Forelsket

The Customer

Every 4:30 am, Nicomaine will wake up, stretch her body, and head toward the bathroom. After doing all her morning rituals, she will change to her running gear that usually consists of a sheer top, shorts, a sweater usually tied on her slim waist, and a pair of running shoes. Grabbing a hair tie, she will stand up in front of her tall mirror and do her brown hair up in a ponytail. Before leaving her townhouse type of house, she will always bring her phone and earphone and place the two ear buds on her ears.

She will jog first around their subdivision then runs outside towards the road where she can enjoy the trees and flowers graced by the morning sun. At 6:30 am, she will take a rest, wipe the sweats forming over her face and body, and, wearing a sweater over her body, starts walking towards the familiar coffee shop.

Every 7:00 am, she will enter that glass door that has a sign of "Welcome" and breath in the scent of fresh pastries and the strong aroma of coffee. The guy barista instantly smiles at her presence and asks for her order. She feels like wanting to try new stuff today so she looks up to face him.

His eyes... she instantly notices. They are so captivating.

Beneath his thick eyebrows are a pair of brown orbs that shines in glee. They are round but when he smiles, his eyes will form like an upside down U. It is attractive and cute to look at. Why does she notices this now?

Every single day, she comes here for as long as she can remember, and she never looks at the barista in the face because stares and looking straight at each other makes her antsy. But she does not feel like that while staring at his eyes. Those eyes are so inviting, so warm, and so mesmerizing that she never hears his clearing of throat until he makes a second attempt.

He instantly smiles when she snaps from her trance. She instantly blushes for obvious reasons.

"What is your order, ma'am?" he repeats the question.

Still baffled from earlier, Nicomaine looks up in a confused manner. "Uhm... ah... what... what can you recommend?"

What can you recommend?! she shouts at her inner self. You just sounded like a flirt there, Nicomaine.

But for Richard, it was a sign to impress her. To make a mark on her mind. He quickly dives in his stock of memory for information about latte recipes he had learned back when he was taking a course as a barista.

"I can make you a special latte..." ... since you are a special customer. Richard noted. "It will be off the menu, so I hope you will like it. It's a Crème Brûlée Latte."

"Oh." She sounds surprise. She never thinks he will actually suggest something off the menu much less a Crème Brûlée. "Thank you! This is my first time receiving something off the menu. How much do I pay?"

He smiles brightly. "Still the same,ma'am..."

She smiles sweetly as she waited for the next words she is accustom with. "That would be 150 pesos."

As they look at each other, they unknowingly grow conscious at each other and starts to wonder.

How he never seen her sweet and charming smile.

How she never noticed his warm and attractive eyes.

Until today that is. But no matter how they want to prolong the moment, time does not stop for anyone. So she quickly snaps out of her thought before she will be branded "weird for staring constantly" and starts fishing out a hundred and a fifty peso bill in her sweater's pocket.

"Here." She gives him the money with extra care she always does whenever she hands him the money. He reaches out for it with a smile still plasters on his face. But no matter how extra careful she is and how bright he smiles, they can not hide their nervousness in their action. Causing their fingers to touch as she hands the bill.

A sudden electrifying moment surges between their skin. They quickly pulls each other's arm and stares at their fingers in bewilderment. The bills are lying unceremoniously on the counter and no one, even Richard, gives a damn. Because that feeling, as if a jellyfish had stung you on the fingers, is a feeling unknown to them. That feeling throbs their heart in mysterious way. Jellyfish stings does not throb the heart of their victims like what they had felt.

Nicomaine does not know what to say. At least he receives her payment. Now she wants to escape, hide, and sort out this weird feeling. So she quickly turns around and goes out of the coffee shop. She heads straight at the veranda and sits on the table for two under the artificial Cherry Blossom. She pulls out her phone and earphone, and plugs the earbuds on her ear. As soon as mellow music starts flowing from her phone, her heart's beat slowly relaxes. Drawing her to a soothing place she can not afford a few hours from now when she goes to work as an Executive Chef at a fine dining restaurant.

But as the clock ticks and the mellow music consumes her, her fingers keep rubbing at each other as if they miss that electrifying moment. She leans back on her chair and feels the warm morning breeze but her eyes keep glancing secretly towards the inside of the coffee shop - towards the man behind the counter whose back is facing her. Before she knows it, she wishes for him to turn around and looks at her with those warm and attractive eyes.

He comes to her table with a tray containing the Crème Brûlée Latte he especially made for her. But unlike their usual closing remark on their everyday interaction as the barista and the customer, he stays behind and waits for her to take a sip of his masterpiece. Yes, a masterpiece, since that latte is made with his feelings for her.

When she takes a sip of the hot latte, her eyes instantly closes in delight. The latte is like a piece from heaven. She snaps her eyes open and looks at Richard with appreciation.

"This tastes really good!" she chimes.

"Glad you enjoyed it, ma'am."

"Oh, just please call me, Nicomaine."

"Then I'm Richard."

They smile together with the same train of thought. They know each other's name already but they will never admit it by saying it so they just... smile. Slowly, they feel their heart throbbing in their chest. But this time, it is not the skin contact that causes it. It is cause by looking at each other's happy faces.

Her smile...

His eyes...

Surely, this will not be an unrequited love story, right?

He only needs to gather more courage.

She only needs to show more interest.

'Cause the artificial Cherry Blossoms are enjoying this scene in the coffee shop as if they want to sway like a real Cherry Blossom trees.