12.28.25: The Coffee Shop Fake Out

You see an empty table at a crowded coffee shop. Your heart lifts. You approach, already mentally setting up your laptop. Then you notice the jacket on the chair. The half-empty cup. The cord plugged into the outlet. Someone's been here. Someone's coming back. You retreat, scanning for other options, trying not to look desperate. There are no other options. You stand awkwardly holding your drink, watching the door, waiting for whoever claimed this territory to return and release it. They never do. That jacket will sit there for three hours. This is modern warfare.