Coffee and Cigarettes and Everything in Between

Four

Karina

Wake up at six in the morning, fix my bed, eat  a lousy breakfast, smoke a stick or two, take a shower, go to work and let the rest of the day take a shape of its own. That's been my everyday life for almost two years now. Currently living alone ever since my parents passed away. Is it getting boring? Sometimes but my work at the coffee shop fixes that by having to see new faces everyday. Speaking of faces, the small blonde now has a name, Winter. She seemed nervous meeting me last night compared to her friend Giselle. I wonder why.

"Ri Unnie" a small voice called me. Ningning. A friend of mine that I met when I first worked here. I got up from the couch and went out of the staffs' lounge to face her.

"My break time's already up?" I said with a smile on my face.

"Yes, come on let's get back to the counter." she told me while motioning her hand for me to follow her.

It's a normal day, not too much people are in the shop because it's almost two in the afternoon. The weather is fair which is perfect. Most people come by on mornings and evening so I can still relax for a bit. While organizing the cups and straws I saw some guys near the window and I noticed that they have been looking at me for more than long enough. I pretended not to notice them and kept on organizing the things on the counter because it will just put me in a bad mood. I mean does looks matter that much? People have told me that I'm beautiful but I rarely let it get in my head. It's only skin deep yet people overrates it too much and that annoys me.

"Unnie, it seems like your regular isn't coming by today, it's past two already." Ningning said as she served a costumer his drink.

"Maybe not, too bad that's a loss for our profit." I jokingly told her as I kept on organizing the stuffs on the counter. But inside that got me thinking, for the few months that I have seen her here I think that this is the first time that she have not come by. She's not hard to miss though, with that blonde hair of hers you can easily spot her in the shop. Plus she have always come at a fixed time. Two in the afternoon sharp.

"Maybe she'll come by later with her friend." Ningning said as she tried to straighten my eyebrows that I didn't know were creasing.

My shift ended at eight and I went to the nearest convinience store to buy a pack of cigarettes since I'm almost out. I sat at the bench outside and lit a stick and I suddenly remembered the events that occurred last night. This was the exact spot where I both met her and her friend.

But tonight the air was different. It was warmer. There are more people outside since it's still early. I took a long drag from my cigarette and puff the smoke out. The smoke kept my attention until it dispersed into thin air. Then an idea suddenly hit me. I took a marker out of my bag and faced the backrest of the bench I was sitting on and wrote "K was here" not too big to be noticed but not too small to be ignored. I capped the marker and put it back in my bag as I glanced around to see if anybody saw me write on the bench. Good thing they were all busy with their own lives which made me relax.

Before I got up I lit another stick to accompany me while I make my way home.