Red Death

Timeless

There was a slight 'thunk' as the lock which had sturdily held it's place all night was clinked back into it's resting position. Her delicate hand moved from the lock to the closed sign hanging on the door which, with a light rustle, she flipped to open. It was a new day. And a very early one at that. The sun was still barely rising as she opened her cafe for business. She always opened early though. She wanted to give the elderly a chance to stretch their morning legs and have a nice cup of tea to start their day. She also had a regular that would show up at 6 am on the dot, right when she opened. They would greet each other with a smile and he would order the same thing every morning. A cup of jasmine tea. Which she made specially for him. They would then talk about the weather or the news as she finished the final touches to open the cafe. It was a pleasant time and the one she looked forward to the most every day. It was a good chance for her to practice her Japanese since she was still fairly new to the country. With these daily talks she had really grown in her ability to speak and read the language. It helped her a lot and the elderly man liked the company. In a way they grew to a grandfather/granddaughter type of relationship and now they worry for each other when their routine gets broken. It wasn't something Red had expected, but it wasn't unwelcome either. She glanced at the clock and saw it had struck 6 am. She glanced at the door and waited for the day to start just like any other. When she heard the bell ding and the now all too familiar sound of the door opening she knew this day would be just the same as the last. Which was something she was happy about. She really liked the routine and it showed in her smile when she greeted her elderly friend. His greeting matched the cheerfulness of her own and they set to chatting while she brewed his tea. Around five minutes into their chatter the doors' bell chimed again.

"Ruby-sama! Good morning!" Another cheery voice called as they ruched inside. "Good morning to you too sir." He gave the elderly regular a wave as he rushed off to the back.

"You're late again Minoru-san." Red crossed her arms and gave a light sigh. He was suppose to show at 6 am every morning. But he was always a few minutes late. She really wasn't that upset about it though. He did good work, was friendly, and always got everything done on time so she let him get away with his tardiness. It had kind of become a light joke between them. And in his lighthearted manner and clapped his hands together and gave a small bow in apology as he passed her by in his way to the back room to prep for the day. "What am I going to do with that boy.." She mumbled under her breath. Upon hearing her comment her elderly friend let out a hearty laugh.

"That's kids these days. So full of energy, but no time management." Red smirked and rolled her eyes at her friends comment.

"Augh.." She put her hand on her heart and pretended like his words hurt her. "Geez Gramps.. Stop making me so old! I'm only a couple years older than that 'kid'." She used finger quotes to emphasis the word kid as she spoke. She then grabbed tightly onto her shirt where her hand was over her heart and started acting like she was getting sick. "Oh nooo.. I feel the old age rapidly increasing! I might become older than you in the next five minutes!" She started to pretend cough and acted like she was shrinking under the counter. In response her elderly friend let out another hearty laugh and took another sip from his tea.

"You can't be aging so rapidly you have too much energy to get old like me. I think you might just live forever. Just like your cafe says, Timeless." He continued to chuckle and Red straightened herself back up, laughing lightly as well. Their laughing was interrupted however by the bell on the door dinging to life as a few more elderly came into the cafe. The clock had ticked to around 7 am now and the cafe was starting to get busy. Red continued to chat with her elderly friend every now and again as she moved between customers, but they weren't able to hold full conversations any longer. Her attention got moved to all the new customers coming in. Even though the cafe was only a couple months old it had gained popularity pretty quickly. Once the cafe starts to get busy the elderly man pays for his drink and says his goodbyes. Red knew he'd be back again tomorrow so their goodbye was short and sweet.