Under the Umbrella ✓

-08-

Aria juggled between trying to shove a couple of papers into her backpack and balancing her phone between her ear and shoulder as she held on to the stranger's umbrella.

"Hey, Carol. I'm on my way to work right this second," Aria spoke into her phone as she strode out of her campus. "Give me a few-"

"Actually, 'bout that..." Carol, one of the part-timers at the clothing store she worked at, cut Aria off in an undecided tentativeness. "I have a favor to ask you."

"Go on."

"You know the guy who newly started working with us?"

"Uh-huh," Aria mumbled as she continued to walk but at a lesser hurried pace.

"Well, he's going to be working on the next shift with you and I was wondering if we could switch our shifts..."

Aria smiled from the insinuation, completely down for it. Dom, their new workmate, was charismatic and heartbreakingly good-looking to pass over on having a go at him. It wasn't as if Aria hadn't eyed him herself; she just wasn't in the right mind for that diversion. Besides, she highly doubted anything would transpire between them. Someone might as well give it a whirl, but she didn't concede too easily.

"Let's negotiate."

"Okay, let me think." Carol paused, and after some time, she said, "I'll help you slack off at work so you could study for your exams."

Her eyes widened. She didn't think Carol was that determined. Or considerate. "Really?"

"Only for two weeks, though. The customers these days are fatal," Carol uttered. "Remember the shelf we had to rearrange because of that customer's devil of a child?"

She did remember, but that wasn't what her mind was processing now. "Carol, you're serious?"

"Five shifts. In return, let's switch five shifts whenever I want."

"Deal," Aria declared. "Thanks a lot, Carol."

"Right back at you. See you later, babe."

Aria was overjoyed. When she had first started working for the store, the roster had been in line with her plans for the day, but after Carol's replacement of her predecessor, she had taken almost every slot that had worked well for Aria. Aria never took the initiative to ask Carol about swapping shifts as she found Carol slightly withdrawn towards her, maybe even a tad bit scary. So even though the adjustment was for a brief period, she was delighted to attain it.

She didn't have much to do for now other than going back home and finishing her assignment for the next day. She decided to stop by at Coffee Break for a short while, wondering if the stranger would be there this time.

The smell of coffee beans hit her first thing when she entered the café. It was a fresh change of setting, always bringing her scurrying mind a moment of peace. The middle-aged woman who handled the counter most of the time she visited there passed her a warm smile as if she had been expecting to see Aria any moment.

Aria ordered a caramel milkshake, opting for something cold from the heat outside before she was sent away by the woman saying that she'd bring the drink over to her. Just when her eyes zoned into the window seat that she usually had the opportunity to sit on during the evenings, she spotted him. The stranger.