FLASH FICTION : SECOND PLACE

Arthur Clark

Years later , Vendome would be well known the way Les Deux Magots in Paris had been well known in its day , for the writers and artists that gathered there . That would come after Vincent had retired and was elderly and scarcely went to the café anymore . When he walked into Vendome on this particular December afternoon , a Wednesday , it was a popular place but not renowned .

He stood in line to order a coffee and thought about the mistake he had made six months ago . You couldn ’ t make more than one mistake like that in a lifetime . A chance to change everything and he hadn ’ t seen it . Once the door closes , you realize what you ’ ve lost and you look for another chance , but it ’ s never the same . “ Just a large cup of black coffee ,” he said . “ Dark roast if you have it .”

The light coming in through the west window was too bright with the late afternoon sun . He found a table in the larger room on the east side and sat down on the long bench against the wall and took off his coat . The table to his right wasn ’ t taken but a young couple sat at the next one . At another table , near the window that looked out on Second Avenue , two young men were absorbed in a game of chess .

Emptiness . That was what he felt . He placed his hands around the ceramic mug of black coffee and thought about what he was going to do .

“ So what are we going to do ?” the young man at the second table to his right asked . There was tension in his voice . The young woman was very pretty . She was lifting a spoonful of soup to her lips and at first she didn ’ t respond . “ What are we going to do ?” the young man repeated .

She answered in a voice so soft that Vincent only heard the word “ closure .”

“ But now I ’ m asking you to marry me ,” the young man said . He wasn ’ t eating . His hands were folded in front of him , very tight as if he were trying to control them .

“ David , you know I would have married you ,” the young woman said . “ Things are different now .” She had raised her voice enough that Vincent had heard what she said . “ Has he asked you ?” Again the young woman ’ s voice was almost inaudible . The young man looked down at his hands , then away , toward the window . Suddenly he stood up , very deliberately , and took the coat from the back of his chair and walked out . One of the patrons who had been sitting across the narrow room from the young couple looked up from her laptop as he left , but no one else seemed to notice . It was , Vincent thought , as if Icarus had fallen from the sky into the sea and there were people on the shore who saw it but did not think it was important .

He avoided looking directly at the young woman but glanced toward the window where the two young men were playing chess . Then he looked back at his coffee . He wanted to finish it now and go home .

Years ago , he remembered , he had been a good chess player . The game had rescued him from the shadows that passed across that time of his life . It had been years since he ’ d thought about it . At this moment , just for a moment , the chessboard again seemed a playing field . Momentarily his mind took flight . The emptiness filled up with the knights , the bishops , the queen , the pleasures of strategy on the sixty‐four squares . Control the centre . Bring the knights out before the bishops . Don ’ t bring your queen out

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