His hands cupped the white glass mug; his fingers completely wrapping around the entire cup. It wasn't the way he was holding it that interested me, it was the way his fingers overlapped one another and how he stared down into the coffee, as if the brown liquid was the most important thing in the world.
We had been sitting in silence for about 23 minutes now. We had talked about the weather and how annoying Mr. Andrews was, but we never got around to the subject that had been bothering me the most.
"So, that dog was pretty special, huh?" I tried to get his attention, but his eyes remained on his drink. He cleared his throat slightly only to respond a little forceful.
"His name is Ace."
His thick lips tucked back into a straight line before he pulled the glass up to his mouth.
"Do you want to talk about hi--"
"Not really, no."
Looking at him, I was surprised. It was easy to see, that underneath his black long sleeve; his muscles were flexed, and his neck was strained in frustration.
"Well, you're the one who wanted to get coffee and talk in the first place, so sorry for wanting to make conversation," I slid my mug across the wood of the table, and started to push out of my chair.
His hand finally left his mug as he delicately touched my forearm.
"Sorry, I just don't feel comfortable talking about it," He apologized, his eyes still transfixed on his hot beverage.
"First conversations between people who just met are always uncomfortable," I sighed, taking my seat back. His eyes finally met mine in a humorous glance.
"He was a gift," He explained, setting aside his coffee as he folded his hands together. Motioning for him to continue, I crossed my arms and leaned forward onto them on the table.
The warm wood was welcoming against my exposed cold skin.
The last few days here and Sydney had been a bit warm, but the wind was starting to pick up and so was the occasion for scarves and jackets. When Sydney turns cold, it definitely turns cold.
As his lips moved, so did his eyebrows. I loved that I picked that out about him in such a short amount of time. He was so expressive, and fully intact with what he was explaining. On rare circumstance, he would release his own hands to gesture something, or he would pause just to think how he could explain his emotion in a way that I would feel it, too.
"So, you mean to tell me, that you had to give up a newborn pup that your sister gave you because you roommate was allergic?" I asked, completely bewildered that this was the case.
He just nodded his head in response, and cue the loss of eye contact.
"Did you ever think about changing roommates?" I suggested. He chuckled lightly as he licked his lips.
"Are you suggesting that I move in with you Ms. Marks? Because if you are, I might just have to take you up on that offer," He leaned forward on the table and I smiled in reply. I was glad that his flirty persona was back, but a hint of sentiment was still left behind.
"That is absolutely not what I was saying," I said, pushing on his shoulder. He leaned back in his chair only to smile for half a second. For as long as I could, I tried to hold on to that smile, because damn, it was beautiful.
"Ash is like my best mate, I'm not gonna just leave him to pay for rent himself," He scoffed, drinking the last bit of coffee he had left.
"Well, you were pretty emotionally attached to that do-- I mean Ace, so. . . If you just told him, I'm sure he'd understand," I tried to reason but he just continued to shake his head in defiance.
