"Are you..."
The man took a piece of paper out of his shirt pocket and looked at the name on it.
"...Miss Annabella Parker?"
The girl gave him a smile with a slight nod.
She was wearing a black short pencil skirt along with a yellow shirt and black high heels. She was fair in complexion. Actually, she was more than fair, close to pale white. It wouldn't be a surprise if someone mistook her for a vampire. She was that pale like she was lacking blood.
Nevertheless, it didn't decrease her beauty.
"Yep, It's me. I'm Annabella Zoey Parker."
"Oh, that's cool!" The man quickly pulled a chair out of the wooden table with a 'Sqreez' sound and sat down across from her.
He rubbed his hands together before speaking like a parrot.
"Hi, Miss Annabella, I'm John Fedric, 31 years old this year, a lawyer, like to sing, play football, filial son to my parents and..."
"Woah, woah, Is this an interview?" Annabella asked with a low chuckle.
John shrugged his shoulders.
"Kind of... I guess."
Annabella didn't know what to say. They both fell into silence after that. Annabella thought that the situation was getting quite awkward. However, she didn't know how to start a proper conversation with a stranger.
To her relief, John spoke again.
"So miss Anna... Can I call you that?"
Annabella pressed her lips together.
'Hello, Mister. We are strangers, okay? You can't call me that!' She thought in her mind. However, she didn't say it out loud.
"Okay, sure, Johnny." She blurted out lazily.
"Ha ha ha... That's a funny nickname." John laughed.
Annabella raised her eyebrows in confusion.
"It's common. Don't tell me no one addressed you like that."
John scratched his chin a bit awkwardly.
"Anna, you are so straightforward with words."
"It should be 'Miss Anna' at least and... I'll take it as a compliment, thanks."
John tilted his head.
"You called me Johnny. So why can't I call you Anna? Isn't it unfair?"
Annabella cleared her throat.
"I'm thirsty." She said.
"Oh." John nodded understandingly before calling out to a waiter.
"Hey, two coffees, thanks."
The waiter nodded and turned to leave.
"Wait!" Annabella shouted.
Most of the other customers in the coffee shop turned to look at their table.
Annabella gave an apologetic smile to them before talking to the waiter.
"I don't like coffee. In fact, I hate them!"
"Then you want a strawberry milkshake, don't you?" The waiter asked casually.
Not only Anna but also John gave him a confused look.
The waiter boy was quite handsome in his white shirt, black coat and pants. He looked like a high school boy. He had messy straight jet black hair that reached the bottom of his neck. His eyes were ocean blue and they looked captivating.
"How do you know?" After a moment of daze, Annabella asked in disbelief.
"Do I need to explain it?" The waiter asked, looking at John from the corner of his eyes.
"Why not? Or else, I can only think of one possibility," Annabella said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"What is it, may I ask MA'AM?" His voice was filled with sarcasm.
"You are stalking me! Am I correct?"
The waiter bit his lower lip to prevent himself from smiling when he saw her cute expression.
'What a silly woman! She looks like a seven-year-old kid rather than a mature woman.'
"Nope, why would I? It's not like you're a great beauty." He mumbled, loud enough for Annabella to hear.
"Hey, I'm a beauty. Everyone says I'm a beauty! Even I can't help falling for myself when I look at my reflex in my mirror. Sometimes, I ask the mirror why shouldn't I just marry myself.."
The waiter didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He had never met such a narcissistic person before.
"You can marry your mirror then instead of this man." He said.
John gritted his teeth. Why did he feel like he was being a clown there?
"Hey, don't you dare change the topic! Tell me, how did you find out that.. I like strawberry milkshakes?" Annabella interrogated angrily.
The waiter gave her a look that showed, 'you deliberately asked for it. Now ready to face the consequences.'
Annabella suddenly had a bad feeling. Nevertheless, it was too late.
The waiter took a notebook out of his coat pocket and flipped to a certain page.
"Two months ago, as far as I know... during your first date at this coffee shop, you ordered a Strawberry milkshake saying that you don't like coffee to your... date I guess. And during the second date this month, the third date last week, the fourth date the day before yesterday..." The waiter paused and looked at John who had a pale and embarrassed look on his face.
The waiter wanted to laugh out loud because the look on his face was... just too priceless!
But he restrained himself and continued.
"...And fifth date today, you recapped the same thing."
John slammed the table.
"What a humiliation!" With that, he left the coffee shop with long strides.
Others once again started looking at Annabella's table. Nonetheless, this time, she could care less as she angrily stood up from her seat.
"Are you nuts? Why did you do that?" She roared.
The waiter boy shrugged his shoulders.
"You questioned me and I answered you. What's the matter?"
Annabella: "..."
"..How old are you?" She asked.
The waiter looked at her suspiciously.
"What does this whole thing have to do with my age?"
"Just tell me!" Annabella snapped.
The boy sighed, finally giving up.
"Okay, fine. Seventeen."
Annabella nodded her head understandingly. She had already guessed that he was still not an adult.
In fact, this little rascal was eight years younger than her. However, his sharp tongue couldn't even be compared to an adult's.
"Listen, little kiddo, I'll let you go this time considering that you're still a kid. But next time, don't you dare do something like this again otherwise..." She took a deep breath.
"Others won't leave you unless giving you some proper punches and kicks. You got me?"
The waiter boy scoffed mockingly.
"Listen, OLDER SISTER, I'M NOT A KIDDO. I'll turn eighteen next year. And about punches, kicks or whatever, I'M NOT SCARED. Not. At. All."
Annabella snorted coldly.
"I advised you out of kindness. I don't care whether you accept it or not. We won't meet again anyways. I'm gonna leave." She took her handbag and took a few steps towards the exit before coming to him once again.
"Bye for good!" With that, she left the coffee shop for real, deciding in her mind not to step on that place ever again although that coffee shop was the cleanest, simple and most elegant one of them all. Bah!
There were numerous coffee shops in Zeriah city. Why would she feel bad?
However, deep down in her heart, Annabella regretted her decision a little when she recalled the taste of her favourite strawberry milkshake.
'Why doesn't that life-ruining devil disappear from my coffee shop for good?' She thought, frustrated.
After an hour or two, Annabella finally reached heaven, which was also called her home. She went straight to her room, swiftly took her clothes off which were drenched in sweat and rushed to the bathroom.
"Aaah! Comfortable!"
She laid down in the bathtub which was filled with warm water and let her exhausted body be relaxed while closing her eyes. She almost slept in the bathroom when she heard her mom's voice.
"Sweetie," She yelled from the kitchen.
"Are you back home? I can sense you."
"How creepy!" Annabella mumbled unhappily before dragging her body out of the bathtub.
The warm water in the bathtub had long turned cold. Thanks to her mother, Annabella didn't catch a cold as she quickly got off the mess.
Wearing a T-shirt and a pair of shorts which was an inch above her knees, she went towards the kitchen.
"What's up, mom?" She leaned onto her mother's back while putting her hands on her waist and her head on her shoulder, inhaling the fragrance of her mother's perfume.
"Get off of me! I'm cooking." Mrs Parker tried to shoo her. But instead of leaving her mother alone, Annabella tightened her hold on her mother's waist.
"No, I can't," Annabella murmured. "Don't you love me anymore?"
Mrs Parker rolled her eyes.
"Don't act like a kid. You are almost 26." Although she said that, the smile on her lips betrayed her words.
"Mom, you are the one who told me that in parents' eyes, their children will always be kids no matter how old they are," Annabella said with a cute pout on her lips.
"Whatever." Mrs Parker put some oil on the pan when she recalled something and turned to her daughter who was glued to her like a giant koala.
"Speaking of which, I forgot to ask... How was the date today? Do you like him?" She threw the daily bomb at her daughter.
Annabella's face darkened immediately when she remembered the embarrassing incident.
"Mom, I don't like him." She blurted out, thinking about the waiter boy in her mind.
"Why do you say so?"
"Mmm... Lots of reasons. He's arrogant, reckless, and foolish. Most importantly, he doesn't know how to respect elders." Annabella went on and on without even thinking about what she was saying.
"What? OMG! I thought this time, I finally found my future son-in-law! What a pity!" Mrs Parker let out a long sigh.
Shreess!
"Oh no, my curry!"