The Ideal Brew

Chapter 2

If I hadn't been paying attention during my Science class in grade school, I would have probably believed that the oceans of the world were made of coffee. That would be the perfect explanation for the eighth cup of coffee that I refused today.

Everywhere I go, there was an abundance of coffee.

It was that calming, addictive scent of instant coffee that woke me up from my few hours of sleep. Even as I walked out of our old apartment, the old lady living next door invited me to share a cup with her.

The clock had barely struck eight o'clock when I received the third invitation for a cup of coffee. As soon as I entered the office, Sally, who was still munching a sandwich, offered to prepare a cup for me. I never really understood why she always offers me coffee when she knew all along that I would (politely) refuse everytime.

Then there were the various meetings, set barely minutes apart, which I had to attend in place of Ms. Amanda, whose busy schedule only allowed her to be only in selected places at certain times. I had always looked forward for a glass of water but the first thing that they always offered was the cup of that dark liquid whose scent I loved as much as I disliked its bitter taste.

By the time I was back at the House of Representatives for a technical discussion on certain house bills, I was already offered eight cups of coffee.

I was taking notes on the discussion when a tall transparent cup filled with light brown beverage landed in front of the stack of papers precariously perched on my knees. I resisted the urge to close my eyes and groan.

"Relax, it's tea," he quipped. I looked up to see Ryan in his pinstriped shirt, carefully tucked beneath his pressed slacks, looking at me with an amused smile on his face.

He took the papers on my lap and thrusted the chilled cup of milk tea on my left hand which I caught clumsily.

I hadn't noticed that his boss, Representative Monteagudo had come in. He was already shaking hands and sharing small talks with some of the government officers and personnel from other offices when one of the staff informed the Chairman of his arrival. The house committee acknowledged the presence of Rep. Monteagudo who comfortably sat on the empty chair beside Ms. Amanda.

I regarded the cup on my hand with uncertainty. Unlike coffee, I was unfamiliar with milk teas. The only 'tea' I knew was the iced tea that was always served in restaurants. Judging from the numerous milk tea junctions sprouting on the metro like wild mushrooms, milk tea was the latest craze in beverages, and it was something new to my palate.

"Drink up. You look thirsty," he said.

I was about to ask him how he knew how thirsty I was when I caught him gazing on my lips - which were probably either dry or pale from the chapped lipstick, maybe both. I immediately diverted my attention to something behind his back to hold back the traitorous blush that was threatening to color my cheeks.

I knew I should not have put any meaning into that gaze. It could have been an obvious indicator how parched I was. Besides, Ryan was like this with everyone. But no, Sally made it clear that Ryan had a thing for me which meant that him looking at me and my lips meant something more.

"Thanks," I said as I took a sip of the alien beverage, still focused on the point behind him.

"Anytime," Ryan turned to where I was looking and saw several faces from the crowd who waved at him. I recognized some of them as fellow EAs or Ryan's classmates in law school. He waved back before turning back to me and said, "So, has the guy with coffee called you again?"

"Who?" I asked, completely perplexed. "I was offered coffee eight times today, half of which were offered by men. Which one of them?" I laughed at him.