She sat on the soft stitched chair in the café and stared out into the rainy world that lay on the other side of the cold window she sat beside. It was a feeling like no other, being in the warm and humid environment of the wonderful place that she was in. The noise from the brewing machines and the customers didn’t bother her. She was lost in her own thoughts the rest was muffled by her brain.
In her hands was a coffee mug in which steamed the hot and brown liquid that it was filled with. Her hands grew hot and turned red from holding the mug but she didn’t care because the world outside was cold and she would take all the heat she could get. She took a deep breath, taking in the bitter sweet aroma of the coffee beans that filled the café and let it all out. It was intoxicating, Caffeine, the way it kept her up all night and the way it kept her mind always racing, she loved it.
She loved coming here on Sundays and today was one. Her dark brown eyes which matched the colour of the brick walls of the shop remained fixed on a particular drop of water that hung on to the window as its comrades came by slowly sliding down into the drain. She loved the place because her father worked here and she had grown fond of it as she grew into the woman she now was. She took all her inspiration from nature. After all she had to, who else could she take it from. She despised the rich and was disgusted at the poor, the only one she could trust was nature because she had lived longer than anyone else and created something so complicated, so beautiful but yet seemed simple in ways humans could never imagine.
She moved her hand to tuck her brown hair behind her ear as she craned her neck to get a sip of the cooling coffee. The liquid touched her soft lips as it went inside and the sense of satisfaction on her face came and went as she gulped it down. She wore a pink fur coat with black stocks and heels. Her long fingers tapping on the coffee mug and her arms on the windowsill. Her head rested on her arms and whenever she exhaled the window glass became foggy, giving her the chance to write something and then make it disappear withing seconds.
The table started to vibrate in a heartbeat pattern. She reached out to her phone which was kept on the table and picked it up.
The dystopian world that she lived in was shrouded with deadlines and incomplete tasks which had piled up over the years and had been scarred with the deaths of strangers and family she loved most. Her life had been very hard and she worked in conditions no one should resort to. The phone’s blue light screamed into her petite and delicate face which had very sharp and defined cuts and made her look like anyone’s dream girl.
Lucas, the phone rang. What does he want now?
“Hey Lucas!” she said as she picked up the phone,
“Hi Hazel, how are you?” he replied,
“I’m fine, what about you?”
“Yup, the same as you saw me last time.”
“What?! What did you do now?!” she exclaimed,
“Nothing, just……” he said, trying to hide something and Hazel understood it very well,
“Just what! Tell me Jumbo!” she said in a very tense but hushed manner,
“I’ve gotten into some legal trouble Ellie and I – I don’t know what to do. There are gangsters at my tail and every time I step foot outside my house a man starts to follow me wherever I go! Hazel, I’m scared.” He said as quickly as he could, hyperventilating.
She had had it. Her brother used to get into trouble and she used to drag him out of it every time. He was reckless and very childish, as if he hadn’t grown up at all. He was irresponsible and something always went gravely wrong when he was on the other side of the country, but what could she do? He was first and last family she had.
“Okay, first of all calm down and take a deep breath. Tell me, how did you get into it after I had told you to keep away?”
“Come here and I’ll tell you, can’t tell you over the lines, they’re tapping my calls and I’m sure they’re listening.”
“Ok, fine I’ll book a flight tomorrow and meet you.”
“Tomorrow at six pm in front of wiggle blossoms near the red executioner.”
“Fine.”
And she hung up. Her hand went to her forehead and she started squeezing it. She was fed up cleaning his messes. He needed to get a stable life and become independent. He was twenty - two and she was twenty - four. They had created a secret language when they were kids and used it only when they had to talk secretly.
They were born in Tanglewood and the whole place was filled with people who indulged in wrongdoings but most of them were old. They had got the knack for lying to each other for stupid things. She knew that this was a trick. Tomorrow was his birthday and he wanted to spend it with her. She knew his silly antics and his brilliant acting and she fell for it each time.
She exhaled sharply, breathing all her stress out, finished the rest of the coffee as quick as she could and left the bill at the table with the money and a tip walking slowly to the exit. She hesitated and took another deep breath, wore a smile and pushed the cold metal handle of the wooden door.
