The Café's Aroma
Beep, beep.
The slender man of twenty one years shifted beneath the covers before edging his hand towards the digital alarm clock that sat on the wooden bedside table. His long fingers were met by a cold wetness; immediately redrawing his hand from the sweating glass of icy water with a groan. Rolling onto his side, the lilac-haired man blearily opened his left eye to push the button on the still beeping machine before he stretched in his bed, yawning.
After staring up at the dull white ceiling for a couple of moments, the man gave out another moan before propping himself up against the bed frame; running his hands through his disheveled hair. Gingerly climbing out of the sheets, he grabbed his crumpled clothes on the nearby desk chair before making his way to the bathroom to freshen himself up.
With his signature ragged cerulean jacket and a green singlet to match up with his navy blue jeans, he strutted out of the bathroom with his lavender locks of hair that covered his right eye and the few strands of dark purple hair that stuck out like a tiny octopus, as his dear little friend would put it.
Speaking of her…
Swinging his keys in the loop on his index finger and pocketing his silver lighter as a habit of what happened three years before, Garry nonchalantly exited his messy apartment into the broad daylight, locking the door before stuffing the jingling keys into his pocket. Plopping a lemon candy into his mouth, he swirled it around with his tongue to savour the lemony flavour. As he strolled along the pavement with people passing by him, his mind rested on the memory of promising Ib for macaroons and a drink at a café. It took him roughly two years to get out of his PTSD since the gallery, and a few months of scavenging for the twelve year old's phone number before deciding on their venue and time for their meeting.
Sure, it was a little late, but hey, better late than never, right?
Fidgeting with the small silver lighter with the letter 'G' ingrained in it, Garry thought about finally meeting the quiet little girl after three years of the gallery incident. Would she be any different from before? How would she even react after seeing him after a few years? It might be petty thoughts to any other person, but the experience they shared ['More like nightmare,' he thought.] was special. And if it wasn't for Ib, he would be-
Garry shook his head furiously, palming his uncovered left eye with his hands.
'Best not to think about that horrid experience…' he exhaled deeply before shutting his eyes for a brief moment.
"Garry!"
A tinkle of an excited exclamation followed by the quick patter of footsteps caused the twenty one year old to snap his eyes open. But before the adult even got his eyes fully open, the breath was knocked out from his stomach as two smaller arms gripped his sides tightly as he was pushed backwards,; his ragged 'cape' flying behind him.
"A-Ah! Ib!" he yelped as he nearly lost his balance due to the sudden force.
Even after managing to stabilize himself, Ib had clung dearly upon her friend's jacket, face nuzzled into his abdomen. Garry blinked once before giving out a contented sigh, moving his hand to rest on her head; ruffling the chocolate locks of hair.
"It's nice to see you again…" he quietly muttered with a smile, stopping his movements and taking a step back to fully look at her. "And you've grown tall in that time! You're as tall as where my shoulders are!" he whistled before giving an even wider grin.
The carmine eyed girl gave a small giggle, tilting her head as she did so.
"Time flies, you know?" she said as her eyes slowly went down casted. "I've missed you." Ib mumbled out after a long moment of silence.
Garry moved nearer to her and clasped her hand gently in his own bigger ones.
"I've missed you too." He murmured before a faint smile crept up his face. "But now, I'm positive that we would be able to have more meetings together, right?"
Ib gives a nervous smile before fidgeting with her fingers.
"Ah… mama and papa don't really approve of meeting up with a stranger. So I sneaked out on my own." She bit her lip and gave a watery smile.
"Oh, that's all right- wait… WHAT?!" Garry shrieked, stormy gray orbs bulging out of his sockets.
Ib groaned internally; she knew Garry wouldn't have approve of this.
"But Garry-" she began, attempting to stop the storm before resulted into something that would explode on her.
"Don't you 'but Garry' me! Your parents could be panicking right now and if they see me with their little girl, they're going to think I'm a pedophile!" he burst out in a fit of anger and fear.
"Garry, one; my parents are out for to a friend's birthday party so they don't know what I'm doing. Their house isn't even near the café, if you're worried about that." Ib gave a blank look. "And two, they probably would think you're a lady; you still act and talk like one." She smirked, eyes twinkling in mischief.
"Ib!"
"Fine, I'm sorry! But pleaseeee? It's been three years, Garry! And you still owe me macaroons!" the twelve year old pouted, crossing her arms together for further effect.
"Ugh…" he stared at the 'kicked puppy' expression she was giving before letting loose a frustrated sigh. "Alright, alright! But don't blame me if you get grounded or anything else!" he added before beckoning the girl to enter the café with him.
"Oh, I won't~" she brightly chirped before skipping into the café quicker than him. "I'll just tell mama and papa how this mean adult whisked me away and tried to do nasty things to me~" she giggled before entering through the glass door accompanied by the small tinkle of the bell.
Garry could only gape at the girl as her brown locks flowed behind her and into the building.
"... And when exactly did you get so scheming?" he muttered before he moved into the interior of the café, ringing out the same chime of the bell.
The familiar aroma envelops his being as the warm scent of different varieties of coffees spreads to every corner of the vicinity, while sweets and baked foods just out of the oven give out a mixture of caramelized sugar and a freshly baked bread smell. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see that his friend has already taken a seat at the small rounded table by the window. The waitress was always kind enough to leave Garry that spot, since the man was very fond of taking sips of his coffee while gazing outside into the pale blue sky.
"Hello, Garry!" Hazel twittered before bouncing to lean forward to Garry, palms facing downwards upon the glass counter where all the delicious treats were displayed. "Same as usual?" she quizzed, pulling out the ordering notebook she had in her apron pocket.
"Yes, but make it double since I have a little guest with me today." He glanced towards Ib who was fiddling with the menu on the table.
"Ah, so that's your friend you've wanted to bring here, huh?" The eighteen year old girl stated with a tone of understanding. "Righto~! So it's obvious you want cappuccino, passion fruit and caramel macaroons with a side of a latte; what does milady wants?" she jabbed the pencil at the rosy eyed girl.
"Uh..." Garry hesitated before giving another fleeting look to the 12 year old. "Strawberry, mint and chocolate. With… a hot chocolate." He finished as he pulled out some dollar notes to hand over to the woman.
"Mhmm… okay! We'll get your order to you as soon as possible!" she announced before sliding off in her roller skates to the kitchen.
With a turn of his heel, he moved towards the table where the mocha haired girl is sat quietly. He now realised that she's wearing the exact same outfit as when she went to the Guertena gallery on that day. The same white sailor shirt accompanied with the red silk ribbon that tied neatly around her neck. Thankful that she wore a longer red pleated skirt than before, it draped neatly on her crossed legs, matching up with black colour socks and ruby ballerina shoes.
"What took you so long?" the first thing she says as he takes his own seat opposite of her.
"I was ordering macaroons and our beverages. I hope you enjoy hot chocolate." The mauve haired man groaned out as he stretched his arms, cracking his bones.
He gingerly leaned against the translucent table, resting his chin in the nest he made with his elbows. It was getting a little awkward from the lack of conversation between them, so he decided to make the spark to the fire.
"So… how are you? Since it's been a long time since we've met, I think you have a lot of things to talk about." He flicked his head to beckoning her to begin her story.
"Well," Ib sighed before mooshing her cheeks into her palms. "It's not really a fairytale… after that incident." She hesitated with the last sentence.
Garry kept quiet, listening intently to her.
"Even despite the fact that we promised each other we'd meet and I was really happy with that… it didn't stop the nightmares from happening." She mumbled, eyes gazing at the tiled floor. "It was so painful to relive every moment in the gallery. Yeah, there were the moments where we met and we got our spirits up, but… every night, I'd see…"
Ib bit her lip nervously.
Garry nodded slowly, allowing her to take her time to continue.
She gulped.
"I'd see Mary running after me with her palette knife; drenched in blood. She'd have this crazed look on her face with bared teeth while she constantly swings the blade back and forward. I always run… but it always ends in a dead end." She exhaled deeply. "That's where... she almost kills me when she brings the knife down, but I always wake up before that. But the worst part is that she always says that 'Now we're together forever.' before she brings the knife down on me."
"I never tell mama or papa about these nightmares, because I'm scared that if I tell them it repeats, they might send me to a psychiatrist. I don't want to be given pills just because of repetitive dreams like this!"
Silence reigned with the exception of the clinks and workers in the kitchen.
The elder one gave out a sigh of his own, leaning back in his chair before coming forward ever so slowly. He looks the girl right in her ruby orbs; pale greyish blue eyes meeting hers.
"To be honest… I've been having bad dreams similar to that too. Only I was in that horrible room and that absolute fiend kept edging further out of the frame as I searched for the key out of the room." He involuntarily shuddered before shaking his head slightly. "I found it easier to sleep when I kept a lemon candy under my pillow. The only reason I do that is because lemon candies remind me of good things. So maybe… if you put something you treasure under your pillow, it might inflict good dreams." He shrugged. "It works for me, but I'm not too sure about you."
"While I'm sure your parents won't believe the incident in the gallery, if the dreams get any worse or if you're getting sleep-deprived, you should tell them. I'm sure that they won't be too quick to send you to a doctor, but if it still persists even with my help…" he breathed out, running his hand through his locks. "Just try it out. Your parents are trying their best to help you, and if it doesn't work, tell them. That's all I can say." He tilted back to make contact with the chair frame he's sitting on.
"A-Alright." She acknowledged with a slight stutter, bowing her head swiftly. "But what do you mean about that room? Was it the one where you went crazy and started talking to rabbits?" she questioned.
"R-Rabbits?! That room was not fill with rabbits at all! It was filled with horrible d-"
"Your order is here~" the waitress interrupted cheerfully as she placed the tray on the table before distributing two porcelain plates holding the sweet macaroons and their drinks upon the table. "Enjoy~!" she beamed before placing the metal tray under her arm and skating off to the counter to serve the next person.
"Well… that was very abrupt." Garry said after a few moments before pushing Ib's order and drink towards her. "I hope you like the flavours I picked for you… I'm not really sure what's your favourite flavour to be honest." He blanched a little, scratching the nape of his neck.
"I'm fine with anything to be honest. Just not coconut. I don't really fancy that." She said before plopping the pinkish red macaroon in her mouth to savour it.
Her eyes gradually widened as she chewed on the strawberry macaroon slowly.
"So? Is it good or is it that terrible that you're going to spit it out?" he joked, quirking an eyebrow with his smirk.
"It's not good…" Ib murmured slowly, as Garry flinched and opened his mouth to apologize. "No… it's excellent!" she swallowed, eyes sparkling in delight.
"Hah… why am I not surprised with your reaction?" he raised a finger to lightly scrape his cheek.
Through the mouthfuls of delicious flavoured macaroons and the tinkling of the cups as both of them sipped their individual drinks, they chatted about different topics. Some of the topics involved about school/ work, the time they spent for those three years apart and why Garry still had a spider on his head. [To this Garry had immediately let out a girlish scream before brushing what really was the dark locks of purple hair that stuck out from the top of his head. While Garry gave her another lecture, Ib mentally confirmed with herself that Garry was still a scaredy-cat and that he was definitely a lady.]
But when they finally parted ways with a promise of another visit to the café, the aroma of the café still lingered with them for the entire day, reminding them of their little meeting in that café down the street.