Author's Notes: To Hatsuki, who raised a question whether my other caffeine-related one-shot, Mornings With You, will be making an appearance here since I'm planning to put Profile here too, my answer to that is: maybe. :D I think it's a good idea so maybe I would dedicate a chapter for that. Thank you! Ü
Blended & Brewed
(The Cappuccino Series)
"He was my cream, and I was his coffee –
and when you poured us together, it was something."
- Josephine Baker
-;-
-;-
"I never knew you were still a fan of frappuccino, Mr. Li."
"It's chocolate. Need I say more?"
An amused smile coming from her.
A smirk coming from him.
"I never knew you frequent this coffee branch either."
"The same thing I thought after seeing you here."
An eyebrow rose.
A head shook.
"Is there an underlying 'strange seeing you here' under that statement?"
"We were never strangers."
A promise of familiarity.
A secret.
Silence came. And it wasn't the most comfortable one either. She looked away and pretended to be interested at the people passing by. He looked down and counted to five.
"Do you think it's a good idea?" He murmured.
She didn't look back at him, letting herself be distracted by the different people outside the cafe. She knew, she was sure, that if she looked back, he would see the different shades of hurt in her eyes.
And it was the last thing she wanted him to see.
"Yes. Who wouldn't want to get married to her?" She answered.
A chuckle.
A bittersweet smile.
"Then you marry her then."
"You're making it sound like a chore."
She bit her bottom lip.
He took a sip from his cup.
This time, she was the first one to say something. "She'd make a perfect wife, you know. She's beautiful, she's properly domesticated, and she's a very caring and loving person." And yet she still tore her eyes away from him.
So are you, was what he wanted to say. But this time, he knew it was smart to let his conscience get in the way before it would lead to anything disastrous.
So he went with the safe, "I know."
"Good."
Another thick wave of awkward silence came.
Her once hot cafe late was getting cold. And truthfully he was surprised because she always bought either an iced flavoured latte or her favourite strawberry frappuccino. He knew she never favoured anything hot, so this alone intrigued him.
The whip cream on top of his beverage was slowly melting and mixing away with his drink.
"What are you so afraid of?" She asked, now bravely looking straight in his eyes, challenging him in a way to answer the question at least right.
"That I might regret it for the rest of my life." He whispered.
She gave him a somewhat pitiful yet encouraging smile. "Everyone feels that way when they're about to get married. It's practically normal."
"Huh," was his reply, lifting his drink for another sip.
"You... didn't hesitate when you asked her to marry you, what's this reluctance now?" She looked away again, knowing her question held more than just one meaning. And she was sure he knew it too.
"You're right." He finally said after a few seconds. "Maybe it is a good idea, getting married to her."
She gave him another smile.
He passed her a somewhat worried look.
"Don't look at me that way." She whispered. "In fact, never think of me that way anymore. I'll be fine."
"I'm sorry."
She nodded, now looking at her own drink that was left untouched ever since he came.
"You always are."
"Will you be there tomorrow?" He asked, tones of hopefulness distinct.
"I'm the maid of honor." She replied, making him feel suddenly dumb for even forgetting.
"Right."
She sent him a smile with a look that said, 'congratulations'.
He gave her a look that said, 'I'm sorry'.
-;-
It was finally the wedding day.
It was finally night time. 8:21 PM in fact. The wedding was supposed to happen at 6 PM.
She was sitting in her same place like yesterday, only this time, she wore her lavender maid of honor's dress and she ignored the looks other customers gave her when they saw her in such outfit. Her elbow was propped against the arm of the love seat, her jaw resting against her palm as her eyes entertained themselves with the people walking by.
Her attention was suddenly caught when the window somehow reflected a man, notifying her that he was behind her.
"You didn't come." He breathed.
She closed her eyes, letting the accusation be digested in her brain.
"You said you would." He added.
"I only said I was the maid of honor." She replied.
"I can see you're wearing the dress too." He was still standing, looking at the counter every now and then to check if his order was already there.
She looked at him, and for a second she almost regretted it, considering he was still wearing his wedding tux and for her, it was curious.
"And I can see you ditched your own reception?" She raised a brow.
He let out a weary smile. "You still didn't attend the wedding."
"Wonderful statement of facts. Now leave me alone." She grumbled, looking away again.
"I would unless you tell me why." His look was confident, to the point of arrogance in fact, as if he knew what she would really say.
That looked irked her. It irked her because she could still see it reflected at the window so she had no escape of actually seeing his gorgeous albeit handsome groom look.
It irked her so much she had the decency to finally tell him why.
"I never thought it was really a good idea." She said above whisper, but he managed to still catch it.
He nodded, and waited for awhile.
Her eyebrows creased together, wondering why he wasn't saying anything.
Until one of the baristas announced something quite relevant.
"One strawberries and crème frappuccino for 'SO DID I'."
Her head suddenly turned towards the counter, now seeing that he was on his way to get the drink.
And that's when her emerald eyes widened in realization.
He wasn't wearing any wedding ring.
My favourite Starbucks drink is a nice, hot cup of white chocolate mocha. What's yours? Ü
