Ride on Time

Chapter 95

Shree sent Mitsuo the location of a cafe. The reviews and ratings looked good but the journey didn't.
For starters, the Grape driver was driving him into an industrial area with very bumpy road. Mitsuo wasn't sure if he was being kidnapped or being led to the correct place.
"Excuse me, but are we really going the right way?" Mitsuo finally decided to ask.
The young Chinese man looked at the location on his phone. "You're going to Café de Theodore, right?"
"Yes?"
"Then, it's the correct way."
Mitsuo looked around him. "But it's an industrial area."
"It's right around the corner, we're almost there."
Well, Mitsuo did see a few branches of famous fast food chains along the way, but those may have been warehouses and offices for all he knew. Mitsuo decided to just see what happens and just call 999 if things go south.
The driver started slowing down, eventually turning right. That's when Mitsuo spotted a sign indicating the direction for Café de Theodore. He heaved a sigh of relief and leaned back in his seat as the driver pulled into the cafe's premise and parked in front of the entrance.
"Thank you," Mitsuo bowed as he got off the car.
To his surprise, the driver didn't pull out and leave. Instead, he got off the car.
"Uh... Sir, why are you following me?" Mitsuo asked.
"I'm not following you, I like this cafe too," the young man simply said and walked past him, disappearing behind the glass doors. Mitsuo was confused but shrugged it off and went in too.
The cafe had a calm atmosphere, furnished with sofas and armchairs. The scent of coffee mingled in the air together with soft jazz music. Mitsuo smiled to himself and made his way to the counter behind the Grape driver that just came in.
"Mitsu!" Shree appeared beside him.
"Oh, you're already here," Mitsuo greeted her with a bow, which she returned. "Where's Vasu? Did he come?"
Shree shook her head. "Nah. He got school."
"Oh, okay," Mitsuo nodded. "You haven't ordered yet?"
Shree shook her head. "Not yet. I was waiting for you." She noticed him giving the Chinese guy in front them a strange look. "Why? What's wrong?"
"That guy was my Grape driver just now," Mitsuo told her in a low voice. "I'm not sure if he's following me."
Shree frowned at the young man, who started ordering his food. "I'm not sure why, but he seems kinda familiar..."
Mitsuo shrugged. "You know him?"
"Looks like that Sherry's son," Shree quipped. She suddenly got an idea and turned to Mitsuo. "Mitsu, he was your driver just now, right?"
"Yeah?"
"See what's his name in your Grape app."
Mitsuo did and to his surprise, it was Jonathan Wang. "No wonder he looked familiar..." He showed his phone to Shree.
"So I was right," Shree smirked. "So he drives for Grape. But what's he doing in PJ?" She shuddered. "Note to self, don't book this guy."
Mitsuo put his phone away. "Can I ask, how did you get here?"
"My mom dropped me," Shree answered, wondering why Jonathan was taking forever to order. "My mom works in a place near here so she dropped me off on the way to work."
"Isn't your mom a teacher?"
"Yeah?"
"What time does her work start?"
"Seven-thirty, I think?"
"Nika, how long have you been here?" 
Shree shrugged. "For about an hour, I think?"
"Nika..." Mitsuo sighed. "Why did you come so early?"
Shree was about to answer but Jonathan finished his purchase and left the counter. So they both ordered some hot cocoa each and chocolate fudge cake.
"It's okay if we share, right?" Shree said after telling the barista that she wanted only one chocolate fudge cake. "The cake is very rich, very thick chocolate."
Mitsuo shrugged. "I think that should be fine."
Shruti smiled. "Great."
So she paid for the meal, though Mitsuo insisted on splitting the bill, and made their way to an outside table to wait. They walked past Jonathan Wang, who sat reading a book. Mitsuo tried to see what he was reading, curious to know what the title was. To his joy, it was Timeless Love.
"Nika, did you see that?" Mitsuo asked as soon they were outside. "That Wang boy's reading my book! My book!"
Shree chuckled and sat down. "Well, yeah! Your book's blowing up everywhere."
Mitsuo grinned. "Seeing your hard-work appreciated, that's the best feeling someone could ever get."
"And you deserve it," Shree smiled. "Your book is one of the best I've ever read, number one in the list of Japanese books I've read."
"You read Japanese books?" Mitsuo was surprised.
The two of them related about one writer after another, praising one, then criticising the next. Their coffee arrived and Shree had to get a picture for social media.
"I like how they even did latte art," Shree remarked before ruining the entire thing with her spoon, stirring the cream into her coffee. "The atmosphere is nice, right?"
Mitsuo nodded, putting his phone down after taking a picture of his coffee as well. "Yeah. Really cozy."
"I'm just glad it's a little cold and not blazing. It's a good thing we came early."
Their cake arrived and they shared it, glad they only got one since the chocolate was rich and very thick.

"Where are we headed after this?" Mitsuo asked when their cake and coffee disappeared.
Shree shrugged. "I don't know. Are you still hungry?"
"Well, I just had breakfast. And it was good."
Shree looked at him in surprise. "You mean, you skipped the hotel breakfast?"
"Yeah," Mitsuo nonchalantly stated, nodding. "I figured that I wouldn't be here in time since the breakfast just opened. Good thing I did too since you've been here since seven."
"Oh Mitsu," Shree sighed. "Whatever we ate just now hardly qualifies as breakfast." She frowned for a moment before getting an idea. "What do you say we head off to a kopitiam and have breakfast there?"
"Uh... what's a kopitiam again?" Mitsuo questioned.
"Chinese coffee shop," Shree explained, scrapping the last bits of the chocolate cake from the saucer. "Kopi means coffee and Tiam means shop."
"I thought you didn't know how to speak Chinese?"
"Every Malaysian knows at least three words of Chinese," Shree chuckled. "Kopitiam, tapau, kautim, xíe xíe. See, I know more than four myself."
Mitsuo shrugged, not knowing the meaning for the last three words she mentioned. "Sure, the kopitiam sounds good. Can you tell me the address so that I can book a car?"
"Who, with that Sherry's son again ah?" Shree shook her head in disgust.
"Then how would we go there?" Mitsuo sighed. "Is this coffee shop far?"
"Nah, in Old Town only," Shree grinned, taking her phone out. "I'll book Grape. It's near my house so we can walk home and get the car."
"Don't you have work today?" Mitsuo asked.
"Called in sick," Shree answered without looking up from her phone. "We can go today so that you can rest tomorrow before going home. A seven-hour flight sounds tiring."
"It is," Mitsuo agreed. "And I didn't even have to deal with jet lag..."
Shree booked a Grape car and to her surprise, the name on the screen was Jonathan Wang yet again. "Aiyo... again also this feller ah?" She groaned.
"Who?" Shree sighed and showed him the screen of her phone. Mitsuo gasped when he saw the name. "Oh wow, he's really following us around."
They turned to the cafe window to see what Jonathan was doing and saw him put his book away and stand up from his seat, leaving behind an empty glass. He was looking at his phone as he made his way back to his car, looking around the cafe to see who his new customer was.
"Come lah," Shree told Mitsuo, getting up. "Let's go."
"I thought you didn't like him?" Mitsuo smirked.
"Do we have a choice? He has to do his job too, ya know," Shree grinned slyly. "Besides, this is the best time to bully that feller."

"Hi," Shree grinned at Jonathan. "Are you Jonathan Wang?"
"Are you... Sakuranika?" Jonathan asked, looking at Shree's username on his phone.
"Yep," Shree nodded and opened the back door, letting Mitsuo enter first. "I'm sure you've met my friend earlier."
Jonathan nodded. "Yes, yes I have. I'm the one that drove him here."
"By the way, I noticed that you were reading a book," Mitsuo added next. "Was it good?"
"I forgot the name, I'll check it later," Jonathan said.
"Is it a good one?" Mitsuo excitedly asked again.
"Quite interesting," Jonathan answered, nodding slightly.
Shree chuckled at Mitsuo's excited face. "Anyway, you look kinda familiar. You're Auntie Sherry's son, right?"
Jonathan's face paled in the rear view mirror. "Yes?"
"Ah, yes," Shree hid a smirk. "What you doing in PJ? Not you staying in... Subang ah?"
"It's easier to find customers here," Jonathan said.
"Oh..." Shree nodded. "I thought you like PJ better than your place."
"I'm actually here since my father works in Kelana Jaya. I think you already know that since you saw him at work once."
"Oh yeah, we found out the hard way," Shree smirked, turning to Mitsuo. "Isn't that right, Mitsu?"
Mitsuo nodded, unsuccessfully trying to hide a grin. "Oh yeah, the hard way."
Jonathan didn't say anything after that. He knew that this was going to be a long ride, however short the distance was.