A Latte of Love

【☕】2

One more minute.

One more minute until I'm free from this torture. After failing on my second test, I decided it was time to make some changes to my lifestyle and begin studying on normal days and not the night before the exam. So far, I have studied for approximately five hours since I dropped Ahmed off at Sana's apartment.

Of course, the hours excluded the times I picked up my phone and scrolled mindlessly through Instagram. Otherwise, I would have spent two more hours studying The Great Gatsby for my next English exam. Which was in 2 weeks. I didn't even call Sana to check up on Ahmed. Thats how determined I was to not have my baby interfere with my hardcore studying.

My eyes light up as soon as my phone's timer goes off. I quickly grab a scarf from the stand and drape it around my head. Sana lives a few blocks away, so it's very easy to get to and from her place. She's been living alone ever since moving to America for college. I thought she was so strong when I first met her. She left her family back home to get a good education for herself. Of course, they supported her choice and allowed her, however, making her promise that she would visit whenever time permits, which she has yet to do.

As soon as I lift my hand to knock, the door opens and reveals Sana carrying Ahmed who is fast asleep over her shoulder. I step in and wipe the drool from his face before taking him in my arms.

"Come in, I made some biryani," she says, leading us over to her dinner table. I take in the smell of the spices and grin to myself.

"Do you think I could ever say no to biryani?" I take a seat, carefully pouring for myself. "JazakAllah Khair for this."

We sit quietly, enjoying the silent time together as we eat in silence. Ever since I approached her our first year of college, we've been inseparable, like two best friends were. I loved her for her bubbly personality and thought she was a fun person to be around. We strictly made a deal to meet up whenever we could, inside or outside of college, even applying to the same part-time jobs, working as cashiers and waitresses at a coffee shop and an Indian restaurant.

"I'm thinking of writing a book," she suddenly tells me. Sana has always been keen on writing short stories, novels, and other fictional works. Even her poems sounded melodious whenever she read them to me. She was definitely a very creative person, which I also envied and felt proud of for her.

"I'll need more time for it, so I'm planning to quit working at the coffee shop," she continues. We had worked at the same coffee shop together for over a year, running the same shifts. It always felt refreshing to know that although work may be tough sometimes, I had my best friend by my side.

Feeling happy for her, I nod. I was already feeling excited and ready to read any of her new works. She was a wonderful writer and creator, in general. She, too, knew how excited I was to read her words.

"You're not quitting Mirchi, right?" I ask. Mirchi is the name of the Indian restaurant we work at.

"For the most part, no. I'll probably have to change my shifts around, though."

"I guess I won't be seeing you tomorrow, then," I presume, thinking about how boring the day will go by without her. She shakes her head.

"Tomorrow is my last day," she replies with a smile.

Sana and I would sometimes make coffee for ourselves secretly when the shop would be deserted. We would mostly be alone and to ourselves, the other employees starting their shifts right as we would leave, at the quieter time of the night.

Ahmed suddenly shifts in my arms, causing me to almost drop my plate, as I was holding it up while eating. I place it down and rub his stomach lightly. When I look up, I notice Sana's wide smile.

But not towards me. It was towards her phone.

"What happened?" I ask in wonder.

Her grin widens even more, if possible. "My pen pal's letter is coming soon."

I blink in amazement. Not only was she artistic, creative, a writer, or a poet, but she also did pen-palling. I thought it was a lost art, left back in the time when there was no internet. Is there anything the woman can't do?

"We met a couple of weeks ago and we decided to penpal with each other," she continues. "I have two others, but this one was the first Muslim."

"That's so exciting!" I exclaim happily. "Now tell me more about that book..."

We talked some more about her romance novel idea until it was Maghrib time. Surprisingly, Ahmed didn't wake up once and slept through our entire discussion. His soft snoring felt like music to my ears as I held him up and walked back to my parent's home for a night of deep sleep.

The next morning I arrived at the Grind as quickly as I could, not wanting to waste a single minute.

We call the coffee shop, the Caffeine Grind, Grind for short. It's located on the corner of a street, usually busy around morning time, but our shift took place in the afternoons.

Sana and I rush into the dressing room and quickly pull on our aprons. I adjust my hijab while she runs her fingers through her brown hair.

"It's your last day wearing this," I tell her, pointing to her brown apron.

She pouts. "I know, I'm gonna miss this. It looks cute on us." She then twirls in front of the mirror and lands a cute pose with a peace sign. I laugh, already beginning to miss her even though she's right in front of me.

I stand by the cash register while Sana takes over cleaning the tables and welcoming people who were swarming in to grab their afternoon coffee. We take turns cleaning and taking orders. During our break, Sana and I would usually take out our laptops to start our homework. Today, however, I wanted to spend my last moments with Sana. I look at the time, the clock had hit seven pm already.

"Time sure flies, huh?" Sana chirps away while we take off our aprons.

I gather my backpack and purse from the storage room. "You better update me on your books and stuff. And when you're free, come over to the cafe, okay?"

"Of course, I need some of that feedback," Sana laughs, giving me a bump on my shoulder. She's taller than me by a few inches.

By now the sun has set and the evening light gently passes through the clear glass of the cafe. I stand by the window, staring at the sunset in the far-off distance. The evening view looks so aesthetically pleasing and even breathtaking. SubhanAllah.

Deciding to snap a picture of it, I hold onto the handle of the glass door to open it. On the other side, someone else opened it as well. His black eyes meet with my ordinary chocolate browns.

I stop for a split second to figure out who he is, wondering where I saw him before. Instead of walking in, he budges his way inside, bumping my shoulder along the way. That's when I notice him being a whole head taller than me.

What the heck is Sufyan's slave doing here?

"Rude! Didn't even let us get out and pushed himself in," Sana grumbles, clearly agitated. She is quite the feisty type, ready to pick up a fight with anyone who gets in her way. I quickly grab onto her arm before she can start a scene.

"Let it go, he probably didn't notice us shorties," I tell her.

We leave the shop hand-in-hand but not before staring back at the guy who had just entered with annoyance.

"What happened?" Sana asks, noticing I was lost in my own thoughts.

I proceed to tell her the nitty-gritty details of my interactions with the weird guy.