Dear Flo

"You ordered hot coffee." Sandra stated the obvious, raising an eyebrow. She shot a quick glance through the cafe's huge glass windows beside our table before adding, "Black hot coffee."

I stirred my coffee even though the sugar had blended finely. Nicholas, the barista, also raised an eyebrow when I ordered this. "I don't even know."

"First of all, it's summer. The sun's burning me and yet you got yourself a freaking hot coffee." Sandra sipped her iced lemonade. "Unbelievable."

I didn't tell my only companion that day this because Sandra's going to give me hours of lecture if she heard, but the actual reason was because him. On our first coffee date back then, he got himself a cup of black coffee. It's his favorite. And ever since that time, whenever I came in contact with it, I'm always reminded of him. Well, not all the time. But most of the time. I thought that I'd probably miss him less right now if I drank it. As if this cup in front of me was the representative of Sean.

I took a sip from the cup. It was hotter than the air temperature that afternoon, and even though I had put sugar into it, it still tasted bitter. Now that I'd finally drank it, I was wrong. It didn't feel like Sean at all. Except for the hot part though. "Sean was serious about not going home this summer. I literally had to wait until Christmas to see him! Do you think he has found someone cool there, at MIT? I mean, female."

Sandra was quiet for a moment, before gazing at her phone. She obviously didn't want my mind to be full of Sean because the next thing she did was taking her last gulp of lemonade and said, "Let's go. It's almost four. I need to help Raymond with the party preparation."

Raymond hosted a party today at his house just like he used to when we were in high school. All of our schoolmates who came home this summer would definitely go, including Sandra and me. For us, it's something like a reunion party. No Sean, though.

"I'll just finish this quickly." I tried to gulp down my nearly full cup of coffee at once but it's still hot and it burnt my tongue. I should've asked for a paper cup instead so I could drink it in Sandra's car.

"Wait," Sandra got a phone call. I guessed it's Raymond, because she let the phone buzzed three times before sliding the green thing. "Yes?"

I was still trying to finish my coffee which I regretted ordering but didn't dare to leave it nearly full for the sake of Nicholas who probably poured all his heart into making this coffee which I honestly didn't think should be named Signature Black Coffee because it looked and tasted like normal coffee you could buy in sachets at the supermarket and there's nothing so 'signature' about it, when Sandra said, "Sure. But we're going home first before going to your place."

Five minutes later, I had finally finished my coffee and Sandra finished her phone call with Raymond. She always smiled whenever she's talking on the phone with him, even though she tried to hide it. Then we got into her car and she dropped me at my place because I was sweating like crazy thanks to the wheather and I needed a bath.

"See you at the party, then." She said.

I flashed her a smile. "Should we wear something matching?"

I was expecting a smirk and a no, and I was right.

When I was trying to get my house keys from my new burnt sienna colored Loewe bag, I accidentally noticed there was something in my mailbox. I mean, the real mailbox and not to be confused with my e-mail mailbox.

I doubted someone would dare throwing a promotion brochure into my mailbox, but I never got anything other than letters and my monthly magazines. But that smething was small, and thin. Out of curiosity, I reached out for it. It was actually a postcard with a picture of metal and wires and sprocket wheels on a wooden table. It was something like a machine I guess. There were strips of lights on the table. It looked like there's a window next to it and the sunshine came through the half opened curtains. The photography's composition and lightning were nice. I'm not a National Geographic kind of person but I could tell that much.