Midnight Coffee

Chapter 1

When I step out into the blinding morning light, I know that summer has officially begun. The air is already heavy and warm, the sun beaming down harshly, making me throw my hand over my eyes for shade. Across the busy street, people have already gotten their bikes out, riding around in shorts. The ice cream truck parked on the wide sidewalk is busier than I've ever seen it, handing cones to young children holding their parents' hands, or young couples preparing to go for a walk in the park.

If I didn't have to go to work, I might even go for a walk myself, but I do. So I pull a Pokéball from where they're hanging on my belt and release Cinderace, so he can walk alongside me and enjoy the summer air. He points to the ice cream truck, but I smile and shake my head.

The walk to Cerise Laboratory takes around ten minutes. I have eight minutes to make it there. Not that anybody is going to shout at me if I arrive late. The only person with any kind of authority over me is Chloe, and she's probably not even there. After her father retired, he passed the torch to her, but she juggles running the laboratory with performing in Pokémon shows, so in reality, I run the place.

I pull my keys from my pocket as we approach. I always arrive an hour before Chrysa and Ren, so I expect the door to be locked. When I climb the staircase and reach the doors, however, they're already unlocked. I recall Cinderace and step inside, grabbing one of the lab coats hanging on the hooks by the door and swinging it over one arm, then the other.

"Chloe?" I call out, adjusting the collar of the coat.

"In here," she calls from the kitchen area. I wander through to find her at the coffee machine, poking at a button aimlessly. Boltund is curled up in a bed in the corner of the room, snoring quietly. "This isn't working," she huffs. I laugh and head over to her, and she steps aside to let me take over. We don't really need to say hello to one another. We've spent most of twelve years with each other.

"Of course it works right away for you," she sighs, when a light stream of coffee starts pouring from the machine into the mug she sat underneath it. When it's done she curls her hands around the mug and heads over to the counter, where she slides onto a barstool. I can tell right away that something's up.

"What is it?" I ask, grabbing a mug from the cupboard to make my own coffee. She hesitates, rubbing her hands back and forth on the mug. I wonder how it's not burning them.

"Ash is coming to visit."

I pause, every muscle in my body going taut. I don't even realise my hand is directly under where the coffee flows from until it burns my hand and I yank it away, coming back to reality. Chloe's frowning at me like she expected this reaction, so I force my face into neutrality and nod. "Okay."

"He should be here in the next couple of hours," she adds.

"Surprised he has time to visit," I say bitterly. The coffee is done. I pick it up but make no move to join her on the barstools.

"Goh," she sighs. I bite down hard on the inside of my cheek, turning away from her. I have no interest in revisiting this topic with her again. She always comes right to Ash's defence whenever I have something to say about him. In her eyes, just like the rest of the world's, he can do no wrong. But is it really wrong for me to think he might come a little more often? Is it wrong to think he's abandoned us to the side, because he's too famous for us now? It's gotten to the point where his visits make me feel sad, more than anything else, because I know he won't stay.

"I'm going on a date tonight," I reply. It's not a lie. I really do have a date scheduled for tonight. Not that I'm really all that excited about it. It's just another person I've barely clicked with in my endless search for something meaningful.