Tea and Coffee, Vol. 5

Tea and Coffee, Vol. 5

Lily sat opposite me in an outside cafe. Her hair fell down to her shoulders, the playful wind dancing in between the curls. She had subtle mascara along her eyes and a thin red line of glossy lipstick on her lips. They were curled up into a smug smile because in her arms, she was holding Coffee.

'You're welcome, mister' she said.

I forced a smile and looked behind her shoulder, towards the setting sun. It was a tip to maintain eye contact I had read in some doctor's waiting room.

'Stop doing that thing' she sighed. 'Besides the tip is actually to look at the forehead not the shoulder.'

'Oh' I said, looking at Coffee instead.

Lily shuffled awkwardly in her seat. 'I'll be honest, I was expecting a bit more than just blank stares,' she said.

I sighed. 'It's not that I'm not grateful. And you know I'm not the kind of person to bounce up and down in excitement.' I stop to look at her, and she nods.

'It's just, I honestly had given up on Coffee ever coming back... I thought he had gotten bored, you know, moved onto newer things.'

Lily smiled kindly. 'That's not true. You know he loves you. He was on his way back to your house when I picked him up, I'm sure of it.'

'I know you have a way with cats but even I find that hard to believe.'

Lily looked at Coffee. 'Hey Coffee, you really do love Mister Daniel, don't you?' she asks, taking his paw and pointing it at me. He gave a non-commital meow and went back to dozing in her arms.
'See?' she said.

'I don't know. To me it sounded like he wanted my cake.'

'Yeah, well isn't that what true love's about' she says coyly.

I focus my gaze onto the street. The earliest signs of autumn had started to show, the first leaffalls, the spectacular sunsets and the cool evening breeze. It was my favourite time of the year. A smile begins to spread over my lips to the ends of my cheeks. 'When Lily's in a good mood, it really is contagious' I think to myself.

I take in a breath of air. 'That's not the only reason I feel weird. There's one more thing.'

'And what's that'

'This feels like a date.'

I feel a low hush descend over the table.

'A date!' she says, as she bursts into laughter. I sit there awkwardly as she covers her face, in hysterics. 'Wow, your dates must really suck. Do you bring pets to all your dates? Gosh, no wonder why you haven't had any action lately.'

I start laughing too. 'Hey, I'm not being that absurd' I say, waiting for Lily to uncover her face from her hands. 'You've obviously dressed up for this. You look different.'

Her eyes got a bit wider. 'Bad different?'

'Different different'

Lily pouted, letting out a huff of air. Her eyes narrowed; they were studying me.

I sighed. 'Good different. Really good different'.

Satisfied with my response, Lily lent back in her chair, her face relaxed.

'Speaking of dates though' she starts 'what are you going to do about my reward?'

'Your reward?'

'For finding Coffee' she says 'It said there was a reward on the leaflet'

'You made those leaflets'

'I know' she says, beaming. 'It said the reward was a nice romantic dinner for two.'

I laugh, burying my face in my hands. 'Well, I'm glad you were the one to find Coffee' I say, imagining a candlelit dinner with the rather large cashier at Tesco's, or the reserved librarian in her sixties, or my professor. When I look back up, Lily was still there, beaming, and stroking Coffee.

'You know, maybe you should keep the cat,' I say. 'It suits you, you look like an evil mastermind.'

'Oh no, you take him back. That way, next time you lose him, maybe I can get a second date.'