Here with you

It's a date

The little bell on the top of the door tinkles as I push it open.

The scent of coffee rushes into my senses the second I do so, and I close my eyes and take a moment to inhale the bittersweet scent. Ah. This is the life, I think with a smile.

"Welcome, miss! Would you like your regular order?" Fana cheerfully greets me, breaking my reverie. This sweet voice that floats through my ears never fails to charm my heart, and I walk towards the counter with an even bigger smile. I can only hope that I don't look like a maniac with the humongous grin that I'm sporting.

"Yeah, an Iced Americano for me. The usual. The regular order. The... um, yeah," I say, leaning against the counter with my elbows propped on the wood. The moment I end my order I scold myself for stuttering and rambling at the end. Oh well. Guess I'll have to come tomorrow and try to act more suave and charming.

"Okay! Your order will be ready in a few minutes. Please take a seat!" Fana says, unfazed by my obvious awkwardness. I resist the urge to squeal and pull her cheeks and take my usual seat by the window.

To pass the time, I scroll through my phone, excitedly waiting for her to announce my name. This is usually the second chance I get to talk to her, and after one month of trying, I've learned a lot from my past mistakes. At least, enough to hopefully avoid further embarrassment.

I start going through the subtle ways of finding out whether a girl is gay when my phone buzzes with a notification. I'm too distracted to pay much attention to the message, but I hazily register my friend asking for my whereabouts.

Annoyed at the distraction from my research, I hurriedly send her my live location and move back to my notes, giggling and buzzing with anticipation of our next conversation.

I hear the doorbell tinkle when I'm about to hit the internet for more tips and the familiar sound temporarily distracts me. I look up to see who came in and rang the bell when my eyes widen.

"Hey, Noor," Nila greets me, taking a seat across my chair. I open and close my mouth, unable to believe that Nila would actually use my live location and track me down.

This unfortunate timing frustrates me and I almost snap at Nila, when Fana's melodic voice rings through the shop. My entire body freezes as I hear her voice pronounce the syllables of my name.

"Miss Ruhi? Your Iced Americano is ready!"

Dread crawls across my entire being and I attempt to sink into my seat, praying that Fana doesn't come searching for me.

"Miss Ruhi? Ruhi? I have your order. Please come and collect it," she calls out, further sending me into a panic. I've seen her deliver orders to people who are too distracted by their phones to hear their names, and Fana knows where I sit.

"I wonder who Ruhi is," Nila mutters, shaking her head in exasperation. "Can't she hear the barista calling her name repeatedly? One would think she placed an order and ran away for whatever reason."

I laugh nervously and am about to reply when a glass clinks on the table, causing me to jump.

"Ruhi! There you are! Couldn't you hear your name being called? You're usually in such a hurry to collect your order..." Fana says, her hands firmly on her hips. I swallow and laugh nervously, all too aware of Nila's confused expression.

"Th... thanks Fana. I was talking to Nila, so I must have missed my name," I stammer, praying that Nila wouldn't point out Fana's mistake.

Fana frowns at my words and turns to Nila as if noticing her for the first time. She doesn't seem very happy that Nila has accompanied me today but politely asks for her order.

Nila glances from Fana to me, and I sense the beginnings of understanding stir in her eyes. Uh oh. That look on her face never ends well.

"Thanks a lot, Fana, but I'm afraid I've already had my caffeine for the day," she replies coolly. Fana smiles and nods, bowing to take her leave. My nerves have been steadily rising, and I'm almost happy that she's leaving when Nila's words make her pause again.

"By the way," Nila begins, fixing Fana with her cat-like stare and smiling amusedly. "I must've misheard you, but I think you called my friend Ruhi. Is that right?"

Fana glances at me and nods, and I almost burrow into the cushions in frustration. The only thing that runs through my mind is, please don't hate me. please don't hate me. please don't...

"But Fana... if I'm not mistaken, the name of the beautiful young lady sitting across me is Noor, not Ruhi," Nila says, and I would've screamed at her if my throat wasn't tight with fear. I'm too afraid to look at Fana, who must be looking at me with a mixture of hurt and frustration.

Nila clears her throat, causing me to look up at her. Her eyes urge me to talk to Fana and figure out the misunderstanding. I gulp nervously and nod my head, and she responds with a sweet smile.

How easy for her to smile like that. She just needs to sit there and shatter all my secrets. It's me who has to deal with the consequences. Hmph.

"Noor?" Fana says, and my heart tumbles at the sound of my name -my real name- on her lips. It's enough to raise my head and look straight into her umber eyes.

"Is... is that your real name? Noor?" Fana asks again, and I almost melt at how my name sounds in her sweet voice.

Now is not the time, Noor. The romance comes later. First deal with the mess at hand.

"Yeah," I say, my voice unwavering for once. "The thing is, you wrote down my name incorrectly the first time I came here, and I didn't correct you then because I was in a hurry. And you're really sweet and incredibly cute, and I didn't know how to tell you that you've been calling my name wrong for the past month."

The last part startles me as much as it startles her, and I curse myself for letting my tongue run loose once again.

Great. I called her sweet and cute at the worst time possible. Now she's probably gonna back off and never talk to me ever again. Ugh.

However, Fana doesn't seem weirded out by my compliment and instead stares at me with an intensity that makes me blush. Somehow, I find the courage to stare back until Nila clears her throat, causing both of us to look away immediately.

"Okay then," Nila says, gathering her things and getting up with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "I should be off now. Loads of work to take care of. You two may continue without me."

The doorbell tinkles behind her and I'm left with Fana standing over me with an expression I can't identify. My nerves are practically killing me, and I consider getting up and going when Fana slides into the seat opposite to mine and grabs a napkin. She writes something on the fragile paper and hands it to me with a charming smile adorning her lips.

"This Friday. Six o'clock. Ti amor restaurant. Don't be late, okay?"

I blink in confusion at the numbers scrawled on the paper. My mind is frazzled with the tension I've gone through, and Fana notices it because she smiles and takes my hands in her own.

"Noor," she says, breaking me out of my reverie. "I've been waiting so long to confirm whether you like me. Trust me, if this hadn't happened today, I would've asked you out anyways."

"Ask... asked me out?" I stammer. Wonderful. My stammering is back again.

"Yes, silly," she laughs. "I'm asking you out this Friday. It's a date."

"Fana!" her boss calls angrily, interrupting our rather interesting conversation. "There is a huge line of customers waiting here! Come and take their orders immediately."

"Yes boss," she answers and points at the napkin tentatively. "That's my number, okay? Call me tonight. We can plan our date in detail."

I barely register her leaving and stare at the napkin in shock, a slow smile spreading across my lips as her words repeat themselves in my head.

It's a date.