A Coffee in the Bookshop

by Dilys Court

There are acres of books, on every subject you can think of, surrounding us in Borders' Bookshop coffee bar. We are five teachers, one still working and four retired, who meet occasionally, pot of tea for two please, two cappucino and one cafe au lait please. The coffee smells lovely, in big thick bowls of different colours. There is nobody else around except the assistant, because it's only just 10.30 a.m. and bitterly cold outside.

We compare Christmases. "I started throwing up on Christmas morning and by Boxing Day Richard had it too," and grandchildren, "and Dennis is looking after the twins by himself for twenty-four hours because I'm singing in the Messiah and he says what's the fuss about, I just get on with it." Margery's house improvements continued until December, "the central heating and electricity is off and we'll have tea in the bedroom with our hot water bottles."

We all wear reduced price clothing, trousers and warm sweaters in muted colours, and Rachel gets teased because her scarf says Harrods. Jane was widowed recently but her daughter will be married in April so that's something happy to discuss. Eleanor looks cold. Maybe we should not have chosen a table by the picture window. Two young men arrive outside with long window cleaning implements and they soap and wipe a huge area of glass in a few seconds, but the conversation doesn't stop, by now we've moved on to whether Britain should adopt the Euro, and everyone admires Rachel's new Euro coins.

After an hour and a half Jean has to go, so we fix a date for next time at the Italian Restaurant, "but I can't eat pasta, I hope they have something else." By now there are a few people scattered round the coffee bar. We drift out slowly through the books.