Milk And Cardamom | S. Brown ✔

[56]

The bell on the door of the shop clanged and Isadora didn't bother looking up to see who had entered the shop. But she was startled when the entrant came straight to the counter, took the notepad from her hands and scribbled down his order.

She froze because that reminded her of her first encounter with Tim back when it had been her first day in the coffee shop. She tried to look at the person but his features were hidden from a dark hood, his hair reaching down to his shoulders but it was difficult to identify him.

He was dressed in all black from the hood pulled over his head to the boots on his feet. Even his hands were concealed in black gloves.

"Would you need anything else?" she asked, her voice slightly uncertain, but he just shook his head and went off to sit in one of the seats at the corner.

Tim's seat.

She shook the thoughts off, willing herself to focus on work instead but her mind was constantly drifting towards the uncanny resemblance that stranger bore to Tim despite the fact that she hadn't even seen his face properly.

Susan brought out the order but Dora took it from her, noting that the stranger was busy looking down at his phone. The hood concealed his features but Dora felt a striking familiarity towards him so in order to confirm, she took the order to the table herself.

She placed the cup in front of him and he looked up at her surprised. The wisps of brown hair from underneath his hood fell over his eyes but she caught the hint of striking blue and her face drained of color.

"Thank you," he took the cup and left the shop while she was still standing there, quite visibly shocked.

It was Tim, no doubt.

How and why, she did not know, but the stranger was definitely Tim. Despite the fact that it had been an year since she had last seen him, an year since he had vanished but somehow she couldn't shake off the feeling that the person she had just encountered was indeed Tim.

"Dora, are you okay?" Susan's voice shook her out of her thoughts and she nodded, coming back to the counter.

But the questions were whirring in her head constantly, the blue of his eyes seemingly haunting her. If he really was Tim, why hadn't he said anything to her? And where had he been all those months that they all thought him to be lost with no hope of being found?

If he really was Tim, she would ask all those questions then and there, but the truth was that she was not so certain about it herself.

Susan had noticed that she did not look well so she stepped in to tell Alex. And shortly after rather concerned for her Alex came out to the counter, finding Dora sitting with an unreadable expression on her face.

He gently placed his hand on her shoulder but she got startled, "hey, what happened?"

Dora looked at him for a whole minute, "can I go to my room, please? I... I have a splitting headache."

Alex nodded, "of course, do you need an aspirin or..."

"No, I just have to rest, I'll be okay."

His eyes flickered in concern but he didn't say anything and watched her climb up the stairs to her room.

After Tim, Dora's headaches and nightmares had gotten worse and it had taken Alex very long to bring her back to normal. But right then seeing the same haunted look on her face, he feared that she was relapsing.

Deciding to get done with the orders as soon as he could, he made up his mind to talk to her about it. She wasn't going to open up easily but something had definitely happened that had shaken her up badly.