A Cup of Coffee

By: Muhammad Kamran Rifat

Ahmad left a little early from office, the weather was amazing and he wanted to savor it. It was raining cats and dogs the very first rainfall of Monsoon season, came after days of humid and extreme weather. The wind was blowing fast and made the air a bit murky. He drove slowly towards his destination, home, to enjoy the pouring rain drops and the lovely sound erupting from it but the urge to have a cup of coffee pushed him to stop by a famous Coffee Shop in Lahore. He entered the Café and sat at a corner table near the window – he wanted to be close to the nature.

He looked across the hall and was surprised to see there were not many people around although the weather was amazing. A young woman entered in Café. She was on the phone and smiling when he saw her – the beam floored him. His eyes escorted her all the way to her seat raving her unique style, smile and the atypical hair style. She noticed but ignored his antics. He was unable to stop staring at her and this time she responded with a “what do you want” glare. He feigned being murdered. She smiled. He called the waiter and ordered two cup of coffee and asked him to put one cup before her.

The attendant hesitantly served coffee to her. She was already feeling uneasy because of his antics and the latest move caught her off guard – something she least expected. But she still accepted the offer. Inside she felt flattered by his move. Ahmad was a handsome lad, 6ft tall – and was standing out from the normal crowd, short black hair, muscular body, symmetrical face, wheatish complexion, brown eyes and mischievous smile and was dressed in black suit. As she was pouring sugar in the coffee, she looked at him to acknowledge and found him once again looking at her. He raised the cup and smiled at her and in response she smiled and started drinking coffee.

After a brief moment when she looked up, she was surprised to see that neither he was there nor the cup of coffee was on his table.

She had hardly recovered from the shock when she heard a deep husky voice,

“Hello, would you mind some company?”