Waiting in the Rain

Chapter 2

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

Copter's POV

My condo unit was so insulated that I was not aware that it was raining hard outside. I did not hear the raindrops falling on the cement outside my unit.

I wasted precious time having to go back to my unit from the shared car ports and changing into warmer clothes. I also wasted precious time looking for an umbrella. I knew that I had an umbrella somewhere but I could not recall where I had stuffed it in.

Finally after what seemed an eternity, I found the danged umbrella inside one corner of one of my closets.

I quickly fished it out and ran back to the car port where my car was parked.

I hoped that by the time I reached the 24 hour cafe, Joss would still be there waiting for me.

Thankfully, since it was way past midnight there was ample space for me to park in the mini plaza parking lot where the 24 hour cafe was located.

I quickly got out of my car after parking it, opened my umbrella and held it over my head to shelter me from the pouring rain, and started walking towards the entrance of the cafe.

Oh shit, that's Joss already walking away, his own umbrella held high over his head.

"P'Joss!" I called out in a panic.

P'Joss turned around at the sound of his name.

"Copter! Ohmygahd Cop! I thought you had changed your mind!" I heard him say as he quickly walked back towards the entrance of the cafe.

"I'm sorry for being late," I said with an apologetic smile. "Let's go inside," I invited him while closing my umbrella.

He closed his own umbrella and then opened the door of the cafe which instantly set off the sound of some chimes.

He held the door open for me. I stepped inside and deposited my dripping wet umbrella in the receptacle by the entrance. P'Joss did the same.

"Since I'm the one who invited you, this is going to be my treat, okay?" I told P'Joss, who at first seemed reluctant to have me pay for our orders. But I insisted so he placed his wallet back inside his pocket.

He ordered a mocha espresso and raised an eyebrow when he heard me order an Irish coffee.

"Are you sure you're old enough?" he teased me.

"Shut up," I said, frowning at him.

I ordered a Danish croissant to go with it while he ordered a cinnamon bun.

We chose a corner table far from the entrance.

"How often do you come here?" he asked me.

"Often enough that the waiter and I are on first name basis," I replied.

As if on cue, the waiter arrived with our coffee and pastries.

"Here's your usual, Cop," the waiter said to me, placing my order of Irish coffee and a plate bearing my order of Danish croissant in front of me.

I smiled my thanks to Billkin, the owner's son. Billkin helped out at his father's cafe when he was not too busy with his university studies.

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

After Billkin set down P'Joss' order of mocha espresso and cinnamon bun in front of him, I asked Billkin, "How many more years before you earn your degree?"

"Two," he replied with a smile.

"Billkin, this is my friend P'Joss," I introduced P'Joss to Billkin. "P'Joss, this is Billkin. He's the son of the owner of this cafe."

P'Joss extended his hand to Billkin saying, "Nice to meet you."

Billkin accepted P'Joss hand saying, "My pleasure" before turning to me and asking, "Kimmon was not available tonight?"

I was not expecting Billkin to ask me that question. I got tongue tied and could not answer right away.

In the meantime, P'Joss was looking at me intently, waiting for me to say something.

"I ... I ... he ..." my cheeks were getting warm as I tried to stammer an explanation to Billkin for P'Kim's absence tonight.

"I'm sorry," Billkin said right away as if sensing my discomfort. "It's not my place to ask."

"Oh no, no, no, don't worry about it," I hastened to say to Billkin, but still unable to come up with a plausible excuse for P'Kim's absence.

This was my first date with P'Joss and I did not want to mar it with a story about my recent breakup with P'Kim and how I badly needed someone like P'Joss to mend my broken heart.

I learned a lot about P'Joss during the short time that I spent with him at the cafe. It turned out that we had a lot of things in common. We shared so many interests that it made me want to see him again.

I did not want our meeting to end but it was half past three in the morning and the whisky in the Irish coffee was now starting to make me feel sleepy.

"Excuse me," I said to P'Joss and stood up to go to the cashier to pay for our orders.

Instead of taking my credit card that I was trying to hand over to the cashier, the cashier took out a piece of folded stationery and handed it to me saying, "Billkin told me to give this note to you."

I opened the note. On it was written "Tonight's orders are on the house. Next time that Kimmon is not available, call me. I make a better substitute than that current date of yours."

What the fuck, Billkin. What in bloody hell.

Was his question about Kimmon's absence earlier intended to make P"Joss feel uncomfortable?

Was it just a coincidence that every time I came to this cafe, Billkin was the one who came to serve at my table or was Billkin up to something?