10 Coffee Mornings - a short story | ✓

D A Y F O U R

Friday, 4th October - 9:00am

Watching from afar as Lily waited at the counter for their orders, Vince couldn't help but observe the way her foot tapped rapidly against the hardwood flooring of the cafe. The way her head turned in all directions as her eyes took in everything to be taken in with the strong desire to see everything and anything in sight.

No matter how hard Vince had tried to distract himself from Lily, he couldn't pull his eyes from her. The deep rooted questions that they had asked each other just yesterday played in his mind, over and over again like a broken record.

Not long after, his eyes remaining on her returning figure, the boy watched as the girl slipped into the booth, sliding over his cup of coffee as soon as she made contact with the leather cushion of the seat.

Nodding at her to say 'thanks' Vince didn't waste a minute before he spoke, the first words he uttered to her of the day to be a statement he craved to say.

"Let's continue to ask questions." Taken aback by his abrupt words, Lily narrowed her almond shaped eyes into the size of slits and tilted her head slightly to the right. "Alright then. I'll-."

Cutting her off rather rudely, Vince jumped into a question before she could state that she was starting off the question 'game'.

Licking his chapped lips. A habit which Vince seemed to accumulate from the minute he could speak, he asked. "Why do you keep coming back?" Shaking his head almost to say to her 'you shouldn't' he awaited for Lily's answer.

Squirming under his rock hard gaze, she fidgeted in her seat, the question ringing throughout her mind. With a shrug, she sighed. "I guess I- well, I- I'm not entirely sure. I think maybe it's because I hold a great fondness over discovering anything new or different or out of the ordinary and you seem to be three." Processing her words, he nodded, another question popping into his mind.

"But you've met me, so why haven't you left yet?" Cracking a mischievous grin, Lily tutted, sending a playful glance in his direction. "I haven't asked your question yet!" Sporting an unamused look, he rolled his eyes, muttering a quiet 'go on'.

Pausing for a millisecond, she looked up, meeting his awaiting eyes with her own questioning pair. "There's thousands of things to write about. Anything in this world could make an interesting story and yet, as far as I know, you sit in this booth, at this table with not even an ink mark on the blank pages of your journal. So my question is...why?" The boy looked at the girl. His eyes sweeping over her figure as it was hunched over the table, her fingers cupping the cream coloured mug as if she were protecting it from the dangers of the world.

The silence was deafening. Even the consistent ticking of the clock could be heard whereas all the hushed chatter drowned out, leaving muffled whispers entering through one ear and exiting throughout the other. Not missing a beat, he picked up his pen and clicked the top, allowing the scribing part at the other end to spring out with a faint 'click'.

"I want to write about a mystery. And I don't want it to just be the typical kind. It has to be intriguing. It's got to have a starting point where there's millions of unanswered questions and by the end all these questions should be answered fully. The mystery has to be the type where it's so misleading that you look at it and immediately have an answer to the first of many questions. But, the minute you find out more you realise you were wrong and that there's so much more to what meets the eye. That's what I want to write about. That kind of mystery."

Once again, a deafening silence overcame the two. A look shared between them as they both seemed to take in the long and descriptive answer that managed to keep both their minds busy.

Vince looked away, breaking the stare as he locked his jaw and gritted his teeth. It annoyed him that he'd let out that many words at once. He hated the fact that it felt easy to 'pour his heart out' to a girl who probably didn't care about him or his book. Who was he kidding. She didn't care. She shouldn't.

After all, they'd only briefly spent 4 coffee filled mornings, including this one, together, and they'd both jumped into this confusing limbo that annoyingly had no escape.

"A mystery, huh?" Lily leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest. The top half of her light grey jumper on full display as she sat up straight and tucked a stray curl behind her ear.

Not answering with words, Vince nodded. "You know my question." Taking no offence and showing no emotions to his rude words, she breathed in a deep breath and let out a whistle. Almost as if she was stalling.

Vince knew Lily was battling with herself. He could tell by the way her fingers dug into her arms. A part of her wanted to allow the words to spill from her lips and the other half clamped her mouth shut.

The girl looked out the window. Something she'd found herself doing every time she came to the cafe and sat in the same booth. To her, it irked her out majorly because she didn't like being in the same place for too long and despite that habit of hers, here she was, doing the same exact thing for the last 4 mornings.

And the weirdest thing about it was that she didn't mind and she'd barely given it a second thought.

Lily pondered on and concluded a suggestion of an answer. A thought that lingered at the back but was so suddenly pushed to the front.

Maybe she was sick of this dreary town already. And this quaint cafe. And this tattered booth. And this average cup of coffee. But Vince. The boy who sat before her very eyes. Now him. She was nowhere near sick of him.

Confirming her own thoughts. She sipped a small mouthful of coffee and savoured the bittersweet taste for a brief moment. Then she placed the cup down with a clank and met Vince's dark eyes with her own, a look of seriousness overcoming her as she opened her mouth and allowed the caged answer to escape into the wild, also known as the world, or better yet, hearing distance of Vince.

"Maybe it's because I see an introverted boy who indulges in the ability to keep coming back to the same place for as long as he wishes. Why? I'll probably never understand. But that's just the first layer of you. There's so much more to discover and I've barely even begun."

•••••••••