Coffee Shop

• 16 •

"Please..." I stood, dripping wet in the hallway outside my apartment door, trying my hardest to hold in my sobs. My phone was in my hands, but it wouldn't turn on. No power, no life. I need my brother right now, please, please...

This was Jun's moment to shine. To be my big and mighty protector. Just like he'd been when w were kids. And because of the rain, because I wasn't careful, my phone was dead.

But my phone wasn't the only thing I wasn't careful with. My heart ached. My chest hurt. Everything Brian said raged inside me, and my mind was split into two halves.

On one side, I wanted to run back to him and tell him it was okay. The other side wanted to be selfish and save me and my heart from any future pain, because who knew what other skeletons he had in his closet?

There was also a tiny part of me, just wedged in between the two largest parts of my consciousness, that reminded me I wasn't easily spooked, that I loved horror movies, and a few skeletons shouldn't scare me.

Because, despite it all, Brian was... everything to me.

"Kay?" Mr. Paul's door opened. I held my breath to stop my racing thoughts, but that couldn't fix the way I looked. Beneath my soaking wet flats was the puddle of rainwater that had dripped from my clothes. I wiped at my face and the tips of my fingers came back black with mascara and eyeliner. 

I tried to smile and say "Hello," but I hiccupped, choked on a breath, and cried again.

"Oh, Kay." Mr. Paul went quickly inside his apartment and returned with a blanket, wrapping it tightly around me. He wiped at my face with its edges, staining it black. When I tried to apologize, he shook his head. "No, don't worry. Come on, come inside, you're dripping wet."

I followed him into the warmth of his apartment because I didn't know what else to do. I couldn't call my brother, being alone wasn't an option. Mr. Paul was my last saving hope.

Once inside, I looked at his homely living room, with its floral print, brown couches, and vases with flowers and fresh water within them. The smell of sweets lingered in the air. Behind me, Mr. Paul locked the door. "Sit," he said as he guided me towards his couch. "Calm down."

"I'll get it wet," I whispered as I looked at him. Clearly, he wouldn't take no for an answer. He sat me down on the bigger couch and went into his kitchen. Looking back at him, I watched him pour water into a kettle and start the stove. 

"I'll... I'll pay for the carpet cleaning, too," I told him. "I-I'm sorry."

"It's just water, Kay," Mr. Paul said with a smile. He returned to me with a cupcake on top of a small plate but I shook my head, declining it. The sight of a cupcake made me sick.

"What happened?" he asked, sitting across from me. "Why were you out there in the rain like that?"

Could I confide in my old landlord? I thought of him as a friend, an older friend, like family. I'd spent so much time with him in the mornings, helping him with his shop, that I grew attached to his kindness. But this... what had just happened was more than just cupcakes in the mornings. This was personal. Opening up about my relationship was probably a little weird.

But I accepted it. I needed an ear to talk to, and someone far from the outside world to listen to me. One who couldn't hold judgment on Brian and me because he did not know us well enough to do it.

"Kay?"

"I... Brian and I..."

He leaned forward where he sat. "The two of you?"

I sucked in a breath to fight new tears. "I don't even know if it was a fight."

"I think it was. You're crying. I know that—" He pointed at my cheeks. "—isn't rain."