"Lucy Goodman, why didn't you come to my office this week?" Dr. Robertson's cheerful and relaxed voice came through the line, without a trace of frustration or anger in it, "I thought you were going to come and I waited for you all afternoon! When we meet, you owe me a coffee for standing me up."
"How about tomorrow? Are you free?" I replied. "I’ve got some things I need to discuss with you."
The next afternoon, I arrived at the café thirty minutes in advance than we agreed on. As so happened the Sunshine High School across the street was on the break. The students in uniform in groups of two or three were gossiping about celebrities and complaining about their teachers. I overheard their chatter and thought of something I’d once heard, when life gets tough, we start to long for the past.
This café used to be a simple breakfast joint. Back in high school, I ran into Jack here twice. The first time, it was shortly after I started school and I saw him surrounded by a group of students. It felt like I was watching a monkey in a zoo.