A bit of a coffee shop life

by Ekaterina Levina

A few days ago I stayed late in a coffee shop. The café have local bands playing almost every night at 8 pm. I like some, I hate others. There is a schedule of performances on a door.

Around 9 pm a local musician came to play piano. He’s not listed in the schedule, and I don’t know his name. He comes to play when the mood strikes. He’s about 40, has expressive almost ugly features and long hands.
He’s my favorite pianist. I always stop doing whatever I’m doing and listen to him.
He plays classical music. He never fails to move me in some way. His piano makes beautiful, rich, velvet sound and the music is soulful.

So he played, I enjoyed and when it was my time to leave, I had this conversation with a barista:

- I LOVE how this guy plays!
- Yeah… Too bad he has a mental problem.
- ???
- He’s on medication. Sometimes he gets really gloomy and doesn’t notice anything around. I had to remind him to stop playing and to leave like five minutes before we closed, and he gave me such a look!
He’s a bit weird.
- Aren’t we all? I’m used to weird people in art.
- True…