The Caffeine Fix

CHAPTER 9

"Well, nothing wrong with hoping." Michael replied.

At around closing time, when everyone was leaving, Dan approached Tyla.

"Let's hang out for sometime?"

"Hang out? As in?" Tyla was taken aback.

"Hangout. Let's take a walk or something, chill at a club, do something! Come on. I am tired!" 

"Okay, okay, fine."

"Yup. Let me help with your closing time duties."

As they worked together in complete silence, Tyla wondered how despite talking to each other everyday, they had never spent any time alone and besides some occasional chatting, they hadn't had a lot of conversation on the phone either. She wondered as to what made him suddenly want to hang out with her that night. She thought of just asking him the reason.

"So, anything special?" She asked without looking at him.

"What do you mean?" He looked at her with surprise.

"Why did you suddenly want to hang out?"

"Well, I thought we're at that point where we can hang out without really having a reason."

"Hmm. Actually you're right. It's just that I hadn't thought about that till now. I mean…"

"Well, somebody gotta initiate it. I hope you're okay with this, though."

"Hah, I am pretty okay, but perhaps someone else might not be." Tyla smirked.

He looked at her.

"Well, what?"

"Really? Everyone knows, okay? Even the customers would be able to make that out."

"Duh." 

"Your thing with Carla?" She gave a mischievous smile.

"There is no "thing"." Dan replied with contempt to which Tyla smiled.

They finished their work in silence and started walking along the quiet pavement. An occasional car or two passed by and the road was unusually quiet for a Saturday. The silence was much more evident due to the silence between them. The silence continued until Tyla spoke,

"So…..what do you have in mind?"

"Honestly, Tyla, walking along this road seems good enough for me."

"Really? Oh, I thought you might want to go clubbing or something."

"Not really….."

"Well, are you sure everything is okay?"

"Yeah, Tyla, come on, we are simply walking, aren't we?"

"Right…." Tyla wasn't entirely convinced. Though she considered Dan her good friend, they had never really simply hung out, just the two of them.

"So, oh yeah, you know, the guy, Patrick James showed up again yesterday night?"

Dan paused in the way and looked at her.

"He? Again? Really? Out of all the places, Breeze Cafe? Twice?" He looked at her with a mixed look of suspicion and amazement.

"I wish I had something to prove it to you." Tyla sighed at the lack of evidence yet again.

"No, no, no, not that I doubt you or anything. But I doubt him. What's up with him? And well, he could have shown up today. I do want to meet him."

"Mh-hmmm." Tyla didn't have much to say. 

They walked in silence for some distance.

"So, how's your little band going? Any gigs?"

"Yeah, performing at a cafe next weekend."

"Oh, where?"

"It's a new place. Looking for a crowd. The owner is an old friend of Bryan."

"Ah, so kind of like a favour, eh?"

"Well……yes and no. We decided that we'll do this one for free and if business booms up because of us then we'll charge something good the next time."

"Oh, sounds like a fair deal."

As they walked, suddenly after a long way of quietness, they see a crowd. A huge crowd.

"You see, that's the kind of crowd that I want at our concert." He pointed towards the crowd near a seemingly quiet and insignificant garden.

Tyla nodded and concentrated hard to figure out the reason behind the crowd.

"Shall we go there and see what up?"

"Ah, yeah, I am curious too." 

They both walked up to the crowd and could see a man waving to the crowd. Tyla gazed carefully and finally figured out who the man was.

It was him. Patrick James.

"Patrick James??" She said out loud.

"It's him?" Dan asked, surprised.

"Yep, it's him." A girl standing in front of them responded.