Life in the mundane

What am i to you?

I sat across from her, The coffee shop was mostly empty, save for a few lost souls scattered at the tables, nursing their drinks and their thoughts.

"Can I ask you something?" I said, my voice rough around the edges, like sandpaper that had seen too many uses.

She didn't look up immediately, her gaze fixed on the steam rising from her cup of tea. "Yeah sure, go ahead," she replied, her voice steady but distant.

"What am I to you?" I asked, the words coming out heavier than I intended.

She finally lifted her eyes to meet mine, a mix of curiosity and wariness in her expression. "What kind of question is that?" she asked, her tone attempting nonchalance but betraying a hint of something deeper.

I took a gulp of the burning liquid from my cup, a ghost of a smile playing on my lips. placing the cup down on the tired worn table "The kind that keeps me up at night," my eyes uncharacteristically never leaving hers. I say it again with renewed determination "What am I to you?"

She sighed, setting her spoon down with a soft clink. "Besides the guy who makes perverted comments all the time?" she asked, a trace of a smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

"Yeah, besides that," I release a small devilish smirk, leaning forward slightly, my gaze intent on unlocking her thoughts.

She leaned back in her chair, folding her arms across her chest as she regarded me. "You're... different," she said slowly. "Not just another face in the crowd. You see things......You see me."

I nodded, taking in her words. "But is that all?" My voice softer now, almost vulnerable.

She looked down at her cup, then back up at me. "Maybe you're more than that," she said quietly. "Maybe you're the reason I keep coming back here, even when the tea tastes like dishwater, just because you ask." She paused, her eyes searching mine. "So, what am I to you?"

I grinned, the warmth of her words made it  reach for my eyes. "You're the reason this place doesn't feel so damn empty" my voice filled with a truth and warmth that neither could deny.

The world outside continued on, oblivious, but in that moment,
the small coffee shop became our entire universe.