The cafe sat in a vacuous mass, its inhabitants equally vacant in thought and ambition. They carried on their small talk of artists and musicians with various bouts of loudly voiced opinions in no particular direction. "Look at me" they bellowed with practiced subtly. Dee glanced around from his corner table with disdain. The word 'vivisection' paced his mind as he sat waiting for Marie. Anticipation spiking, Dee worried the hem of his faded tshirt with one hand while holding fast to his phone in the other. His feet tingled with an unusual emotion, fear.

They hadn't parted well, he and Marie, and in true Dee fashion he'd silently swore not to return her calls the moment her Volvo faded from his street. The horizon had swollowed her up along with his lifelong memories of friendship. How quickly one could chill their own heart. She'd cried when he told her no, told her they would never be more than friends. The tears, liquid metal running from her glassy eyes, fell onto her gray tshirt. Of all things about that day, Dee remembered the spots of gray transforming to black. Each discoloration spread like a snowflake just forming, each a reason Dee should feel ashamed.

Now, nearly a year later, Marie was returning. She'd messaged of her arrival south and in a moment of rigid clarity, Dee responded. As she sat before him sipping her overpriced blend, he wondered if she was thinking of their last meeting as well. His eyes strained as he pictured the moist blotches on her blouse. She was wearing gray again, with a shimmering wedding ring of an equally gray shade to match.

-Tom says I'll be able to quit my job as soon as he gets the raise. We're planning children but the wedding took so much out of us both... we're just not ready to absorb into anything else right now.

Dee was pretty sure she'd used "absorb" incorrectly in the sentence, but that seemed to be the very last word that should be noticed. Why was he always focusing on the wrong thing when it came to Marie.

-The new car is definitely a blessing, sporty but practical. What are you driving these days.

-A Schwinn.

She stared at Dee as though he'd shoved her coffee over the edge of the table.

-You don't own a car?

Formulating an answer, he fell sidetracked. When had she become a yuppy? Kids, cars, a husband? Less than a year ago she was aching to top Dee and yet sitting before him now was a fully formed suburbanite housewife.

-I sold the car a few months ago when things were tight. I get around just fine though.

-Don't you ever miss the convenience?

-Marie, I live in a city, in the desert... I shop at an open market on the corner, work the block over from that... I don't visit home, what exactly would I need a car for? Past that, when did you get married?

The question was hollow as Dee's mother had called the second her engagement hit the weekly adverts, but he needed to hear her rationalize this union in person. Hadn't she been the one weeping and pining mere months ago on his behalf?

-May, a spring wedding. Dee you would have loved it; daisies covered every inch of St. Marks and pearl white lace dripped over the pews. I know it was fast but Tom and I just clicked. We were meant to be. Soulmates.

The word soulmate chipped away at him. He didn't love Marie. At this point, noting her changes, he didn't even like Marie. She was empty and tame and everything they used to make fun of together. Why then did he suddenly wish great harm to this Tom person? He felt an obligitory congratulations pending and forced a smile onto this lips.

-I'm sure it was amazing.

Marie continued chirping for the better part of an hour until Dee delicately created a lie and removed himself from the situation. She wasn't the same person he'd known all these years. Her stories, her insights all seemed to lack their old flame. He'd left her sitting alone in the cafe texting something perversly sentimental to Tom and felt awkwardly relieved at doing so. He no longer remembered her spotted gray tshirt. He longer saw the Volvo fading into the skyline. Kicking the dust beneath his chucks, Dee made a final vow to not return her phone calls. This one he would keep.