Last Night at the Café

13 | Iced Latte

"Are you alright?"

She nodded silently.

"You'd better take your coat off."

The layer of clothes stuck to her like a second skin.

Seollal placed her bag on a counter, then shrugged her arms out from her coat. Her breaths were coming in gasps, her skin smarting from the cold. Then with his help, she peeled away her sweater, only to reveal a similar stain on her white shirt.

Her mind was a startling blank as she stared down at herself.

"How are you going to go to work like that?" he muttered, his fingers lingering on her sleeve.

How, exactly?

She wanted to scream.

Her throat tightened as she swallowed back her tears.

She wanted to sink to the floor.

"I don't know," she muttered, her eyes starting to smart. "I don't have time to go home and change."

Could she teach a class like this? It wasn't professional. She could pop into a shop and buy a shirt, but this stretch of stores contained nothing but eateries.

Kazu disappeared into a small room and came out with a pack of wet wipes and tissue in his hands.

"I'm sorry about that. Anna isn't usually clumsy. Do you want to use the locker room to clean up in?"

Then in one motion, he peeled his sweater from his undershirt and pulled it over his head. A sliver of skin peeked out from his white shirt before he tugged it back into place.

"Change out into this," he said as he held his sweater out to her. "It's warm."

"I can't take your clothes!" she exclaimed in surprise.

"It's alright. You can't go around in a wet shirt with that stain."

"Won't you get cold?" she asked.

The fabric of his shirt was loose over his frame, just hinting at his well built figure. Her mouth pursed at the collar bones that stuck out sharply from his skin as she gingerly took the offered sweater.

"The shop is heated. Go on," he urged her. "It's really fine. I'll stand guard out here, alright?"

Before she could protest further, he ushered her into the square space. The locker room was filled on two sides with metal cabinets, each one with a keyhole, while a bar on the other side had coats on hangers hung onto it. There was a smart, brown trench coat, a black puffer that grazed the floor, and a pink jacket with a faux fur collar.

In the silent confines of the space, behind the closed door, she made a face at her soggy shirt. Her fingers moved deftly to pluck the buttons from their eyelets. The overwhelming smell of coffee threatened to nauseate her but she hurriedly grabbed a bunch of wet wipes to scrub herself down.

What a mess she was.

She needed a good, thorough scrub when she got home.

There was no time to think about how his sweater hung ungainly past her waist or how her hands appeared to be withdrawn into the sleeves. One glance at her wristwatch showed her she would be late if she didn't hurry.

Kazu had a bag ready for her to place her dirty things in. Then he reached past her to remove the black puffer jacket.

"Take my coat too. I'll bring your things to the drycleaners later."

"Aniya," she said in alarm. "Then what are you going to wear?"

"Don't you have to move around the school? What are you going to wear? Just use my coat. I won't be going anywhere today. Come on, I've got your order here. I'll send you."