Cappuccino

Proposition.

The heavy rainfall wouldn't have bothered me if it weren't for the fact that I had slipped with my bike in a puddle of water. The raincoat I was supporting didn't help to keep me dry in any way, my tigh clad legs dirty and my skirt soaked.

I collected myself from the ground, no one bothering to help me up since everyone seemed to be scared of the droplets falling from the sky. My left knee was stinging slightly, looking down with my bike in hand I noticed the damage done to both my thigh and my knee. Walking towards the sideline an unexpected car passed me by, a splash of water clattering on top of me.

Great, I looked like a soaking wet dog.

Locking my bike, I walked across campus towards the practice building while my feet made an annoying sound with every step I took. It wasn't to my surprise it had stopped raining when I had reached my destination.

"So you finally showed up?" René said, the moment he saw me. I chucked off my coat and groaned in annoyance as I leant against the radiator to heat myself up. "Rain is lovely isn't it." A smug expression was aimed my way, as he pulled at a wet strand of curls.

I swatted his hand away. "It is, but arriving, this particular way to a mandatory lab practice—water dripping from my hair can dilute solutions we're working with."

"You're exaggerating."

"I know." I exclaimed.

The warmth provided from the radiator made my clothes feel less damp than before, which I was thankful for. When the professor came to collect us, I used René's sweater to dry off my hair which he didn't seem to care about. Raincoats were switched for labcoats and a long day lay ahead of us, which went smoother than I had expected. Writing down some final observations, I shut my book with a sigh of relief. However I was dreading the reports that would follow the practice as there was still more than enough left to process and debate.

"Do you need help cleaning, I finished?" René offered when he walked up to me behind the counter. "Those pipettes still need to be rinsed off." I shot my head in a certain direction where they laid next to the sink. Last time I dropped one which cost me a reduction on my final result, something I didn't appreciate but understood. Anything with glass I tried to avoid from then on which was quite ridiculous since more than half of what I used in this lab was made out of it.

"You coming over to mine? We can even start on our report already?"

"That's a first? You're always the one to procrastinate." René had been for as long as I can remember, a master at procrastinating. I had this hypothesis that he was one to need time pressure to deliver, which really, in his case was proven correct. The shorter he was on time the better he executed and despite his, to others flawed characteristic it seemed to work in his favour.

He was an intelligent man, even though his actions proved other wise sometimes. "Thought I'd hang out with my lil pumpkin." I scoffed at the use of the nickname, as I closed the door behind us exiting the building.

It was fairly warm outside, considering the autumn months. Though by now there were more leaves on the concrete than those that covered the trees which looked rather naked and cold. "Can I put my bike in the trunk."

"How'd you know I took my car?"

"It's not because you live ten minutes away, you'll even think about walking here, especially if it's raining." He shrugged at my response and chuckled slightly. Grabbing the key from my hand he unlocked my bike and rode it towards his car that was parked in the student parking lot a little further down. I rolled my eyes in amusement as I trailed behind him and by the time I reached his Audi,  René and my bike were both in the car.