In wintertime I saw a woman in her 50s more often than not anytime I went to the cafe. Besides Sundays, I went everyday so she noticed me as well. Go to the cafe that often and you begin recognizing who comes regularly. Begin to notice out of those regulars who comes the most. 

Most people have crooked schedules. Long days of meetings and lectures on maybe say Mondays and Wednesdays, with open days on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They'll come to the cafe on the free days then. Everybody's got their own crooked schedule. So it's not uncommon to see someone often. What was uncommon about this woman was that I saw her everyday I came. 

Now this could mean two things to you. Either you're thinking that she and I had identical crooked schedules or that she just happened to be there all day, everyday. 

One my lectures was cancelled because my professor abruptly got food poisoning. Usually on such an occasion I'd just stick around my apartment and study a little bit more, but this time around curiosity beckoned me. I wanted to go to the cafe to check and see if she was there.

I didn't know what to expect. I guess I expected both. Both for her to be there and not. Neither result would've surprised me, was the thought tumbling in my head as I walked down 

Baker Ave.

with my hands tucked into my coat pockets. I couldn't think of anything else except for just the moment when I could smell the fresh

zucchini bread

floating through the air, and then all I could think about was what 

coffee

to order. 

I was thinking something special today. Class was cancelled. Wasn't that a special occasion for us students? A 

cappuccino

maybe...

I was imagining my near future-self, milk froth moustasche by the fireplace reading

Crime and Punishment

. I entered the cafe to mostly familiar faces, some new ones, and through the airwaves was

The Shins

. Everything was more or less in place for but the woman was not there. 

Maybe we did have our crooked schedules aligned. I was just a little bit distraught not to see her there, but also a bit touched at the idea of us having such a similar schedule.