I can't believe it... she remembered.

Holding a highlighter in one hand and my book in the other, I grab for my headphones. I'm at one of my favorite coffee places that I never go to anymore. It's far away now, but it used to be around the corner so I was a regular. I loved working here. In front of me, an outstretched hand is floating toward me holding a... paper cup? Behind it, a smiling face emerges already halfway through a sentence I completely missed.

"What's that?" I say, more as a question about the words I missed than the floating object at eye-level.

I recognize the bob-length hair.

It's Dana.

Chairs screech, mugs clink, people chatter. I've managed to wrestle my headphones off but I wish I could turn down the volume on everyone else for a second so I can think. I'm sitting at a table by the back, near the roasting equipment, and I'm pretty sure Dana's the head roaster here. Focusing on the words she's repeating, I'm starting to grasp what's happening.

"I remember how much you liked coffee and I thought you'd appreciate this," she says, passing over a freshly brewed shot. You're... you're kidding. Wow! Looking up from my seat, I return her smile and then some. She goes on to tell me how it's a leftover batch from a national competition they were just in.

I'm only here because I had an appointment in the area. I haven't lived around the corner for a couple of years, so I'm not in here really at all anymore. It's been months.

Still, she remembered me.

And she was right—

I do appreciate it.

* * *

Wouldn't you?

onward.

For more on this daily column, read the backstory here. And if you know someone who'd appreciate this, pass it along.