Umbrella over Coffee

I opened my umbrella and made my way precariously down the glossy steps, the paper bag holding my birthday treat from Starbucks dangling from the tips of my fingers. I’d wrapped 2021 and was all ready to indulge in some sweets and coffee.

As I approached the traffic lights, I saw a young man ahead, waiting at the kerb for the green light. Suddenly, I had an impulse to shelter him from the rain. It was something I hadn’t felt like doing in a long time. As the lights remained stationary, I decided and took a breath. Here goes.

“Would you like me to shelter you across?”

He turned towards me with a slight look of surprise. “Oh… no it’s okay, I’m just going nearby.”

“It’s okay, I’m going the same way,” I said with a grin beneath my mask.

I held out my umbrella towards him and we waited, a slightly awkward silence hanging between us. All too soon, it was green and we started walking.

In that short walk, I found out he lived in the apartment across and was waiting to study Architecture at university. We talked about how he is looking to tutor Math and Science instead of English like me, about mothers, about kids. I spoke of enjoying couplehood; he asked if I was going out to celebrate New Year’s Eve. We shared a wistful wish to travel and then arrived at the diversion where we were to part.

“Well, all the best for your studies,” I said. He responded with some parting words. There were no numbers, no Instagrams, just a serendipitous act of charity for a stranger who remained one at the end of it.

And somehow, it lent a sort of magical touch to this New Year’s Eve, as if humans crave the warmth of giving in the coldness the world has come to be. Maybe. But I know I would do the same again the next time I have an umbrella over coffee.

Wishing everyone a very happy new year.

Acoustic

Peaceful morning, quiet space
Enrique can take my breath away
Cup of hot coffee, brownie with ice
Aromatic sounds to acoustic vibes

Steep me here in timelessness
Brewed companionship a must
Musical fidelity by grace, and
Elvis saves the best for last.

Ode To The Gibraltar

Serendipity falls on a
Rainy day, when I found him
Secluded, quite hidden away

I don’t think we’ve met
No, we haven’t – yet

So I stayed and discovered
Him, of exceptional taste
When we parted I prayed
We would meet again with haste.

Affogato

Where intensity meets
Smoothness; kick in with your
Sweet strength, loaded.

Coffee, Tea Or

We walked back to the car, him armed with provisions from the convenience store, me with two bottles of iced coffee.

We opened the car doors and scrambled in; it was freezing.

He took a swig from his bottle of iced tea, then turned and offered it to me.

“Want some?”

“Nah weather’s too cold. I need hot tea.”

“Alrighty,” he said.

He took another swig, keeping the fluid in his mouth this time. Suddenly, he swiftly turned and leaned towards me while I gasped and pushed him away, him laughing at my glare.

Ignoring him I opened my bottle, then tilted it at my mouth and felt the cold brew gushing down my throat. Much needed fuel for the caffeine addict.

“Do you want some?” I offered.

“Sure, but I want it hot,” he grinned.

“How hot do you want it?”

“As hot as you.”

Ethiopian Sidamo

Darkly he steeps
Smoky and pungent, with
A hint of fruitiness in his
Lingering after-kiss –
Quietly intense, my
Ethiopian single-origin.

Latte

Robust and full-bodied
Creamy yet strong
Hit me up this afternoon
With your sweet sweet spot.

Coffee

He loved coffee.
He wanted coffee.
She made them some coffee.
He said it’s too much, that coffee.
It scalded him, that coffee.
Doesn’t rejuvenate anymore, that coffee.
What good is non-rejuvenating coffee?
They had different preferences for coffee.
She stared at the cup of coffee.
Slowly turning cold, that coffee.
She tried to warm that coffee.
She wanted to scream, sometimes, at that coffee.
Still she never upsetted the coffee.
So it sits on the table, that coffee.
A single shot of a coffee.

Make it a double next time sweetie –
One more for the heart.

Over A Morning Latte

I was clearing out my drafts when I found this one that was started sometime ago (last draft was dated September 10, 2014 20:16!). This seems the best way to conclude it, because though this chapter has been closed, the story never actually ends. 😉

This morning, I was at my usual cafe, picking up my regular coffee. When I pushed open the door, who should I see but him, sipping a latte and reading the papers. He looked up as I entered and smiled.

“Hey there, so how’s things been?”

“You should know better than I,” I half grumbled, sitting down in front of him.

“Ah. That sudden interruption to your daily routine you mean? It must seem quite a distraction and so unsuspecting,” he smiled again, taking another sip.

“Distraction? It turned my life upside down! It confused and distorted! It threw me off balance! It was total destruction! And I’m not out of it yet…” I muttered.

“Now, now. It’s not that bad. Think of it as, well, a sort of training. You know how we practise to better our techniques, or beat our high scores.”

“Training? For what?” I was suddenly curious.

Annoyingly, he decided on that moment to take an eternal sip from his cuppa. When he finally placed it back on the table, he smiled.

“Well you’ll know soon enough, when the time is right.”

And his timing is always right.

Reason for Love