A Chance to be Loved

Chapter 8 - Something in Common

I waited for Tia to serve my order and as I was waiting, I'm also enjoying the views from the outside. I could see the massive maple tree and the different colors of the leaves, ready for autumn; there were people doing their morning jog near the playground. I hope it won't rain today and I've been wondering and worrying about Sam. Is she sick? She used to be here at this time. What was taking her so long? I took out the pen from the inside pocket of my suit and when I was about to write my reply, I heard a familiar voice from someone who just came in inside the coffee shop.

"Good morning Tia! What's for today?" she asked.

"Oh dear! Samantha, are you sick? Would you like some macaroni soup?" Tia was surprised and worried at the same time.

"I think I am sick. I was caught up by the heavy rain yesterday and I didn't have my umbrella with me." She kept on wiping her nose. I was trying to calm myself not to interfere.

"Alright, just take a seat then while I prepare the macaroni soup. When will you have someone to look after you?"

"I don't know, maybe I'll die sick and single." I was trying to keep my cool and pretended I didn't know she was there. I kept the sticky note and the pen inside my pocket as fast as I could before Sam saw me.

"Excuse me, this is my spot." She sounded annoyed.

"Oh hi Sam! How are you?" I answered while grinning.

"Sebastian? Why are you here?" She looked surprised to see me. If only I could take a photograph of this moment, I would.

"I assumed this is a coffee shop and I'd like to have a cup of hot coffee here. Do you mind sharing this spot with me?"

"No worries. I don't mind at all. I'm sorry about how I reacted, I didn't know it was you."

"It's alright, I understand. I'd react the same way if somebody takes something important to me."

"Thanks for understanding." The bags under her eyes made it more obvious that she was lacking sleep.

There she is, sitting in front of me, looking so beautiful even without makeup on. How could she possibly be so beautiful in a pair of jeans and T-shirt? If love is a person, I wanted it to be Sam. The only thing which I'm grateful was the fact that I could hide and control my emotions in public. I'm not the pretentious kind of a person; it was just an advantage that I'm good at hiding what I truly felt. I tried to ask her questions to keep our conversation going.

"How are you? Did you sleep well last night?"

Did you sleep well last night?  What am I even thinking? We were not that close for me to ask her something like that.

"I didn't sleep well last night. My head was aching and I was having a slight fever." Me too Sam, me too. I wasn't able to sleep well because I've been thinking about you. She looked pale; no doubt she was really sick.

"Did you take any medicine? Or maybe eat some macaroni soup? It helps me whenever I'm sick. My older brother used to make some for me."

"What a coincidence. My cousin just made some macaroni soup for me. Can I call you Seb instead of Sebastian?"

"I'd love that. You can call me anything you want. I don't really mind." I winked at her and I saw the sudden change on her face. Is she blushing?

We both looked outside due to the sudden fall of the heavy rain. I was thinking if she brought her umbrella this time. I don't mind spending some time with her since Andy moved my morning meeting schedule for later this afternoon. I'm free the whole morning and I'd like to spend it with Sam.

"Did you bring your umbrella now?" I asked while looking at her. "Yeah, I think I have it. Let me check." She opened her bag and checked the pockets.

"I have it."

"That's good. You might get wet again if you don't have it, this kind of rain won't seem to stop easily. It may take some time. What about a jumper?"

"What about it?"

"Do you have any jumper with you?"

"Oh. I don't have one. I might just borrow one from my cousin."

"Alright. How did you know Tia?"

"She's my cousin." Just when I'm about to ask another question, Tia came with our orders.

"Look what we have on her, Sebastian and Samantha. Here's your order! Do you know each other?"

"You know him?" Sam asked while pointing a finger on me.

"Yes of course. Sebastian is Xander's younger brother. We met when Xander and I started dating. So, how did you know him?"

"Actually, it was a long story." I said while looking at Sam.

"He lent me his umbrella yesterday. I got caught up by the heavy rain and Seb was there to help me."

"Hey! That's not exactly what happened." I tried to interrupt her.

"I'm just making it short mister Sebastian."

"What a small world! I can see a connection between the two of you. I have to go back to the counter now before this place gets crowded. Samantha, don't forget to take your medicine." I could sense a little bit of support from Tia. She walked away while looking back at me with a big smile. It felt like she was telling me to go for whatever I had in mind.

"Why are you here in England?" I asked her. She looked so cute while eating her soup.

"Hmmmm. If I tell you why, will you understand?"

"Try me, Sam."

"I tried to escape from the pressure of getting married. My family and friends don't seem to understand my reasons why I'm still single."

"I'm sorry to hear that, it might be tough on your side." I wanted her to feel my support.

"It's really tough. So I came here to regain my peace of mind."

"Did it help? I mean, when you came here were you able to have the peace of mind that you wanted?"

"Somehow it helped me but sometimes I felt like I wanted to have someone around. I'm not lonely but I seldom feel the need of having someone to talk to. It's rare to find someone who gets where you're coming from nowadays."

"That's deep and I feel you. I also felt the same sometimes. We can still be happy, most things can be happiness based and it doesn't necessarily involve a person. If you're going to depend your happiness on a specific person, once that person walks out of your life, so does happiness. I think happiness is a state of mind."

"You're deeper, I like it. I strongly agree with you. That's why I don't really like attaching myself because if I do, it hurts me so much when they decide to just leave."

"Don't worry, I'll never leave you." I made eye contact with her. Hearing those words made her surprised and confused. I've never been serious when it comes to relationships but with Sam, I will move mountains to win her heart. "Aren't we friends now? I assure you, I'll never leave you. I'll stick with you no matter what."

"That's so sweet of you to say that. I felt so honored. Of course, we're friends now. It felt so good to share this spot with you." There she was again, making my heart pounding so hard inside my chest. I noticed that we both have some common grounds, the latte and the macaroni soup. I wonder what she liked to do during her spare time.

"It's my pleasure to be in your spot while having coffee. I hope my mornings will be like this forever."

"Sorry but nothing lasts forever though."

"If nothing lasts forever, will you be my nothing?" She laughed.

"That's really funny, Seb. I didn't expect that you're also into books."

"Yeah, I like reading books." And just like that, Sam thought I was just joking around. If only I could tell her that I'm starting to fall madly in love with her. But now is not the right time to tell her about it.