Forget Me Not

Chapter Six

“Hello. It’s nice to see you again. Here’s the café au lait you ordered,” Rianne said cheerfully as she set the cup of coffee and a napkin on his table.

She’d usually leave after serving coffee to a customer but with Ralph, she couldn’t help but act strange. She stood there and waited for him to take a sip, hoping he’d notice the note she wrote on the napkin.

 Smile before you sip.

 That’s what it read.

 Ralph did as he was told. He was so amused that he spilled some coffee as he drank. She quickly got more napkins for him to use.

 “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for that to happen,” Rianne said as she frantically helped him wipe his sky blue shirt.

“It’s okay,” Ralph replied, still smiling.

“Is my note really that amusing? You can stop smiling now,” Rianne teased as she sat across from him, oblivious of what she was doing.

“I’m sorry.  It’s just that… my girlfriend used to write notes like this for me,” he said, scratching his left eyebrow as if he was a little embarrassed. He looked down at the note, trying to hide his reddening face.

 “You have a girlfriend?” she asked without thinking, and tried to hide the sound of disappointment in her voice.

 “I used to. I haven’t really seen her for months. I don’t even know if she still remembers me,” he answered.

 Her heart skipped a beat. Maybe it was glad that he’s unattached.

 “Rianne! You must not take pleasure from other people’s misfortune,” a voice in her head said.

 “You must really be missing her,” she said.

 He looked at her with pained eyes that were filled with longing. His gaze was so searing that it almost brought her to tears. Rianne, after all, knew what it’s like to long for something, look for answers that couldn’t be found.

 Ralph cleared his throat and broke the spell.

 “Anyway, forget that. I’m reading a very interesting book. Do you believe in ghosts?” he asked as he pulled out a copy of Tragic Theater by G. M. Coronel. She wrinkled her nose.

 “I ‘m not really a fan of horror or paranormal stories. I get all paranoid and sleepless so I try to avoid them,” she confessed and he laughed with amusement.

 Rianne was glad he opened up to her as it would be too embarrassing to be the only one whipping out sob stories all the time.

 “You should meet my friends. They’re great and I bet they’ll like you. Maybe hanging out with more people will make you not think of your girlfriend too much,” she offered.

 “Maybe some other time,” was his quick reply.

 Rianne didn’t know what else to say to him and felt awkward for asking him to meet her friends. She realized the oddity of that request: he wasn’t even a full-fledged friend to her yet and there she was inserting herself into his life.

 “What is wrong with me? Why am I trying so hard to get to know him?”

 Rianne averted her eyes from his gaze, afraid he might read her mind. She noticed his polo shirt and thought she’d have bought that for someone if she ever saw it in a shop.

 “Your shirt really looks nice. It looks great on you,” she said. Another tiny smile from him melted her heart in a way she couldn’t explain.

 “Thanks. My girlfriend gave this to me as a first month-sary gift,” he said. The nostalgic twinkle in his eyes made Rianne realize he still loved his ex.

 Rianne wanted to know more. She wanted to ask what happened between them, but she knew it would be rude to pry.

 “Anyway, I have to get back to work. Just wanted to say hello. So… see you around,” Rianne said as she waved goodbye and walked away without waiting for his response.

 Ralph let her leave as he sat there, drinking his café au lait in solitude.

 Rianne looked over her shoulder and saw him enjoying his coffee and reading from his laptop. 

 She didn’t want to come off as too stalker-ish but… what was wrong with her? Maybe she was trying too hard to add new people into her life so she won’t have to dwell too much on the past. Maybe if other people told her their stories, she’d forget her own. Or maybe she was trying on different kinds of personalities to figure out who she really was. This was all too confusing for her. She hoped someone would rescue her from all of this but figured that someone was herself.

“Move on, Rianne! Fight!”