over” didn’t necessarily mean “successful.”
But it’s too late to warn Evie now, and Alp’s starting to wish he hadn’t gotten there early. The view’s nice, and his coffee’s good, and although he’s been free for a while it’s still good to be in the sun again; to hear kids playing instead of cell doors; to see grass and trees instead of concrete. But if he’d waited a few minutes she might have gotten there first, and he was sure he’d recognize her, and he wouldn’t have to sit here waiting and hoping--
There’s a tap on his shoulder, and he looks up--and she looks exactly like he expects, and he doesn’t know what to say because suddenly this is all so much and his best friend is in real life in front of him and he’s stunned and relieved and terrified and happy all at the same time.
So he settles on “--Hey--” and stands up, the scrape of the chair on the patio way more startling than it should be, and he wants to hug her because he knows her and she’s so important but also being face-to-face for the first time proves how tiny she is and so maybe he shouldn’t, so he just stands there, until a tentative smile pulls just a little at his mouth and he says quietly, “It’s good to see you.”
