An Extra Chair

Leo walked abysmally through the cafe district, a short distance from his residence. Although the day was sunny and warm, somehow it failed to lift him out of his current mood.

Nothing had seemed to go well for him in the past week. Amanda had broken up with him shortly after the week had began, and he had recently realized that it had been a month since he had started sending out resumes. Of the dozens he had sent out, he had still yet to receive one call back.

He knew that a lot of the ads he had applied to had requested more than one year’s experience in film production. Where else was he supposed to get more experience besides employment though, now that he had his arts degree?

To top it all off he still didn’t have a driver’s licence. Even if he did finish reading the manual and passed the tests though, how could he afford a car without a paid job?

Leo paused at a crosswalk as he waited for the walk signal. A shiny, blue Tesla drove by before the light turned red, and he felt his insides clench at the sight. He fought to contain the further frustration that filled him as the walk signal came on and he crossed.

There was also the fact that the goal of his first car being a fully electric one didn’t seem likely. Even if he did find a long-term paying job, how likely was it that his salary would allow him to afford such a car with how expensive they were? If he wanted the advantages of a car, he may have to settle for a hybrid or, worse yet, a gas-fuelled one. Should he even consider those options though, with all the news stories he was bombarded with daily about how continued fossil fuel use would soon make the planet unliveable?

Leo gave a self-conscious sigh as he passed the cafes and restaurants that lined the block beside him. All of these frustrations had been enough to make him scream and pull several books off his bedroom bookshelf onto the floor the day before. The noise had been enough to make Margaret, his landlord, come up to check on him. For Leo, who took pride in being calm and composed, the outburst filled him with shame. Perhaps that was why, when Margaret asked if he was okay, his reply had been “Yeah. I’m just really not having a good week.”

Margaret, as she often was, was too busy with housekeeping matters to talk to Leo for long, but she did ask if there was anyone he would want her to call. Since he couldn’t think of any way anyone he knew could fix his problems though, Leo had answered simply “No. I’ll be alright.”

As he sidestepped a large flowerpot in front of a restaurant, Leo felt yet another difficult thought creeping back into his mind. It wasn’t like any of his old school friends would have time to listen to his problems anyway. They were all too busy raising kids or working full-time jobs. Leo shook his head, feeling too tired to be angry anymore.

He had decided that the best thing he could do was to look for ways to take his mind off his life’s obstacles. That was why he was headed to his destination, coming into sight now, as he usually did on Friday afternoons. Cookies & Crafts, the craft cafe run by his older friend Sandy and her wife Mable. Leo usually found that indulging in one of their gourmet hot chocolates and a couple of cookies made his day more pleasant. He was willing to bet that the hot chocolate and cookies at least wouldn’t be too busy for him.

As Leo drew closer to Cookies & Crafts front patio, he noticed something unusual. Sandy was sitting at a table near the patio’s centre with a mug of tea, instead of being at her usual post at the counter inside. What was more, it looked as though she was waiting for him.

She smiled as he approached the table. “Hey Leo.”

“Hey Sandy.” Leo replied, putting a jovial tone into his voice with effort. “I’m not used to seeing you taking a break at this time.”

Sandy nodded and said “I thought I’d do things a bit differently for your weekly visit today.” She gestured at the table and Leo noticed, for the first time, a gourmet hot chocolate, prepared just the way he liked it, sitting on the side opposite Sandy. He also noticed a plate of cookies and pastries in the table’s centre, and that the table’s opposite chair was turned outward, as if it were just waiting for him to sit down.

“I figured it would be nice to take some time off to share some treats with you, while you talk about whatever you want.” Sandy continued.

Although the gesture made Leo feel a bit happier, he still looked at Sandy with some confusion.

“Is this for an occasion?” he asked.

“Well,” Sandy answered. “I got a call from your landlord yesterday. She told me that she thought you could use someone to talk to.”

Leo felt his happiness falter slightly. Of course. He probably should have expected this. Sandy was, after all, one of the emergency contacts he’d given his landlord.

After a long pause went by, Leo said slowly “Well, if you want to talk about my problems, I don’t know how talking about them is going to fix them. And they’ve already been on my mind a lot lately anyway.”

Sandy shrugged. “I said you could talk about whatever you want.” she replied.

Leo looked at Sandy, then down at the chair sitting expectantly in front of him. Another long moment went by as he thought about it. Then he reached out, pulled out the chair, and sat down.