The campus bells could be heard from the coffeehouse that autumn day, a total of three chimes. Maxwell sat there while looking out the window impatiently. The waitress continued to try and persuade him to try one of their complimentary pastries they were handing out that day, mentioning that it might, as she put it, ‘make him feel better.’ Maxwell couldn’t help but laugh when she came by for the third attempt.

“Listen, Doll, are you trying to poison me or something? Or is your boss just getting really desperate for you to get rid of the shelf goods before 4?” Maxwell asked in a rather curt tone.

The waitress grew red in the face and stormed off to the back and was heard throughout the restaurant as she expressed her feelings about Maxwell, “He’s always like this! Every day! I swear the man can’t take anything that he doesn’t pay for, as if freebies are a crime or something? Do I always have to offer samples to that man?”

Maxwell smirked and mentally checked off his daily task of pissing off a waitress for the day. A moment later the door swung open and with it came two things: a portion of the storm from outside and a gentleman who looked to be in his mid-twenties. Maxwell looked the man directly in the eyes and motioned for him to sit down next to him.

“You’re late,” Maxwell said plainly.

The man chose not to say anything and proceeded to take off his coat and set it on the back of his chair. Maxwell, phased, decided it best to hail the waitress. A new waitress came out promptly with a forced smile on her face till she saw the gentleman in the company of Maxwell.

“Oh, Mr. Cooper, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you in here! What can I get for you today?” The waitress asked, almost in a bubbly manner.

Mr. Cooper looked into her eyes mournfully, “Ahh, just the usual, Jenny.”

Jenny prodded, “Mr. Cooper, what is wrong?”

“The usual, Jenny, please,” Mr. Cooper repeated. Jenny left hesitantly to prepare the drinks.

Maxwell was staring out the window when Cooper looked back to him, “It’s really coming down out there, isn’t it, John? I haven’t seen a storm like this for some time.”

John looked terrible and Maxwell knew it without even giving him a second glance. After a moment Maxwell spoke up again, “...I haven’t seen you like this for some time either, what is wrong?”

Just as Maxwell turned to look John in the face, John took his turn staring out the window, “...I’ve never liked the rain, you know that, nor have I ever liked Tuesdays.”

“Yes, but you’ve never told me why...” Maxwell was hoping that today John would really open up to him, that this dark past could be brought to light.

John turned and received his coffee emotionless but with the courtesy of a thank you. He continued to look out that window as the storm seemed to worsen, finally saying, “I don’t feel like talking about it.”

Maxwell, in the past, would have let it alone after that, but after so many years, he wanted to know, he wasn’t going to play the uncaring role this time. He continued, “John, I’ve known you for five years now, maybe it’s time you tell me about this.”

John looked Maxwell in the eyes and was about to say, ‘I said I don’t want to talk about it’ but realized that he was tired, tired of running away from his problems and burying them in the deep recesses of his heart. If he couldn’t talk to Maxwell about this, he wouldn’t talk to anyone about it, ever. Maxwell smiled warmly, hoping desperately that this was a good sign. John took a sip of his coffee and sighed.

“Well, it was three years ago...back in our prime, y’know? I was so full of life then, such a reckless man, when I think about it I wonder what happened...do you remember Elizabeth Grey? That girl with a smile that could knock a guy right off his feet? I think of her every now and then...especially on days like these. I sometimes wonder if I loved her or not or if it was just an infatuation. Anyways, you remember how much time I used to spend with her? What I never told you was that I loved every minute of it; even when she didn’t even acknowledge I was there, I was at peace just being there by her side.”

The mid-hour bell began to chime then and John was smiling a little while reminiscing. Maxwell gave a quick sharp look at Jenny who was obviously eavesdropping, sending her off promptly.

Maxwell, a little flustered, pleaded, “Please, continue.”

“Well do you remember Mark? I never put two and two together with that kid nor thought much about his goals and dreams. I always saw him as just another one of ‘us’, one of the guys. I never knew that he and Elizabeth would end up together and I was in denial over the whole matter for quite some time. It wasn’t till that day a couple years back that as I was walking to my car, I saw the two of them in each others’ arms, kissing each other. That’s when I knew.”

“It was raining that day...wasn’t it?” Maxwell said quietly.

“Yes it was...and it was a Tuesday,” John said, being rather stirred with pain at the mention of Tuesday.

“So since then I’ve never felt the same way...I guess that is something I should just accept. I mean now I’m getting so involved with Rebecca, I don’t know how she feels about me, but I hope we feel the same for each other. I just...” John paused and looked out the window again.

Maxwell was hooked, “You just what?”

“I just don’t know if I’m ready to give Rebecca my heart yet, I still desire a relationship with Elizabeth Grey. It’s not even that I desire her love anymore, but her friendship...I want to restore that friendship before I do anything else. If I can’t even patch up a friendship, how would I be able to maintain a good dating relationship? I just don’t know where to begin.”

“You could begin with, ‘hello’, it’s a novel idea I know...but it is just that simple, you need to get in contact with her again, re-establish that friendship,” Maxwell said with a smile.

John cringed, “You say it so matter-of-factly, it isn’t so easy for me to do, Max. It never has been.”

Maxwell leaned closer over the table, put his hand on John’s shoulder and said, “Prove to me that you still are that reckless man who was so full of life.”

“You’re right...why did I never tell you about this? I’ve wasted years of my life that could have been spent in the friendship of Elizabeth,” John said silently.

Maxwell grabbed one of the remaining two sample pastries off Jenny’s tray as she walked by, to her great surprise, and took a bite into it. Jenny ran off to the back to report this phenomena to the rest. Maxwell, practically falling out of his chair with laughter replied, “Oh John, you haven’t wasted your life, your life has been full of so many new experiences, now is your time to catch up and bring more to the table as it were that you now possess.”

“Like that Danish, Max?” John said with a warm smile.

John got up and put his coat on, causing Maxwell to speak up, “You’re leaving? It’s a mess out there.”

“It’s just another Tuesday...that’s all and I have a lot to do before this day is up,” and with that, John Cooper left.