Café Curious

7

I woke early the next morning. Three hours before Aka had to leave. Realizing that I wasn't going back to sleep any time soon, I got up and went out of my room to make coffee for myself and Aka.

I glanced over at the small woman. She was still sound asleep. Her face was scrunched up in reaction to her dream.

"She always gets a Vanilla cappuccino with caramel swirl." I remembered and got to work on the two coffees.

As I finished the bitter sweet beverages, I heard Aka stir. It was if the smell of coffee woke her up. She sat up and yawned, covering her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Good morning." I said quietly, even though his morning was quite the opposite of good. She smiled at me.

"Morning." She greeted. I brought her coffee to her. She thanked me and took a sip. Her eyes widened in surprise. We sat in silence, drinking our coffee. I have no idea what she was thinking about, but in my mind, I was trying to encourage my self to confess.

It was finally time for us to go and I wished for the power to stop time so she wouldn't leave. It was finally sinking in that she was leaving and I would never see her again.

"Hey... Law... Can... Can I ask you something?" She asked as we pulled out of the parking lot.

"Sure, Aka-ya. What is it?" I asked.

"Um... Well... If your coffee machine at home can make all the coffee at the café... Then why were you always there instead of home?" She asked. I debated wether lying or telling her the truth.

Fuck it. May as well be honest.

"I met someone at that shop." I said. I felt her beautiful eyes on me.

"You... Met someone?" She asked.

"It's a long story." I said.

"It's a long drive." She said. I spared her a glance and chuckled.

"It was late... Or maybe I should say early? I was just out of a long surgery. It was about 5 in the morning. I didn't have time to go all the way home to my fancy coffee machine before I had to be back in for my last day of work before my two week vacation that my superior was making me take.

"I knew the owner through his apprentice. One of my good friends. And, hey, it was close by. Right between home and work. I figured I may as well. I went in, I ordered, turned around and there she was. She was taking pictures of her food. And then... She smiled. Her smile was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen." I sighed. Aka was watching me as I talked.

"I don't think I was ready to admit it, but after seeing her smile, I fell in love. The waitress told me that she always came in around that time everyday. So everyday for weeks, I'd go in around 5 every morning just to see if I could see her. And every morning there she was. Taking pictures, reveiwing pictures on her lap top, even just reading a book.

"One day, I finally got to see full veiw of her eyes. That day I discovered that silver was my favorite color." I sighed.

"Wow... Just by seeing her eyes, her eye color became your favorite color?" She asked. I nodded.

"After a while, I started standing directly behind her, trying to encourage myself to talk to her, but I could never find the words. So I'd just sit down in my usual seat and watch her.

"Then, one day, I must have been in frame of one of her pictures, because she looked up, directly at me... And smiled. I fell in love all over again when she did that.

"Then, one day, on my vacation, I went in and... She wasn't there. I thought that maybe I should just go home, but I was already there, Ruby-ya had already seen me. So I ordered my usual and turned to go to my regular seat... And there she was. Sitting across the table where I normally sat." I said.

"Did you talk to her?" Aka asked me. I smiled softly.

"I wanted to. But I didn't know what to say. I panicked in that moment. I thought that I should sit elsewhere. Just for that day. But, my feet had other ideas. I walked right over to her. She didn't notice me right of the bat, I could have easily left. She probably wasn't interested in me anyhow. But before I even realized what I was doing, I asked if I could join her.

"I expected her to tell me to fuck off, but instead she gave me one of her beautiful smiles and let me sit with her. I didn't say much after that. I didn't know what to say. What was I supposed to say? "Hi, my name is Law, I've been watching you for months, want to go out with me?" Hahah.. Yeah, right.

"But she started talking to me. We talked for a little bit, then she had to leave. But she gave me her number and asked if I'd see her again. Every morning I spent with her, talking to her, sometimes she'd take pictures of me. Every moment I spent with her I fell deeper and deeper in love with her." I said.

"Did you ever confess?" Aka asked me. I sighed softly.

"No."

"What happened?" She asked softly.

"She moved. She got the oppritunity of a life time, and she took it. I took her to the airport and I never saw her again." I said. Aka fell silent. We drove on in silence for a little bit.

"Law... If... If, maybe, you knew that if you told her you loved her, she would stay... Would you have told her?" She asked. I was quiet for a moment. If I knew Aka would stay if I told her I loved her, would I tell her?

"No." I said. Her head snapped up in surprise.

"What? Why?! You loved her, didn't you? You didn't want her to leave, did you? Then why wouldn't you tell her?" Aka asked.

"Because she was chasing her dream. I wouldn't want to be the one holding her back from her dream. Yes, I'd love to see her again. But, if I had told her and she stayed, I'd have to live with the fact that she gave up her dream for me. What kind of man forces a woman to give up her dreams for him? No. I wouldn't tell her, because I want all of her dreams to come true. I want her to rule the world. Even if it takes me out of the picture." I said.

We were at a red light and I was looking in to her eyes. The silver that I loved so much. I had the urge to kiss her. I noticed that her silver eyes were starting to fill with tears. I looked away and pretended not to notice as the light turned green.

"You're willing to let her go, and lose what may be your last chance at true love... Just so she can be happy?" She asked. I nodded.

"I'm willing to suffer the worst pain imaginable if she got everything she ever wanted in the end." I said.

".... What if you're the only thing she ever really wanted?" Aka asked softly.

"Then I'll see her again. It's like the old saying. If you love something, let it go. If it comes back, it's yours to keep. If it doesn't, then maybe it was never yours in the first place. If she comes back here just for me after she finishes college, I'll never let her go again. But if she doesn't, then I'll just go back to how things were before I met her and hope for the best." I said.

I felt a small hand grab my free hand.

"That's very sweet of you, Law." She said.

"I just want her to be happy." I said. I glanced at her before returning my eyes to the road. She stared out the window, her small hand locked in mine. I was content with holding her hand.

Finally, we reached the airport so the most important thing in my life could fly away for me to never see again.