Life, Love & A Little Coffee

Chapter Two- Cold Nights & Hot Coffee

Ada stood beneath the brown and white awning and locked the coffee shop doors behind her as the spring breeze nipped at her skin. It was an unpredictable time of year. The weather was pleasant enough during the day to wear short sleeves. That night was a different story and felt more like a wintry February rather than May.

The evening was so quiet, Ada could hear her own heart beating. Going to his home was inappropriate. Although she trusted him, that trust did not change the situation. She should not be going to his apartment. It didn't matter that she would only be his student for another month. It also didn't matter that she was two months away from nineteen.

The fact was that she shouldn't be going there and doing what she wasn't supposed to was not Ada's style. Yet there she was, standing under a crescent moon and a black sky pin pricked with white stars, her feet tempting her across an empty street. The only thing that was making her question whether or not to walk across the street were those damn rules she always followed.

He wasn't going to let those rules stop him, the one with everything to lose in all this, so Ada decided not to let it stop her either. Filled with guilt ridden excitement for breaking those rules, she crossed her arms for warmth and rushed across the street by the light of the old street lamps.

"Hey you!" Mr. B yelled from above as he stood on a balcony holding a cup of coffee between both hands. He wore the same black tee shirt as before, the frigid night not seeming to bother him.

"How are you not cold?" she asked through chattering teeth.

He shrugged before taking a drink. "It's all the hot coffee. You call it an addiction, I call it  survival."

"You are addicted."

"And you're my dealer," he fired back with amusement. "So my coffee intake is as much your fault as it is mine."

She succumbed to her smile as she curled and uncurled her toes to get her blood moving. "Then I guess you should thank me for helping you survive the last four years."

He gave her a long look of amusement before relenting. "You gonna get your ass up here or are we just going to yell at each other for the rest of the night?"

It was tempting to pursue this. Ada couldn't help but enjoy seeing his personality in full swing. But her desire to continue their banter was minuscule compared to her desire for warmth. She cupped her hands and filled them with her warm breath as she finished her journey.

Ada made her way down the alley and into the door in the back, going up the steps to Mr. B's apartment. There was little heat in the hallway, but it still brought warmth to her freezing skin. Noticing the door was wide open, Ada stepped inside. She took off her shoes when she stepped in and dropped her purse next to them. As she already texted her dad to let him know she would be late, Ada didn't bother grabbing her phone.

"You're shaking," Mr. B pointed out. "Where's your coat?"

Ada watched as he grabbed a black zip up sweatshirt from a chair and put it around her, then rubbed her arms for friction "It wasn't cold when I left for work. It hasn't been cold like this for over a week. Guess I kinda figured winter was over." Her breath was shaky as she spoke the words, and she tucked herself into the oversized sweatshirt.

The aroma on the shirt hit her with the familiar scent of peppermint and chocolate. There didn't appear to be a fresh coffee stain on the sweatshirt, causing Ada to wonder if he consumed enough of his signature drink that it was now just radiating from his body like a useless, not-so-super power.

Ada looked past him at the spacious living room with virtually nothing in it. There was a bookshelf half full with a slight lean to it and had three boxes filled with books next to it. The shelf was clearly too small to house the books he had.