The Last Hoorah

It was quarter to six when they met. They decided on the coffee shop close to the University where they first met. Daniel had been particularly emphatic on taking Sophie to dinner until she called him an hour before and said that she had not been feeling well all day. He had his suspicions. He didn't know what this meant but he had his suspicions. It was a brisk autumn evening. As he set out from his parents house the sun was finally setting. It would be an half-hour, potentially twenty minute drive, all depending on traffic. He debated on whether or not he would smoke a cigarette. Daniel was to call her when he was exactly five minutes from their choice destination, so as to best synchronize their arrival, though, she would nonetheless be early. He saw her car in the parking lot. He smiled. He would keep smiling until she would become visible through the windows. She wouldn't meet his expression. She may see him out of the corner of her eye. She may see him but not give recognition. He was uneasy. He didn't know why he was uneasy, but he certainly was uneasy. He couldn't check his step. He would walk into the coffee shop. The sun would continue it's trek westwards. The day would continue its decline. The sun receding into the horizon. Just evening clouds, there would be no stars that night. Evening clouds which gave the night as amorphous and shapeless. The cold evening and the amorphous and shapeless clouds obscured the suggestion. Daniel was smiling. Seeing her again made him happy. It reminded him of the last they had met. It had been June. As they embraced one another in the coffee shop, June, the seasons tumbling backwards in descending order. As she let him go she went to order her drink. Sophie knew the cashier. They were friends and he smiled as he watched her envelop him as she does everyone. All or nothing, and when they had received their drinks Daniel soon realized that he hadn't paid. That excused, Commerce excused for the moment as there were more important things to consider. They took their seats, they had found a corner which to keep out of sight, she had taken a seat on a couch that fit two and had placed herself on the side closest to the table in the corner. Daniel seated on an armchair perpendicular to her seat, and placed his drink on the same table. They were arms length from one other. How would she respond to this provocation?It was in June in which they had first kissed. It was in her eyes that night, it was in her eyes tonight. It was in her smile. The wincing before arched lips concave appeared a grin. It was pain in her eyes. It was that shame. He remembered after she first told him she loved him she left. They were alone. They needed to be alone. It was their time and they needed to be alone. Sophie asked him once what he would have thought of her if she killed someone. She told her mother what had happened but she didn't tell her father. There had been a storm that night in June, and though it had been hot, a frivolous June heat, soon after the storm the breeze had been cold, and the air would be dry after the rain. They held each other for as long as they could, and kissed every inch of exposed skin. He kissed her neck, forehead, etc. He put his arms around her stomach, felt with his palms, her up and down breath. He felt her. He told her that night they were having an affair. This was in June. The spring and summer had passed. They were always silent together, or spoke nothing very serious. There was always something that kept them quiet. That was June, but tonight they still didn't speak. Daniel told her two weeks prior that he was leaving for Michigan. He had wanted to take her to dinner. He wasn't ready to go, and she appeared to want him to stay. They were making plans. They both finished their drinks, and the heat in the coffee shop became oppressive. The Crowd meandering and loitering , the noise rising and falling. Their corner had been ransacked.
"Do you want to go outside?" he asked. She readily consented. She reminded him that she would have to leave. She couldn't stay long. She never stayed long. They took their seats on a stray wire frame table left out to weather. The sky was black. The autumn cold was a momentary relief.
"What happened Soph?" He asked again. He had repeatedly asked her. She laughed her painful laugh and smiled her painful smile.
"I had a party...The people I fell in with were no good..." She murmured. That was it, and that was all he could get. She couldn't give anymore.
"What do you want out of life Sophie? Where do you want to go? What do you want to see?" He asked. She laughed. She winced then laughed. She hesitated being more or less content with where she was, her eyes reflected a slow pain, but she was more or less content. She sat up from the wire frame table, and they both began walking to her car. She put her back against her driver side door and he embraced her and held her hard. He kissed her. A kiss that suggested more than what was given. He kissed her down her neck, and felt her breasts against his chest, he could feel her heavy bated breath, he didn't want to let go, but she had told him earlier she didn't feel well, and she was motioning her hands up and down his arms, she couldn't let him go, but she didn't have anymore time.
"Where did you park? Away from me?" She asked, laughing to herself. They both parted from each other under the assumption that they were to do this more often before he left. Daniel never saw Sophie again.