The Last Coffee

By: Rye

I was

I am

I will

I have been always fearful.

I never have the courage. Ang duwag ko pala.

Takot ako. Takot akong masaktan. Ayaw kong masaktan. Kaya ngayon palang gusto ko nang tigilan to.

Bakit ba, bakit ikaw pa, tangina.

Tapos wala pa, aalis ka na. lalayo ka na.

Tapos ako aalis na din. Tapos hindi naman tayo magtatagpo.

Bakit pa ba tayo pinagtagpo.

Bwisit na pakiramdam to, pwede bang I reset na lang lahat. Pwede bang hindi na lang kita nakita. Pwede bang hindi na lang tayo pinagsalubong. Pwedeng bang hindi na lang tayo nag usap pwede bang wala na lang.

Daming pwede ba? Daming Sana.

Sana may lakas ng loob.

Sana mas Matagal pa. sana magkita man lang.

Mabuti na lang wala pa, wala pang tayo. Kasi kung naging tayo siguro mas masakit, mas mabuting pang masaktan na, kesa naman may mga memorya pa na dapat burahin, siguro mas masakit yun.

Yung mga usapan natin, ill treasure, thank you for your time. For the message exchange. For me it mean a lot. Thank you.

Yung mga pangarap natin. Sige abutin muna natin.

Tapos pag okay na , pag pwede na. Sana pagtagpuin ulit tayo. Simulan na lang ulit natin. Pag Pwede na. Sana.

Ako lang ba,or is this a one sided love story. Sana naman it also mean something for you. Kamusta? Busy ka ba? Anong Balita? Sana tanungin mo pa din ako. Sana kamustahin mo pa rin ako.

----------------------

Have you ever had a wrong decision? Yes, No, Never, Always. Maybe it wasn’t wrong at all, it was just a decision that lead to unfortunate results.

Ask me, I had a lot of bad choices, but I think among all the choices I had, hindi mali na nagkakilala kami at pinili ko siya.

Hapon na ng maisipan ko ang umalis ng bahay. Usually, late morning ako umaalis ng bahay kung day off ko or holiday. Minsan nagkakape, minsan namimili sa bookstore or dumadaan sa Watson para bumili ng facial wash, toner, moisturizer, sunscreen.

Then, naisipan ko na lang di na mag coffee.

“Good Morning Sir, One coffee latte grande, and one sticky cinnamon bun. To go Sir?”

 “Haha, no for here.”

“Ah, Okay sir Rye, one coffee latte grande and one sticky cinnamon bun for here, any additional sir?”

“Ah okay na, Khael, swipe mo na lang yung card ko”

Kinuha nya yung card ko and hinintay ko na yung order ko. Oo, kilala na nila ako sa coffee shop na to. Si Khael ay isa sa mga barista dito and we’ve met here since mag start sya dito. Yung mga staff sa coffee shop na to, friendly naman. Si Khael lang yung iba yung dating sa pag serve sa akin. Iba yung ngiti nya, iba yung charm nya. Ewan ko ba, he’s that attractive that shifted my decisions in life. And yes Khael is courting me. 

He handed me the coffee with my name on it and may pa heart pa. Also, he gave the 2 plates, one with sticky cinnamon bun and one slice of ube cake. Then inalis nya yung apron nya and umupo kami going towards the far right side of the coffee shop.

“Nako  Khael mag undertime ka na naman?”

“Rye, alam mo naman na di kita matitiis eh. Would you like na umupo ditong mag isa. Mamaya nyan makalingat lang ako, makuha ka na ng iba.” Habang nakangisi.

“Gago!” sabay batok sa kanya.

Kumamot sya sa ulo and then he face me smiling and then he protrude his lower lips like a child. Yan yung hilig na hilig na ginagawa nya pag nag papa cute sa akin. Eto naman ako malanding pa fall, nakuha sa mga pa ganyan ganyan nya.

Aside from the bun. He knew na favorite ko yung ube cake. Actually that’s one of the single reason how our flirtationship start.

--------

It was raining that afternoon, January. Nagmamadali akong umuwi from work, kailangan ko pang mag update ng ATM card to switch it with the chip. Naisipan kong mag coffee muna.

“Hi Good Afternoon, Sir”, bungad sa akin ng isang bagong barista sa coffee shop. Matangkad, maputi ang medyo chinito, most of all maganda yung speaking voice nya.

“Can I have I coffee late grande and isang slice ng ube cake please.” Medyo basa basa pa ako noon kaya nagpupunas ako ng mukha, ng eye glasses ko and ng white ko na short sleeves, buti na lang ready ako lagi with my slippers and shorts since medyo maulan these past few days.

Naunang ma serve yung coffee which I think medyo weird. Commonly mas laging nauuna yung cake or bread na maiserve. I took a sip from my coffee and then inabot na nya yung slice ng ube cake. I was walking towards the right far side ng coffee shop ng medyo nag slip ako, nahawakan ko naman yung coffee pero yung slice ng ube cake dumikit sa white polo ko.

“Shit.” Yan lang yung nasabi ko. Dumiretso ako favorite spot ko and pinunasan ko yung damit ko and it already had purple stain from the purple yam cake. And to my disappointment syempre, di ko na nakain yung cake.

Yung bagong barista guy walk towards me and inabutan ako ng tissue.

“It is raining Sir, kaya slippery and basa yung floor. Pasensya na sir we’ve been very busy that we are not able to mop the floor. By the way the supervisor wants to give you this sticky cimmanon bun. Sorry sir but the ube purple yam was the last slice already.”

“Ah thank you” and then I look into his name plate “Khael”. “ It’s okay It was my mistake. Magaslaw din kasi ako. By the way thank you for the sticky cinnamon bun.

“Okay Sir, enjoy.” Ngiti nya.

I smiled back at him. Then nung pabalik na ulit sya sa counter, he looked back at me and smiled again. “Shit, I know that look. Is he trying to flirt? Or he is just a nice guy? Or it was just part of his job. Nah, nevermind.”