Ella

‘’So, what would you like to have?’’ The man seated in front of me raised his eyebrow as he asked for my choice of beverage. We were seated in the corner of a local cafe. The delicious smell of coffee overpowered my senses as I scanned the menu card. Chosing which coffee I wanted had always been a challenge for me. Each flavour had its own feeling, its own warmth. 

‘’A flat white please.’’ I replied, making eye contact with my date for less than a second. Summoning the waiter, he placed our order and leaned back onto the plush sofa chair. His earring dangled as he made himself comfortable on the furniture and it sparkled upon reflection against the recessed downlights. The Cartier watch amongst other things, screamed of his wealth and every time he cleared his throat so as to initiate conversation, I questioned as to why he was sitting wasting his Saturday night with a simple paediatrician like me.

Sunmi, my friend had arranged this whole ordeal. She said I needed to ‘’get out more’’ and ‘’try and forget about that guy’’. She was a great girl, full of life and beauty. She loved going out and as cliché as it sounds, she’d somehow always manage to convince me into accompanying her. I was her guardian angel as she called it, which only meant I was responsible for taking care of her drunk partied out self. I was never able to pay attention to most of the guys she introduced me to and I would’ve left the one in front of me to his coffee and thoughts a while ago. Except she’d anticipated my reactions and insisted him to drop me home, very cleverly sabotaging my plans to flee. It was a part of the ‘’dating experience’’ her scientific term for the ‘’most crucial part of the evening’’.