Auburn Ivy runs away from her problems even if it means running away from her family, friends and familiar life. Anthony Kroff is a footballer on the rise but is lonely and lost in the new city he finds himself in. Their lives would have never inte...
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0.0 |prologue: when hit by a wayward egg|
In one of the many side-streets of the city of Madrid there stood one indistinguishable, drab-looking coffee shop. Sabah Taqvi might have never even passed its red, overhanging blinds that decorated the meticulously washed windows if it hadn't been in desperate, nearly hopeless search of a story. She might have yet passed the coffee shop with its fading, gold lettered dark wooden sign that said, "Carlotta's Coffee Shop" if it wasn't for the egg that came soaring out of nowhere.
If you have ever had the misfortune to feel an egg slam into your temple you can skip this paragraph but for those who haven't had the experience-it hurts, like hell. And it breaks, dripping onto your hair, your face and probably on your favourite navy-blue t-shirt too.
"You come back, you little-" a stout, middle-aged woman ran out and threw two more, awfully off-shot eggs at the fast retreating forms of two children. "Come back and take off these posters. Come back!" After using her fluent vocabulary of swears, she finally caught sight of the egg-covered girl on the pavement. "Oh my God! Did I do that? I'm sorry though its your own fault, you know. Standing in the way of my shot like that. Anyway, come along. I'll help clean that up. Come in, come in."
Sabah wiped her face with her sleeve and said apologetically, slowly, carefully, "Could you go a bit slo-owly on that? My Spanish is not good."
The woman grunted and repeated herself, this time in accented but understandable English.
You really cannot refuse someone like Carlotta no matter how much you say you'll manage it on your own and so, fifteen minutes later Sabah found herself sitting on one of the counter stools, hair and face clean. Her clothes still smelled of egg but she could do nothing about them as Carlotta had asked her to stay put, while insisting on making her a cup of Carlotta's coffee special. And so, Sabah had nothing to do but sit and take in her surroundings, her right foot taping continuously on the stool rung, reminding her that time was ticking away.
But she quickly forgot about time, like she always did, when confronted with beauty that other people often overlooked. The shop was simple and lovely. There were white metal chairs and tables around her, kept spotlessly clean. The sun flitted in through at some places, lighting up the otherwise morbid grey tiles. A half-torn poster on the outside irregularly blocked a shaft of light that would have illuminated a dusty flowerpot kept near the entrance.
"Here I brought you some paprika crackers too," Carlotta placed the cup of coffee and plate in front of Sabah.
"Oh you needn't have-"
Carlotta waved a hand, "I just sprinkle paprika flakes on ready-made crackers and they're free, so no sweat." She pointed at the mini-blackboard near the counter-Free Paprika Crackers To Celebrate Special Occasion!-written in at least three different languages.
"What's the special occasion?" asked Sabah with a friendly smile.
"It's a long story. You probably don't have the time," Carlotta shrugged, wiping her hands on her apron.
Sabah's eyes shined at hearing the word 'story', "I could do with a long story. I have the time." She clasped her hands and made a beseeching face.
Carlotta had been in the act of getting up but Sabah's enthusiasm, her friendly tone, her words stopped her mid-way. She sat back slowly, this time with a smile of her own, "Okay, if you say so." She took a deep breath and leaned in closer, her eyes reflecting Sabah's excitement, "Have you ever fallen in love?"
***
Hey, everyone! This is a new story so I'm dying to get some feedback. Tell me if you like it, what parts you like and all. Thanks and stay tuned, I swear it only gets better. You're going to love it. If you do like it, don't forget to vote, comment, share and add to your library to stay up to date with the chapters. Lots of love and coffee x
