Tea and Coffee, Vol. 3

Tea and Coffee, Vol. 3

'Are you sure this'll work?' I ask.

Lily pauses to think for a moment, the still air being interrupted only by our shoes hitting the pavement floor.

'Nothing's for certain. Especially with cats,' she says, staring into the distance. 'But when they leave home, for whatever reason, they usually don't stray too far.'

I nod, taking the plate from her. I bring it up to my face and let the aroma of tuna steak waft up my nostrils. The smell would be enough to lure me out of hiding, so as surprised as I was to see a beaming Lily standing by my door at nine in the morning, the plan seemed like it could work.

I pry a small piece of tuna from the main body. It flakes off easily and I hold it above the small opening of my shoulder bag. A few seconds pass and I begin to feel a nibbling at my fingertips. I let the piece slide down into the bag and hear a soft, appreciative meow.

'You've never seen me out of my work clothes, have you?' Lily asks, looking down at her knee-high boots, her hands in the pockets of her hoodie.

'Not that I can think of' I say, glancing at her.

She was of half Chinese descent, from her mother's side. Her cheeks were full and her cheekbones high, but you could see where a childhood living on a farm had hardened them. She had a soft voice and wide Irish eyes, not sharp and glistening like an emerald, but deep and filling like a forest. She wore subtle pearl earrings and her dark crimson hair was pulled back in a ponytail. It was an unusual shade, most people would think she had dyed it, but after knowing her for a little over a year, I knew that was not true. She didn't fuss over her appearance enough to change it like that.

'You've never seen me hungover, in just my bathrobe and underwear, have you?' I said, recalling the events this morning.

'It was definitely a sight to behold' she laughed. 'Who knew the quiet boy with his cats and books went out once in a while.

'Only a while' I groaned, feeling the sharp pain of dehydration and remorse in my head.

We continued to walk through the winding streets and open fields. She talked about her work at her family's pet store. She was on a placement year as a graphic designer. Officially she was helping to design posters and the like, but as her parents were getting ready to retire, it soon became her place to run. I talked about my studies at the town's university. I had just finished my thesis, a six month long project that accounted for most of my final year.

'That explains the drinking then' she says, and Tea meows confirmingly.

'You brought her with you?!'

'Of course' I say. 'There's no way I would leave her alone overnight. Besides, she ought to learn how the night scene works, she'll be that age soon enough.'

Lily smirked. 'I bet she worked well with the ladies though.'

'Mmh, a bit too well.' I say, reaching into my bag and patting Tea on the head. She meowed with pride.

'Sorry not sorry', she seemed to say.

Soon we had been walking for almost three hours. The collective groan of our three stomachs made us stop. We had reached the canals at the other end of the town, high up on a hill and looking down upon the twisting path we had taken. I, being caught offguard and still in a sleepy haze, had neglected to bring my wallet and she, being the *excellent* planner she was, hadn't done so either.

Our town wasn't what you would call particularly large. From the top of the hill we stood on you could encompass it into a single view. But if you looked closer, if you studied each street and connecting pathway, you would see the maze that it really was. There was never a straight route from A to B. Those who lived here, who managed to travel within it without getting lost, developed some kind of inbuilt magnetic compass, I eventually concluded.

'It would take about two hours to get back home' I thought, as we had been walking mainly uphill. I looked at Lily and she looked back, her eyes the same colour as the field we stood in. It was clear she was thinking the same thing as me. Tea meowed disapprovingly, but the rumble of her stomach betrayed the righteousness in her voice.

'Sorry Coffee' I said, as I reached out and took a bite out of the tuna steak.