Under The Oak Tree Coffee Novels & Stories

I think he understood I needed this even more than I realized. We parked outside this little family-owned coffee and pastry spot that overlooked Clearidge park and the pond. I’d always thought the place looked adorable but never made it inside over the years. The second we stepped through the door, the rich smell of fresh-roasted coffee and the sugary scent of baked goods hit me and lifted my spirits right away.

None of them were like their parents. “Magda, I am having dinner with my mom later this afternoon. There is a coffee shop about a block from the shopping center you are at. They have the best coffee in the state. It’s a shop where they support fair trade coffee and do partnerships with impoverished countries to support women in industry. It’s my mother’s favorite coffee shop and I often come here to get her coffee before I get to her place. I am here now actually. Occasionally, I like to get out of the office and away from the constant parade of people coming to my door and since I was going to Mama’s I stopped here to work for a bit. If you’re willing and feeling a bit brave,” he teased, “t

I looked at Jade smiling brightly at Cleo and realized in time, we may have exactly what they have together, maybe something even better. “Elliott, this coffee is FANTASTIC!” Jade declared after taking a timid sip while Cleo chatted her ear off as we walked through the main entrance to the mall. “Oh, Elliott ordered his basic bitch coffee for you?” Cameron winked at me and I slapped him upside the head. “What a manly hit from someone who actually ordered a pumpkin spice latte a few weeks ago.” “I’m sorry I don’t drink gross bean water like you two! Who orders black coffee from Starbucks?!”

I never heard from her again after we graduated college, and I’m glad. She’s the first person I’ve met who would brag about having a sugar daddy. I mean, I’m not against it, maybe they really do love each other. But why does she have to belittle and look down on others, especially students? I hung out at a nearby coffee shop to calm down my irritation. I didn’t choose the wrong place to enter. The atmosphere around me was relaxing. There’s a large tree in the middle of the café, clearly older than the establishment itself, and instead of cutting it down, they incorporated it into the design, which made the place feel more homely and relaxing.

Lila The café is tucked into the corner of a brownstone lined street, half hidden under a faded green awning that reads Sparrow & Finch in tiny gold letters. It smells like cinnamon and roasted espresso the second I step inside warm and grounding. Like the kind of place you come to feel human again. Nick’s already there. He’s seated at a corner table, a mug between his hands, scrolling something on his phone. He looks up just as I walk in, and that same crooked smile breaks across his face unpracticed, unpolished, real.

But every year, at the same time, one of her comrades delivered a pack of shortbread cookies. At 60, I taught my final class. Before the bell rang, I looked out toward the hillside. A flourishing willow tree stood there. My son lay beneath it. "Cyrus, Dad misses you." —The End

I went to the kitchen first. I poured a cup. I stood at the counter and drank half of it, looking out the window at the garden. The morning was grey. The oak tree at the far end was doing what it did in the early morning, which was exist with the particular patience of something that had been standing in the same place for a very long time and had no intention of moving. I finished the coffee. I rinsed the cup. I walked to the sitting room. They were all there.

She offers, somehow already being able to notice my nervous tells. “That sounds great, could we also get iced coffee? I am exhausted.” I ask, not wanting to be rude. Olive assures me that coffee was already part of the plan in the town. We enter Nightnorth territory and she drives towards the town, we eventually find a parking space on the side of the road. Getting out of the car, Olive walks in the direction of the café that I went to with William the first time I came into the town. We open the door as just as last time a bell chimes announcing our entrance.

I've been sleeping under a large oak tree at the end of the field behind the diner. No one ever comes back here. It's quiet and peaceful. Because of that, I've been able to make my spot into something like a home. Well, as much as one can outside under an old oak tree.