special brew. | BrightWin

1.

W

I really should remember to turn the volume on my phone to maximum.

I completely overslept and now I'm scurrying all over the place to get ready. It is a really bad day to oversleep because I have clients from overseas coming to the office today, and I was put in charge of showing them around and briefing them on our company's latest project.

I quickly stuffed all the messy stacks of paper, my notebook and my iPad into my bag, not caring whether they were in order. I checked my hair one last time in the mirror, and bust out the door.

I was lucky that the taxi I called came right on time, and there were hardly traffic jams which was a miracle. I checked the time on my phone, and saw that I was on track to reaching the office on time before the clients would arrive.

"Hey, are they there already?" I said into the phone the moment I picked up the call from my work buddy, Dew. I was praying hard that they hadn't reached earlier or I'd be in hot soup.

"Calm down there. I was calling to say that they would be late by about an hour. Where are you anyway?"

"In a cab, I'm halfway there. I totally overslept."

"That's so you." Dew chuckled. "It's your lucky day then. Go grab some coffee first, I know you haven't had anything yet."

"I will. Thanks bud."

I heaved a huge sigh of relief as I hung up the call, and spent the rest of the ride catching a quick snooze.

Since I had time, I decided to walk to the shopping district nearby that had a few cafés to grab a drink. The one that I usually frequented had a ridiculously long queue for some reason, and I didn't want to waste the time waiting in line. I figured that I could just walk further down the street to see if there was another café I could go to.

If I hadn't been paying attention, I would have missed that small café with the white door in the corner. I had passed by it many times in the years I've been working here, but never really thought of stopping by so I thought, why not?

I pushed open the door and was greeted with the familiar fragrance of roasted coffee beans. The morning sun bounced off the various matching chairs and tables, which illuminated the place with a soft glow. The place was empty.

"Good morning, what would you like to have?"

A gentle voice asked. There was a tall guy standing behind the counter who was wearing an apron. He gave a polite smile as I approached the counter.

"I'll have a latte, thank you."

"Sure. Would you like anything else to go with that?"

"Um..." I tapped my fingers on my chin as I pondered for a bit. I always have trouble deciding what to eat, so when I go out with my friends I always let them decide what we're having.

"I would recommend our toast and scrambled eggs, they're pretty good." The barista said after a while when he noticed that I couldn't decide.

"Sure, that sounds good." I quickly agreed.

"Sure. Just take a seat anywhere you'd like and I'll serve you shortly. And is this to go or are you having it here?"

"I'll be having it here, thank you."

I made payment and sat down on the tall stools right in front of the counter, so that the barista doesn't have to walk too far. While I waited for my order, I took the messy stack of papers out of my bag to sort them out.

"Sir, your latte." The barista said as he gently set the cup in front of me. "Please drink it slowly as it is hot."

I thanked him and took a look at the latte, which had a cute smiley face in the milk. I took a picture of the smiley face and swiftly posted it on my Instagram story before taking a sip of the coffee. It instantly warmed my throat, and the taste was literally perfect - it was neither too milky nor bitter and had just the right balance. It was almost as if he had put a magic spell in there. I smiled to myself as I relaxed immensely, and all the stress I was feeling felt like it reduced by a ton.