Walk My Way

Azalea adjusted the strap of her tote bag on her shoulder and hoisted her guitar case up before pushing the door to the coffee shop. The scent of freshly brewed coffee wafted in the air and she inhaled with a small smile on her face.

She had about an hour before her first class started so she decided to drop by and get a cup of coffee. She had grown to love the quaint little shop anyway.

In the secluded area at the corner of the shop, behind the bookshelf, there was a set of comfy sofas where the customers could sit comfortably and it had become Azalea’s favourite spot.

As soon as she got into the quiet shop, she immediately made her way towards the familiar red sofa and was glad that no one was there. She dropped her bag on the furniture and put her guitar case carefully next to it, letting it lean against the floral wallpaper covered wall.

She sat on the soft sofa, leaning against the fluffy cushion and sigh in content. She felt like she could melt against the soft fabric as it moulded against her body. She pulled out a beaten up book from inside her bag and opened the last page she read the night before.

She managed to read a couple of sentences before she felt the presence of someone in front of her, a shadow looming over her. When she lifted up her head, she saw a familiar female barista that she’d met a few times during her past visits to the shop.

The barista placed a cup of coffee on the small coffee table in front of Azalea as a smile curved up from her lips, a cute little dimple forming on her right cheek. Her obviously dyed black curly hair bounced slightly with her movement.

“I hadn’t even ordered yet,” Azalea said, blinking at the chirpy girl in front of her.

“In this shop, we take pride in our ability to know our regular patrons’ orders. And since yours is pretty rare, it’s really easy to remember. Enjoy your coffee, with salt and all,” she replied, waving slightly before returning behind the counter and began to chatter animatedly with another regular customer that was standing by the counter while waiting for their order.

Azalea stared at the cup in front of her for a while before placing her book on the table and picked up the white porcelain. Tentatively, she took a sip of the drink and a small smile etched across the pink glossy lips as a subtle hint of saltiness mixed with the bitterness of the coffee hit her tongue.

Jasper had more than once commented about her odd way of drinking coffee but it had been her favourite for years. It all started after she heard a romantic little story about a waitress and a man.

“You’re weird, dude,” Michael commented, giving Calum a side look as if the other boy had grown two head on his shoulders.

They were lounging at one of the local coffee shops near school and Azalea just happened to be there. She was trying to finish up the lyrics for one of the songs she had been working on. The scent of coffee always managed to calm her nerves and make ideas flowing through her easily.

She was there for about half an hour before Calum and his buddy Michael entered the shop and sat on the booth right behind Azalea’s. Calum had his back on her and she was sitting facing away from them. Azalea really wanted to turn around and look at him but she just couldn’t do it so she kept her head low, staring her opened notebook.

“But it tastes good, though,” Calum replied and Azalea smiled when she could imagine Calum smiling as he talked to his friend.

“You’re weird,” Michael repeated and there was silence on the other booth. Azalea strained her ears to hear more and immediately blushed when she realised that she was being a creeper. However, after a few moments, Calum started talking again.

“You ever heard the story of a man, a waitress and a cup of coffee with salt?” Calum asked. Azalea assumed that Michael had shaken his head or something since Calum continued after a few seconds pause. “Okay, so there’s this one guy that always frequented this little coffee shop. And he fell in love with a waitress there. Every day he tried to talk to her but too shy to do so. And one day, that waitress came to take his order and he was determined to talk to her. But because he was too nervous, what came out of his mouth was ‘can I have a cup of coffee with salt?’ And the waitress kept asking if he was sure and he kept saying yes because he was too dumbstruck to say anything else. After he finished his coffee, the waitress came by again and asked him about the coffee and he lied saying that it was his favourite all along.”

“That’s stupid,” Michael commented. Once again, Azalea could tell that Calum was smiling again even though she couldn’t see him.

“The next day, he came by the shop again,” Calum continued as if he wasn’t interrupted. “And the waitress came by and served him the same cup of coffee with salt. He didn’t have the heart to tell her the truth so he drank it with a smile on his face. And the same thing happened again and again every single day. He would come to the shop and she would serve him coffee with salt. And then they began to fall in love and not too long after that they got married.”

“I still think it’s stupid,” Michael interrupted again and Azalea had the urge to go over there and smack his head or something. She wanted to hear Calum’s voice and Michael’s constant interruption was not welcomed at all.

“They got married and lived happily together for years with kids and all. Every day she would serve him the salty coffee. And they grew old and the man passed away due to an illness. Before he died, he left a letter to his wife. In that letter, he explained about the coffee. He didn’t really like it at first but he loved seeing the happy smile on her face every time she served him that coffee and he could never say no. If by drinking the salty coffee could make the woman the he loved smile, he would do it over and over again in the next lifetime if he were given the chance. And the woman cried. Their story had been passed on for generations since then.”

“You do realise that the story isn’t real, right?” Michael asked sceptically.

“Well, I think it’s romantic,” Calum replied, totally unaffected by Michael’s respond.

With a small smile curved on her lips, Azalea quietly packed up her notebook and kept it in her bag before picking up her guitar case and slung her bag over her shoulder. She silently made her way out of the coffee shop. At the door, she saw Luke – she recognised him because Jasper always had him over – and she smiled warmly at the younger boy before walking out.

As soon as she was out of the building, she let the wind blew softly against her face and her smile grew bigger.

Today, she just saw the other side of Calum and if it was even possible, it made her heart grow fonder.

Azalea immediately snapped out of her thoughts when she was interrupted by someone clearing their throat. She blushed when she realised that she had been caught daydreaming by that same barista. She smiled kindly at her and pointed towards the now empty cup in Azalea’s hand.

“One day, I would love to know the story of that coffee,” she said, coming over to sit next to Azalea. For a moment, Azalea wondered if she was allowed to do that since she was still working but then she didn’t really care. It was nice to have a company every once in a while. “I’m Phoebe.”

“Azalea,” she responded, putting the cup down on the saucer and looked at her watch. Twenty minutes to go before her class started. “I have to go. It’s nice meeting you,” she said, getting up and gathered her bag and her guitar case.

“Nice meeting you too. If you play,” Phoebe said, fixing her eyes on Azalea’s guitar for a few seconds before returning her gaze to the brown-haired girl. “You can come over here during open stage night and perform or something,” she continued, getting up as well.

“Maybe I will,” Azalea replied and after giving an awkward wave, she left some money to pay for the coffee and some tips for the kind and friendly barista – Phoebe, Azalea was sure to remember the name. She then left the shop and made her way to the campus which conveniently enough was not too far from there.