Lauren rests her arm on Haseena's shoulder as they are waiting for the coffee on their lunch break. Haseena is way distracted to care that Lauren is a little bit too close that her scent lands on Haseena's nose. Her focus is on the coffee making process that has been going on behind the counter. The stream of warm milk and smell of fresh brew coffee are always Haseena's favorite things. They wake her up only by looking at them.
Lauren scrolls her phone screen to kill time and she stops at one particular picture. A picture of a girl with long hair sitting across from the person who took the picture. She was sipping a warm drink with her both hands supporting the cup and didn't seem to notice that the picture was taken. Haseena rarely bothers to put caption to her pictures but for this particular one, there is. It said; Her day starts with a coffee and ends with a wine. The picture is tagged so Lauren follows the tag to another account. At Karishma's, there is a picture of Haseena sitting across from her. She looked at the camera and smiled from ear to ear. The caption said; Hey, wanna go out?
"Hase." Lauren calls out while her eyes are still on the phone. "Is this your Instagram official?"
"Huh?" Haseena crosses her arms and glances over at Lauren whose arm is still looking comfortable on Haseena's shoulder. They are about the same height so her shoulder makes a perfect armrest.
Lauren goes back at Haseena's account and shows her the picture of Karishma. Her enthusiasm is through the roof. Haseena has never really told her about her sexuality orientation but that doesn't matter. It's already obvious but she doesn't want to appear rude to assume it. However, she is happy for the girl in the picture. Haseena has something in her that is very charming and warm. She, herself, would definitely date Haseena in a heartbeat. "Where did you meet her? Tinder? You know how to use Tinder?"
"What?" Haseena tries to distract her from the matter by stepping away to the pick-up counter. She whispers thanks to the barista before taking the drinks; one for herself and one for her companion. "It's just a picture and the caption is from a song."
"So you just randomly used a line from a love song for a picture of your friend." Lauren sips her iced-cold green tea from the straw and acts so refreshing like those models in soda commercial. "This is definitely your Instagram official."
Haseena totally forgot that she had a few people from work following her social media account when she decided to post Karishma's picture. She doesn't want to hide Karishma but she just doesn't want to answer questions or expose too much of herself to anyone else. "I'll post a picture of you with a line from a love song."
"Haseena." Lauren whines. Haseena's stubbornness frustrates her. "She also posted your picture with a flirty caption."
"We're just joking around." Haseena walks out the coffee shop and holds the door open for Lauren. She always does that and Lauren seems to get used to that now.
"So she's a friend?" Lauren also gets used to the fact that Haseena is a walking mystery. She keeps her working life and personal life well-separated.
"She is a friend. Not my girlfriend. Not a girlfriend. Friend." Haseena says while both of them walk past the front entrance of their office building. It is very uncomfortable for her to be talking about this; talking about Karishma. She starts looking down at the floor; wishing the elevator works faster so they can go back at their desks and starts working on something other than talking about her, Karishma and everything in between.
"Fine."
Haseena shrugs with a grin at the corner of her mouth; the type of smile that deserves a punch in the face for being an asshole to the simplest thing. Lauren presses the button and leans against the railing while Haseena holds her hot coffee in the casted hand and puts her other hand in her ripped jeans pocket. Lauren is observing Haseena who is standing in front of her. She is nothing out of ordinary. She is the type everyone sees in the library when the finals approach. What makes her unique is how she looks at everyone with her hazel eyes behind those square shaped glasses. She makes everyone feel included and special with those eyes. She is envious of that girl in the picture when she tries to imagine how differently or more special Haseena is towards her. It must be out of this world.
