A rose to grind

-25-

"Café Deluna," I read out aloud the name written in cursive bold letters at the top of the board plastered at the front of the shop. It was much smaller in comparison to the ones I had ever been to, but there was a sense of warmth lingering in the air around the minuscule compartment.

"It's a nest for the spirits," even with his considerable height, Ynez had to crane his head to survey the bold title. "I don't know how, why it became that way, but I feel a great life force energy here. It's almost...searing."

I  pushed past the lyptus door, and as I set foot into the room, a jingle of the bells attached to the top of the doorframe alerted of my intrusion. The noise was shrill, yet ephemeral, only serving to attract the attention of the customers sitting dormant, either alone or with their significant others. I turned back to Ynez, who subsequently appeared quietly behind me.

"A café for couples," I said mundanely.

"It wasn't intentional," Ynez preened in return, and slid past him to the counter. He tilted his head to the side, his left side eyeing me deviously, "But I do like it."

He slid his wallet across the counter towards the cashier, muttering the syllables of the names of coffee, or desserts, or whatnot. I had no idea, and I noticed how he hadn't asked for my opinion once before ordering. But even with my tastebuds that were accustomed to the lavish expenses, I was not a picky eater, so I was humbled. I left him there, having no amorphous purpose, then plopped down on a seat in the farthest right side next to the window. The transparency allowed me to see through the film separating me from the rest of the world.

I lifted my eyes and found Ynez trudging towards the occupied table. He slid onto one seat, and propped up his elbow, leaning into the palm of his hand while simultaneously observing me, staring as if I were the most interesting thing he'd ever came across. It made me feel as though we were the only two people in the entire world, and everything else had just blurred into the unneeded sections of the background.

For a while, the two of us sat in silence. Ynez made no attempt to start a conversation, so it was up to me to be the ice-breaker.

I begun, "Is this place haunted?"

Finally, Ynez opened his mouth. He laid his arms on the surface of the table, resting his chin on them and he gandered up at me from below, giving an illusion that he were an obedient dog declaring his innocence. I wondered if he was aware of his own actions at trying to curry favor, but they were pretty evident to me.

"Most people will think so," Ynez's hair was swept to the side, revealing a patch of skin on which one curved eyebrow appeared in sight, while his hair, the color of mint-chocolate fell over the left eye. He blew out strands of mint out, but nevertheless, they rendered his left eye of any vision. "But, it is otherwise. The life force is mainly linked to attachment. It seems to me that before the café was constructed, there was something else in this place. Perhaps, a building that had been lost during war."

"I see."

Silence prevailed, only filled with the occasional tapping of my fingers against the board of the table. Ynez, on the side opposite of me, leaned back into his chair, childishly lifting it up and down. His front teeth sank into his bottom lip, and he settled down his chair for the fifth time, before leaning in closer to me.

Then, he said, "Your name...what was it?"

"You claim to love me, yet you don't even know my name," I scoffed, and nitpicked at a random piece of tissue I acquired from the box set down handily in case of an emergency. I tore away the piece, imagining that in its place were Ynez's body, his limbs torn apart and all bloodied. But knowing that I was bound to escape him, I decided to leave him a little momentum — it being my name. "It's Yugo. Yugo Karrina, or at least not anymore."