Indra

twelve | coffee

twelve | COFFEE
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B E A U M O N E T

Like a tornado, my father destroyed everything that he had good for himself vociferously, spinning around the earth. In the end, I witnessed him spin out of control to the extent he lost everything, including me. Like all humans, I have fears of tornados, and he was a tornado I never wanted to be trapped in, but it's too late. He already surrounded me, destroying every piece of happiness I held dearly. Well, that's what I thought, until now.

I grip my hand on the handle of the transparent door, warm air from the vinyl shop envelops me, instantly vanishing the coldness in my body. Bright colors filled my vision as I entered the shop. My heart beats rapidly against my chest as I tried to look for a specific someone with a delightful smile.

Crates of CDs and vinyl are strewn around the shop, shelves with vinyl are pushed against the dark red walls, and different artists and band posters are painted on half of the shop's walls. Vibration of the soft music playing shots to the tip of my shoes. Looking forward, I see a familiar figure next to the shelves with a cardboard box tucked under her shoulders. Indra's fairly curly, light brown hair falls elegantly on her back, waving each time she places vinyl inside the shelf. Large headphones covered her ears as she moved her head left to right, blocking any sound from the real world. The curve of her lips on one side, a dimple emerging subtly, a cascade of emotions surges through me like a wave crashing on the sea surface.

Shit, I don't think these feelings are going to vanish anytime soon.

I move towards her, having nervous apprehension in my stomach. But my movements go rigid once a male, with slick back blonde hair and a light blue button-up shirt with tan-colored khaki pants, walks up to her. Indra takes off her headphones, placing them around her neck, and the dude over here starting a conversation with her makes every vein in my body tingle with jealousy. Pacing over to them, the muscles in my jaw tighten.

"Hey, Beau." Indra calls out, the smile on her face brimming even more as I get close to her. Standing in front of her, the blonde turns his head towards me, disgust written all over his face.

I pause next to her while the dude stands on the other side of Indra and me, "Hello, belle fille." I smirk, turning my head to look at her.

"Mateo." He introduces himself, and a tight-lipped smile formed on his face as I face him. He holds out his hand for me to shake. I stare at his hand, not having the urge to shake it. Indra nudges my arm, inflicting a small amount of pain on my body. I rotate my head, raising an eyebrow towards her, grinning. I turn my attention to Mateo, the smile originally on his face turns into anger. "Looks like I'll leave you two alone." He drops his hand to his side.

"Nice to meet you, Matthew." I sarcastically say, and he twirls on the heel of his shoes with a groan slipping out of his lips.

"His name is Mateo." Indra corrects me, turning her body towards the vinyl in the selves. I stand close to her, the side of her arms, the top of her shoulder, and the rough surface of the cardboard box brush against my chest, heating the insides of my body.

"Mateo. Matthew. Both the same shit." I shrug. I back away from her, waiting for her to finish arranging the vinyl. I lean back on the tables behind me with light brown boxes filled with vinyl on it. As I cross my arms around my chest, my gaze flits across her body like a perfectionist scanning their canvas. Her purple buttoned-up crop top fits perfectly with her skin color, her light blue jeans tight on her thighs but loose on her calves.

For the past five minutes, I waited for her to finish so she could talk to me. Indra turns her body toward me, "So, what are you doing here?" She walks over to the table I was leaning on and places a box on it, then stands in front of me.

I came here for you. "I wanted to ask if you wanted to get coffee after this. Since you brought me all that coffee when we met up at the lake, I wanted to pay you back."

"You don't have to." Indra whispers, drifting her head down to her feet.

"Yea, I know. But I want to." She lifts her head up as I speak. Her delicate cheeks were coated with a light red shade, a smile growing on her lips. She's blushing. I purse my lips, stopping myself from smiling.

"I'm already done with my shift, I just need to grab my stuff." She says, and I nod. I watch her walk away from me and disappear into the staff room. I waited for about two minutes until she appeared again, closing the door behind her. Her crossbody handbag rests on her hips, with a strap on her shoulder. She moves towards me, but a woman with wavy bright blonde hair comes up to her. They start having a conversation with each other, both smiling about something they're talking about.

While I waited for her, I memorized the way she would smile around the blonde girl.  Ever since we started talking at the lake, I always memorized her like I memorized the alphabet. Each letter represents something she does. Whatever she did, I took note of it and kept it forever in my mind. The way she smiled, the way she laughed, the way she frowned dramatically, all the things she did, I memorized them all.

"I'm ready." Indra stands in front of me, interrupting my thoughts. "Why are you standing there in the corner of the room, looking like you're plotting something."

"Maybe I am." I whisper only to her. I stroll closer to her, wanting to feel her warm skin against mine.

"Let's just hope you're not planning to kill me." She states, turning on her heel and then walking towards the door. A chuckle escapes my lips as I follow her out of the vinyl shop.

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"Aw, why are you frowning?" She sarcastically asks, turning her lips down to mimic my energy.

"Fuck off." I mumble, crossing my arms over my chest. I lean back in the silver chair, looking at anything in the coffee shop except the beautiful woman sitting on the opposite side of me. "I'm done playing."

"Whatever, sore loser." I face my head towards her to see a bright smile painted on her face. The familiar feeling I have when I'm around her hints in my heart as I watch her smile grow from ear to ear. The gray-colored walls make this whole thing a perfect thing to capture with my camera.

Of course, I forgot to bring my digital camera today.

She collects all the cards, slides them into the small paper box, and passes them to me. I grab them, our fingers brushing against each other, and I shove them into my jacket hoodie.

"Thanks for the coffee and the banana bread." Indra softly says, grabbing the bread from a detailed plastic plate. My eyes follow her every moment as she brings her hand to her mouth and takes a bite of her sweet bread.

I watch her face lights up, "You really love banana bread."

She nods her head aggressively, her mouth filled with bread. "I loved it ever since I was a kid." She says, after finishing the food in her mouth. "Whenever my father and I had only one left, and when he was too lazy to buy another, we would fight."

There was a hint of sadness in her facial expression, stopping me from answering any questions about her dad. Inwardly, my heart tightens, as I don't want her to ever feel sadness, not wanting her to feel worldly cruelty. But, that's impossible. Because despite your best efforts, the world will never hug you, and even if it does, it will have a knife pointed at your back, like an evil backstabber bent on ruining you.

"What pastries do you like?" I ask, grabbing the cookie from my detail plate to my mouth. No frown appears on her face anymore, nor are my ears bored by the sound of her voice, as she answers my question with multiple responses.

I smile, knowing that having a conversation with her is an exception to my general aversion to talking with others.

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late update because I was reading the cruel prince. yall should read it's good, really good. anyways have a great day/night and be safe <3