Coffee and Cigarettes and Everything in Between

Eleven

Karina

Dating Winter for the past three months have been interesting. I've learned a lot of things about her like she was literally named after the season winter, she's sharing an apartment with Giselle and that they have known each other since they were seven, and that Vincent Van Gogh inspired her to paint. I've come to know her a lot better too. Despite of her cold name she's literally a warm-hearted person, she'd feed random stray cats on the street. She also has this habit of pouting whenever she's embarrassed or sulky which I find really adorable.

It's almost two in the afternoon which means that sooner or later Winter will come in the shop to get her usual coffee fix. Until now I haven't asked her why she always drink coffee at two in the afternoon, I mean that is the time when there is the least number of customers plus the sun is also at peak at that hour so it's usually hot. I just think that it's very unusual, well Winter is really unique tho. My thoughts are distrupted when Ningning suddenly asked me, "So how is it going with Winter?"

It's the curious Ningning all over again. She's always like this when I'm going out with someone.

"She's great Ning." Was my simple response to her.

"I can tell, your smiles are different these days Unnie." She said as she elbowed my side.

"Well I guess she's different." I said to Ningning as I swiped the counter clean.

"Different? How?" Ningning asked again. She's not gonna stop asking questions until I   satisfy her curiosity. Normal Ningning, I thought and smiled to myself.

I leaned on the counter and faced her before I answered, "Well you know, the relationships I've been in the past, I've let the other person lead me. With Winter she's letting me take the lead, I mean she's the one initiating the dates but when it comes to the pace of things, I think she's letting me decide on how  fast or how slow we should take things."

"Soooo it's good different then?" She asked again.

"I think so. You know me, Ning. Most of the time I act on impulse. If I like the person, I like the person there's no in between. I really like her Ning and she's letting me lead her, and she's just so warm, fragile and innocent that I don't trust myself enough that I won't break her at the end. I just don't want to mess up whatever we have going on"

"Wow, you got it bad Unnie." She said as she handed me a cup of water. I took the water and drank it before I answered her with a smile, "I guess so Ning."

Moments later a guy maybe in his mid-twenties came in. As usual it's a routine, greet the customer a good day, ask for his order, make the order, get the payment, give the order and the receipt. But this particular customer decided to make my day a bit more interesting and asked me, "Can I take you out too?"

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

He then shrugged his shoulders and showed me his brightest smile and said, "Well can I take you out too later after your work?"

Just then the bell chimed in which made me look at the door and there I saw Winter with daisies on her hand which made me automatically smile. Ever since our first date,   she has been giving me daisies whenever she comes here or whenever we're going out.

Turning my attention to the customer, I gave him a sad smile before answering, "Sorry, someone's already taking me out later."

And just in time, with daisies in her hand, Winter arrived at the counter. The customer then looked at Winter then back at me as Winter gave me the daisies. Probably already knowing what I meant, he grabbed his coffee and went straight out the door without any words.

"What was that?" Winter asked me. She must have noticed the previous customer looking at us.

I answered her with a shrugged and thanked her for the flowers. She then ordered her usual but without Giselle's order since she's stuck at her work. After getting her coffee she proceeded to sit by her usual table by the window.

Since there's not much customers at this time, there's nothing much to do so I just observed Winter from time to time. She seemed giddy when she entered the shop earlier but her mood seemed down at this time. Her eyebrows are furrowing more than usual and I can tell that she's not reading her book since she hasn't flipped the page for several minutes now.

I called out Ningning from the lounge and asked her to take over at the counter for me.

Having my cleaning materials with me, I set off to tidy the tables that have been recently emptied by the customers. Again it's a routine: gather the empty cups and plates, place it in the tray and swipe the table clean. I purposely cleaned the table beside Winter last. Before I left that specific spot, I turned around to face Winter's table and carefully placed a table napkin with a kissmark and and "XO" written below it. As expected she looked up to see me but before she can ask me a question I turned my back on her  to head back to the counter but not before I left her with a wink. 

After washing my hands in the sink, I came back at the counter and saw from there that Winter already left the shop. I then looked at my watch to check the time and realized that it's nearly four in the afternoon and that's usually when people starts coming in again and it's the time where Winter normally leaves.

I didn't get to ponder on my thoughts since Ningning started to fire questions at me again.

"What did you do?" she asked.

"I just finished washing my hands." I said and laughed at her question. She literally saw me back at the lounge cleaning myself up.

"Not that Unnie!" she said with a frustrated voice. It's fun to tease Ningning like this, it is really these times when I'm reminded that she's younger than me.

"Then what do you mean?" I replied.

"I meant, what did you do with Winter? One minute she's frowning like crazy then you suddenly cleaned the table beside her and the next thing she's blushing profusely with a smile plastered on her face."

"Ning you're exaggerating now." Was my simple response.

"I am not. Your girl is white as snow that I can see her blushing from here. And to tell you Unnie, even as she left the shop that blush was still so evident." Ningning said as she looked at the table that Winter occupied.

"You know me Ning, I do a lot of crazy things sometimes. I noticed that her mood was on the grumpy side so I did something that I thought will brighten her up. And base from your statements I believe it worked." I explained to Ningning. Hopefully it will make her stop asking questions now because rush hour in the shop is about to begin again.

"The things you do for her Unnie." She said as she tap my back accompanied by her teasing smile. I didn't respond anymore or else I'll never hear the end of it from Ningning instead I rolled my eyes at her and I was again met by her teasing laugh.

It's nine in the evening when I decided to smoke in the balcony. Every huff and puff of smoke gives me a sense of peace. I guess I needed it tonight. Ningning has been teasing me nonstop since this afternoon and I guess she was right. I've never been like this. I've never liked somebody like this in a short amount of time. Yet here comes Winter casually walking in my life with her puppy eyes and dimpled cheeks like it's a normal thing for her.

Ningning is right, I got it bad and it feels good.

Before I went to bed that night I texted Winter and asked her if she's free on Friday. That was the first time that I initiated our date or any of my dates for that matter. The things I do for you Winter.