Smitten Over Coffee

Chapter Eleven: Cafe Mocha

Flora sipped at her cafe mocha, her eyes scanning each table as she made her way to her favorite window seat. She was hoping to see Julian. Meeting with him at the cafe had become the highlight of her week. And after their last encounter, she was even more eager to see him. The memory of that tiny rose falling out of his wallet sent butterflies through her veins. The idea that he had kept something she had given him was enough to bring a stupid smile to her face.

A phone went off behind her. It was a somewhat melancholy song played on a piano. Turning, she saw Julian sitting at a table just a few paces away. He looked down at his phone and rolled his eyes before answering. The pretty tune ended as he began talking to the caller. Not wanting to eavesdrop—but also not wanting to miss an opportunity to chat with him—she approached slowly, clearing her throat once she was near enough for him to notice her.

His eyes flicked to her, and she gave a smile. He hesitantly returned the smile before telling the person on the other end of the call, "No, I won't, goodbye." He hung up the phone and flashed her another hesitant smile, motioning to the chair across from him. "Care to join me?"

"Sure, thanks."

Flora sat down and glanced up at Julian. He was avoiding her eyes and drumming his fingers against the lid of his coffee cup. Had she intruded? Was he just being polite in asking her to join him? Maybe the rose had only been in his wallet because he never threw anything away. After all, there had been quite a few bandage wrappers in his pocket that day she helped him with his cut. She couldn't imagine the sort of disaster his wallet must be.

"I'm sorry if I interrupted something," Flora said, gripping her cup tightly. "I can—"

"No, no, it's fine. That was..." He gestured to his phone but then shook his head and waved it away. "Nothing. It was nothing."

He still wouldn't meet her eyes. What was up with him? What had changed? She needed to do something to lighten this tension.

"That was a pretty song," she said.

"Song?"

"On your phone. Your ringtone. Is it a classical piece?"

Julian laughed softly as he gazed down at his phone. "No, no, it's not a classical piece. It's actually from a video game."

"Really? What's the name?"

"The name of the song is 'Rose of May.' The name of the game is Final Fantasy Nine."

"Oh, neat, so you're into RPGs?"

Julian's face lit up and he finally met her eyes. "You play video games?"

"Yeah, a few. Not so many RPGs, mostly because I'm not very good at them. But I do really like the character designs, and the stories sound really interesting."

"Final Fantasy is a classic series."

"It certainly has nice music."

"Nobuo Uematsu is a genius when it comes to composing."

"He's the one who did the the music for the game?"

"For a whole bunch of the Final Fantasy installments. Seriously, his work is epic. It adds so much to already amazing storylines."

Flora couldn't help but smile at the enthusiasm radiating off of Julian as he proceeded to tell her some of the best pieces the composer had done. She didn't understand a lot of what he was saying, but she enjoyed seeing him so passionate about something. It was like watching Jayda talk about her favorite anime series, only watching Julian gave her a thrill that Jayda did not.