Coffee and Cigarettes and Everything in Between

Thirty-four

Winter

Looking at the metal door in front of me, I silently prayed that the one I'm looking for was on the other side of the rectangular material. This is the last place that I could think of where she would be.

"So where are we?" I asked her.

"In one of my favorite places. I come here usually to think or just find a better perspective I guess."

She has gotta be here.

My fingers almost went numb by the number of times I dialled her contact from my phone. It wasn't even ringing. Her phone was turned off.

I've visited the café earlier and her staff said she didn't go to work nor did she said anything about taking a leave.

The next one I went to was her apartment. I rang the doorbell to the point where the buzzer almost fell off its case. I waited for an hour but there was no movement. The only person that I saw was her neighbor looking so annoyed, wondering what the hell I was doing at her place on a Saturday at one in the afternoon ringing her doorbell like a crazy person.

I returned to the café after to ask the staff for the address of Ningning's pastry shop. But it seemed like luck was not on my side today. I was told by her assistant manager that she was on a meeting with their supplier and will probably return not later by eight in the evening.

I can't wait that long. I've waited for more than three years already, I'd go crazy if I let this day pass up without telling her that I came back for her. That three years later, she is still my heart's dream.

Turning the knob and pushing the door open, I was momentarily blinded by the afternoon sunlight. Squinting my eyes to try and see a clearer view of the place, I then walk slowly to the only person sitting on one of the few benches in the area.

"Hi." I calmly greeted her. Three years later and here we are. She's still smoking, still beautiful, and I'm still head over heels for her.

She turned around when she heard my voice. For a moment, her face was filled with confusion until she recognized who I was and that's when she greeted back, "Hey."

"What are you doing here?" We both said in unison. Motioning my hand to let her go first with her words, she then tapped the space beside her for me to sit.

"I came here to think." She said after I sat beside her.

"About what?" I asked her as I looked at the cigarette butts that are currently on the ground. I was already on four when she answered my question stopping me on my count. "About you."

"What about me?"

"Nothing. Just thinking about how beautiful you are." She was looking and smiling at the scenery in front of us: there was only a few clouds but the shade of the sky made up for it.

"And you need to be on top of a building to be thinking that?" I look at her trying to tease her but her sight was still set on the view ahead of us.

"More or less. How about you? What are you doing here?"

"I've been calling you all day but you aren't picking up."

"I turned my phone off before going up here."

"I've been calling you since this morning so you mean to say that you've been here since then?"

"You can say that."

She reached for her phone that's beside her and with quick work it lights up. She looks at me, "Now I'm getting all of your notifications." Karina said with a smile when she finally turned on her phone and the place was suddenly filled the sound of her notification tone. It took a few minutes before the flood of messages and missed calls died down. There was nothing I can offer but a simple "sorry" for the barrage of messages that I left her.