He had not eaten at the Spar Café for a while as he stepped inside the dining restaurant. Taking in the casual atmosphere the café offers he walked past the tobacco merchant, and into an alcove of booths segregated for smoking. A large window offered a view of Fourth Avenue opposite the tobacco merchant. A counter formed a u-shape, extending back to where the Highclimber Lounge was.
Taking a seat in a booth for two people, he pulled over the ashtray and lights up a cigarette, tossing the deck of smokes onto the table. As he took a long drag of the cigarette, a college age waitress approached his table. A petite lady with blond curly hair down to her shoulders, wearing the standard green apron, a white cotton shirt slightly unbuttoned. Her face was round, cherub like, attractive as her eyes captivated him with their warm emerald color.
“Would you like something to drink?” she asked politely. Her voice was soft and cool, very friendly.
“Yeah, that would be great.” Jaymes replied, flicking the ashes from his cigarette into the ashtray. He swallowed hard, battling the emotions. For a moment, he caught a glimpse of Ellyn smiling back at him. Shaking her image from his mind, he attempted to relax. The waitress reappeared with his coffee and set it on the table before him along with a glass of artesian well water. The Spar Café was one of few establishments that serve this kind of water, for downtown Olympia is built over an artesian well. She was ready to set a small dish of creamer with a spoon in front of him, but he politely waved it away. “Anything else?” she asked him.
“I may order something in a little bit,” he said, smiling slightly, though he could tell it was a very weak smile.
Before paying homage to Jakes on Fourth Avenue, Jaymes had always loved coming to the Spar Café, Olympia’s oldest establishment, having first opened its doors in 1935. When it first had opened, it was a pool hall and tavern and eventually became a café with great food.
Looking around the dark wood walls, Jaymes paused, taking in each photograph. Some of the photographs were of men working, logging, trains, pictures of the Spar Café as a pool hall, old photos with men and women staring back at him with ghostly vacant eyes. A chill climbed his spine as he took a drink of the coffee. One of the other reasons he loved coming to the Spar Café was the fact that it occasionally had its own haunting.
Picking up the menu, Jaymes looked over the selection and decided on a simple menu selection. The same waitress came by and noticed he was ready to order as he set aside the menu. Taking the empty seat across from him, she held her pen carelessly in her right hand, the ticket pad she used to jot down customers orders turned almost parallel to her body.
“I hope you don’t mind, been on my feet all day long.” She winked at him, her chin resting in her left palm as her slender arm supported the weight of her head, her elbow pressing into the table.
“Not at all.” He felt a sense of betrayal in the pit of his stomach as he found himself sitting here with a young attractive lady. “I’m just going to have the bacon cheeseburger and fries,” he said. Watching her quickly write down his order he handed her the menu when she stood up, pocketing the ticket book and pen. She winked, and flashed him a flirtatious smile before turning and disappearing from his table.
Taking a drink of coffee, he enjoyed the rich flavor of the unique blend that was specific to the Spar Café. Setting aside the cup, he finished the cigarette and promptly lit up another. Closing his eyes, he savored the bitter hot liquid of coffee along with the toxic fumes of his smoke. His mind clearing from the stupor he was abruptly awakened from earlier. Within several minutes, the waitress returned with a plate and positioned it in front of him and set a bottle of ketchup and mustard on the table.
“Enjoy.” She then turned gracefully, like a ballerina does, on the balls of her feet Looking at the plate of food in front him, he picked up a French fry and placed a small narrow line of ketchup on its length. As famished as he felt earlier, he couldn’t finish the plate as the waitress came by and picked it up, exchanging it with the ticket stub. She disappeared and then reappeared with another fresh pot of coffee, refilling his cup.
“Let me know if there is anything you need.” She tapped the table and hurried over to tend to a couple ladies that had seated themselves at a table further down in the alcove of the smoking section.
Cupping his hands around the warm ceramic cup, he leaned back in the seat, propping his feet up on the empty chair across from him and allows his memory to work. Ellyn’s image coming to mind. Ellyn was working that rainy day on a late Sunday afternoon. It had been six months since he had seen her, or even spoken with her. Recollecting that day when he had come downtown to meet the landlord and sign the paperwork for his apartment. She was busy with the Sunday crowd of the church goers when he had taken a seat at the same booth he now sits in.
At first, she had not recognized him, and he had not recognized her. When their eyes had met, the spark of recognition catching both of them off guard, he recalled the sensual passion her eyes had always carried when he would look into their depths.
“Refill?” the young waitress asked, interrupting his reverie.
“Yes, please,” Jaymes replied softly, pushing his cup over to the edge.
“Everything alright?” she asked curiously. Jaymes didn’t know if she was picking up his emotions, or if it was simply a question she always asked.
“No, I’m…just…having a bad day I guess,” he lied. Taking a quick drink of coffee.
“We all have had bad days, hope it gets better for you., she said, patting his hand nonchalantly. She then left him to his own thoughts. His mind recalling that rainy Sunday again, Ellyn wearing a white button down shirt, her hair was shoulder length at that time, dark roots with some blond, but mainly copper toned and with long curls. He couldn’t help but to gaze upon her for several moments. And every time she would turn to look in his direction, he would divert his gaze. Finally, she approached his table.
“Why do you keep staring at me?” she questioned. Her voice still tender and smooth. She was kneeling down with both hands holding onto the table, keeping her from falling backwards. The memory played out like a movie, slowly at first, then fast, pausing occasionally as if someone is playing with some hidden remote control. He recalled that she was agitated and nervous seeing him there.
“Just admiring beauty, El,” he remembered saying to her, their conversation coming back to him as if it was not even yesterday. He caught the young waitress off guard and realized he must have said it aloud enough for her to hear.
“What was that you said?” she asked curiously, finishing his cup.
“Oh! Sorry, was just remembering something that happened some years ago here. This place brings back some memories.” Sighing, he pulled out another cigarette from his pack and lit up. His conversation with Ellyn still lingering in the back of his mind as the waitress left him alone.
“I thought you stopped coming here?” Ellyn had pressed.
“I just wanted to come in and get something to eat and have some coffee. Besides, I had left town and am now moving back. Why are you working here and not Jakes on Fourth?” he had asked.
“I can’t really talk right now, Jay.” She was nervous, scared seeing him there.
“I would like to see you again, El,” he remembered telling her.” I would like to talk with you, too…” He paused as he took in those eyes he loved looking into. “Here.” He pulled out a pen and paper and jotted down his number. “Please call me El, I miss you.”
“I can’t see you Jay, I promised….” She sucked in some air slightly, stood and looked around for a moment, she had turned back to him.
“I promised my husband that I would no longer have anything to do with you.” She then turned, disappearing behind the saloon style doors separating the kitchen from the counter where customers reside.
“You know, you shouldn’t smoke,” the waitress said, interrupting his thoughts.
“Nasty habit, I agree. But we all have our little sins,” he responded as he lifted the cup of coffee to his lips and takes a drink. His recollection of Ellyn fading quickly.
“Are you new here?” she asked, trying to place Jaymes’s face among those she sees on a continual basis.
“Not really, used to come here all the time though, years ago.” He wanted to be polite, but she seemed familiar to him and he could not place her face. She is probably young enough to be my daughter, he commented to himself as he caught himself staring into the depths of her emerald eyes.
“Are you planning on returning to visit?” she asked. She then took a quick scan of the tables under her jurisdiction for the day. “I’m new here, just started working a couple weeks ago.”
“You like it here?” Jaymes asked, attempting to keep the conversation on safe ground, but the familiarity would not let go its hold on him.
“I do, the people are great, interesting mix, and I love this area.” She offered a playful smile.
“It’s a pretty good area.” Jaymes pauses for a moment. “I should probably get going here,” he said, pulling his wallet from his pocket and laying out money for the tab.
“Thank you…” She paused.
“Keep the change…” Jaymes turned and for a moment debated within himself. “By the way, your name is?” he asked as he turned back around.
“Dakota.”
“Dakota?” He mulled over the name for a moment. A knot forming in the pit of his stomach, one that he had not had for many years.
“Yes, Dakota?” She noticed the expression on Jaymes’s face. “You okay?” Jaymes had to sit back down.
“Your mother…she wouldn’t happen to be Lacey McQuire would she?” Jaymes asked, tensing, hoping the answer would not be what he expected.
“Yes…how do you know my mother?” Dakota asked, sitting across from him. The spark of recognition hitting him full force.
“The…uh…last time…I…uh…saw you was when you were three years old,” Jaymes stated, almost quietly. “You look so much like your mother, that’s why you looked so familiar to me.” He paused, fighting emotions. “It’s been…God…last time I saw you was when you are three? You don’t remember me do you?” he asked softly. What more could he bear? Ellyn’s death was still fresh in his mind as he stared into the shallow depths of the coffee.
“I’m sorry? I don’t know you.” Dakota could not make sense of this older gentleman. “Uh…okay…and you are?” Dakota asked curiously, trying to place him.
“Jaymes….” The voice called out from behind him. Dakota looked up and saw her mother as Jaymes stood, looking into Lacey’s eyes. Soft copper eyes, a cherubic face, and her hair shoulder length, raven in color with curls. “Is that you?” She took a seat across from him. Dakota glanced at her mother, then back toward Jaymes.
“Mom, what’s going on? Who is he?” Dakota asked, pointing at Jaymes.
“Dakota…” Lacey paused for a moment, looking over Jaymes. “I would like you to meet Jaymes. Your father.” Dakota stepped back, the coffeepot falling from her hands and exploding upon impact once it crashes against the thin carpeted floor.
“My father?”
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