Coffee for one

One of my favourite episodes of Sex and the City was when Carrie decided that she would be brave and go to a cafe, not take a book, not take a newspaper, not have the usual protection of dining alone, and just sit. Sit and watch the world go by. I think it was supposed to be a statement about how doing stuff that you would normally do in groups or with your partner was also okay to do alone. I used this mantra a lot when I was a singleton and was often found at the cinema on my own, reading a book in a coffee shop alone, even being really brave and eating lunch alone. This element of singleton life has quite comfortably transferred to couple-ton life and I still go to the cinema alone sometimes, still eat lunch alone, and definitely am often to be found in a coffee shop on my own. 

Just like this evening in fact. Due to the incident we shall call "fracture" I've been relying on other peeps to get me to and from work. My lovely pop has been driving me to work and Wavey has been picking me up from work. I get there really early as my dad picks me up early (how come I can't do this when I take myself? Good question) and I get picked up later as Wavey has to come from his work first. For all of the week I've been staying behind 5pm when everyone normally leaves, carrying on with my work and adding it all to my flexi sheet. But it's made me feel a wee bit grumpy. I am so an out of the door at 5pm leaving the work behind kinda gal. All this staying behind malarkey is very out of character for me. 

Today at lunchtime (alone in the staffroom) I was struck by an idea! Why not finish work early, take my very good book and myself to a coffee shop and while away the hour until Wavey came to pick me up. Genius! Why hadn't this occurred to me earlier in the week? Dur! And you know what? It was heaven. The place was totally deserted, I had the squidgy sofa all to myself, my latte was just on the right side of strong, and my book as previously mentioned is rather bloody good and has me hooked to get to the end. 

Maybe it sounds a bit twee but I think this kind of alone time is a precious thing to be enjoyed whenever you need it. I really needed to not be stuck in the office til way after 5, saying goodbye to everyone and feeling downcast that I was still there. No tv to be distracted by, the music was playing quietly in the background. It truly was the perfect atmosphere to curl up, elevate one's foot, and enjoy the quiet solitude that a good book and a great cup of coffee can bring.