It was Tuesday. I sat in the same little coffee shop that I always did each morning. It wasn’t the best coffee but it was walking distance from my house and I liked the vibe. I checked the time and then looked towards the door. Like clockwork, the tall, dark, and handsome guy walked in. Susan, behind the counter, was already waiting for him with his usual. They both grinned awkwardly at one another while he paid for his drink. I wasn’t sure what it was he always ordered, other than the fact that it was green. I had no idea what on the menu would do that to coffee. There was also a little heart drawn into the froth on top, of course.

It was like this every Tuesday. They’d been doing this for months. I kept waiting for either of them to ask the other out but this was all they ever did. Maybe I was reading the situation wrong, or maybe they each had someone else back home and this was just a passing obsession for each of them. Maybe they were too shy to take the next step. I didn’t know. It was mildly entertaining to watch.

“Did you see the ending to Stranger Things?” he asked.

“I did,” she brushed her hair back behind her ear and smiled. “I watched it with my sister and her boyfriend.”

“That’s cool you have someone to watch it with,” he said.

“Too bad it’s over,” she said. “If I’d known you liked it I would have invited you to join us.”

“Yeah, that would have been cool.”

He finished paying and left and I let out a breath I hadn’t been aware I’d been holding. They were so close this time, and yet they still failed. Oh well.

The next week, for the first time in months, Susan wasn’t there. She was sick, apparently, though in the past she’d still come and just worn a face mask. Maybe she was throwing up or something. I didn’t know and it wasn’t my place to grill the staff about it. Tall, dark, and handsome was similarly confused and concerned for Susan.

“Tell her I hope she gets feeling better,” he told the staff before leaving without ordering anything.

Susan wasn’t back the following week, and tall, dark, and handsome ordered a sandwich and left. Did he even like coffee?

If Susan missed a third week, even I would have begun to be worried but she was back, looking a bit pale but otherwise her usual self.

“Hey stranger,” tall, dark, and handsome said with a broad grin as he walked in and saw her standing there with his green coffee. “Long time, no see.”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” she ducked her head as if embarrassed before handing him his drink.

“Did you see any new shows?” he asked and I wanted to kick him. She was still clearly not feeling that well and all he could ask her was what she’d watched?

“No, I mostly spent my time in bed asleep.”

“I started watching an anime called Spy Family. It’s cute.”

“I could never get into anime,” Susan replied and I almost shook my head in disbelief.

“Well I’m glad you’re back up and about.”

They each smiled, swayed awkwardly, and then he left. Was I reading too much into this? Did they like each other or not? Did they not know how to ask someone out? What was wrong with young people these days?

A couple more weeks passed by like this, and I noticed that Susan wasn’t getting better. She was still pale, still a little shaky, and most worrying was the fact that she started cutting back her hours. She was always in on Tuesday but I heard more than one of her coworkers comment on Susan and her ill health, though they never said outright what was going on.

Tall, dark, and handsome was either oblivious or he didn’t want to say anything because he never brought up her health. They talked about shows, about movies, about the weather. He was thinking about taking up running or hiking now that the weather was warming back up. She liked running but wasn’t really up for it right now. He didn’t ask about her health.

A month went by like that and then came the day when she was wearing a beanie. I didn’t think much of it, though she’d ever worn it before. Tall, dark, and handsome mentioned he didn’t like wearing beanies since they scrunched his hair against his scalp and made his head itch.

“Yeah, I don’t really have that problem right now,” Sarah said.

I paused midway in a sip of my coffee. It clicked in my head what was going on and I just knew that tall, dark, and handsome had missed the clues. Sure enough, they finished their conversation and he left. Susan moved to the back of the employee section and all but collapsed onto a stool. She wiped a few tears away and her coworker patted her on the back. Susan clocked out and went home before I finished my coffee.

The next week, Susan and her beanie were back. The stool was set up close to the register so she could sit while talking to tall, dark, and handsome.

“I actually watched an episode of that anime you mentioned, Spy Family,” Susan said.

“Isn’t it great?” he asked, suddenly enthused.

“It’s a bit weird, but not as weird as I was expecting.”

“Yeah, it’s not like most anime,” he agreed. “I just finished the last season.”

“Well don’t tell me how it ends,” Susan said.

“Sorry, I mean the most recent season. I think it has another two or three seasons to go.”

Susan looked disappointed at that and I figured I knew why.

“Oh,” she said.

Again, their conversation ended and Susan went home shortly afterward.

Then came the week I’d been dreading. The sign wasn’t very big but it was placed right next to the register.

In loving memory

It had a picture of Susan beneath the words, along with a QR code to a fundraiser for the funeral expenses.

When tall, dark, and handsome walked in, he stopped and stared at the sign for almost a full minute. We all waited, holding our breaths. One of the other baristas was ready with his usual. When he finally approached the counter, they handed it over.

“It’s on the house, today,” they said.

Tall, dark, and handsome accepted the coffee, still looking down at the sign. He nodded wordlessly, mouth moving as though he was trying to say something.

“The funeral’s on Saturday,” the barista said. “I have the address if you want to go.”

“Uh, sure, thanks,” he managed to reply.

The barista wrote down the details on a napkin and handed it over. He tucked it into his pocket without looking at it and left. A collective sigh went through the coffee shop. Perhaps this was for the best, that they’d never built a relationship beyond their Tuesday morning coffee routine. Then again, what had they missed out on?

Outside of the coffee shop, tall dark and handsome stood at the corner, looking at the napkin he’d been given, and crying.