Kimm knelt down on one knee and started tying his leather shoes.
“Are you ready yet,” yelled towards the hallway.
“Yup. I’m ready,” yelled back Lilian from the bathroom.
Lilian turned off the lights in the bathroom and stepped out to the hallway. Her black ponytail extended just beyond her shoulders, dancing like those models’ hairs in the shampoo commercial. Her hair did a double axel as her body revolved around the edge of the doorway.
Kimm finished tying his shoes and stood up. He turned to Lilian while adjusting the sunglasses on his face. His eyes got distracted by her ponytail. He let out a surprised but somewhat self-satisfied smirk.
“I like this style, and this ponytail really does the job for me,” he said satistiedly.
“Of course. I always look good,” Lilian replied in a self-confident tone, but somewhere in her voice one could tell that she felt approved.
Kimm fixed his eyes on Lilian’s for a solid second, then turned his lips into a duck’s bill and offered her a quick smack of their ritualistic kiss.
The couple left their 1-bedroom apartment and walked to U-Hour. Both of them met, studied, graduated and now worked at the same University. Same faculty, but different offices, so U-Hour was usually their last mutual stop before they parted ways.
Kimm took a quick skim through the menu but he wasn’t even looking at anything. He quickly moved his eyes away from the menu and smiled at the Bartender.
“Heyyy was it your day-off yesterday? Can I have the Thai milk tea with little sugar please?” Kimm voiced his order while pointing on a random spot on the menu and staring at another random spot.
“Sure! And medium cappuccino for you?” Holi turned to Lilian and asked.
Holi immediately knew that “little sugar” meant 25% sugar, because he always maintained his eye contact with the menu while ordering the same thing. His girlfriend, on the other hand, ordered different things from time to time but her default order was always a medium cappuccino, sometimes with extra milk.
Holi actually went to the same university with them and graduated the same year that they enrolled. In her second year of university, she started working parttime in this coffee shop for some extra money. A lot had changed in the last 8 years. She’d even quitted twice before returning for a third time as U-Hour’s Assistant Manager. Back when she was still a student, working in the coffee shop was neither her passion nor expertise; but as it turned out, sometimes the most attractive things in life was a safe space that made you feel comfortable and meaningful.
“Actually, I want just black coffee for now,” Lilian had already decided on her beverage while she was still combing her hair. She didn’t want to feel the milk and sugar sticking to her gum during her presentation at 9:45am.
A ponytail and a fresh coffee were significant enough for her to feel extra fresh for the day. She had spent enough time polishing her PowerPoint, which was going to be the real spotlight.
Holi received the orders and started preparing the beverages silently but swiftly. On the days that they didn’t initiate a conversation, it meant that their heads were busy with somethings else. It was best to just let everyone have their peace.
“If I’m not busy later I’ll pop by the hall and listen too,” Kimm said to Lilian. Although he was in Ecology, he had always been fascinated about space too. Those small talks about space and ecosystems were what got them close at first place.
“Sure, it’s at the Faculty Hall. I’ll start talking around 10am,” replied Lilian.
He blinked hard at her, and she replied with a strong blink too. It was their eye-kiss in the public.