FIVE minutes before 9 a.m.
The shop owner is busy minding the counter.
The new coffee orders are brewing behind him.
The lone shop assistant is clearing the just emptied tables.
Five costumers just left: a boy and four girls.
It’s a Wednesday.
Those were students of the local college.
***
Across my table sits a moreno boy.
He just got his order of salted caramel, the shop’s bestseller.
Iced coffee in the morning?
So Gen X.
He’s wearing a basketball jersey.
And some black short shorts with a slit.
If he’s not selling his bulge, he’s in the wrong business.
***
Beautiful brown legs.
Long, smooth, almost hairless.
But he’s smoking.
Yuck, the taste of an ashtray when you kiss in the mouth.
He’s fingering his phone.
Scrolling, scrolling.
No jowa to talk to.
Otherwise, why would he be watching TikTok reels?
***
We are separated from the rest of the crowd.
Well, there are six other customers in the shop now.
A regular who takes his coffee alone, in silence.
Unless he decides to buy me coffee some days.
But I came earlier, and sat down with my iPad open.
He decided not to engage me in a chat today.
We nodded acknowledgement a few times.
***
Three girls in another table.
Knapsacks…
So either students, or out-of-towners in a coffee stopover.
The other day, I saw several out-of-towners buying coffee.
They are from the city on an exposure duty at our local hospital.
But they wore duty uniforms.
And these three do not.
***
A heteronormative couple occupied another table.
The guy was busy on the phone.
Well, loud busy.
Like on a business call or something.
The girl was also on her phone, silently scrolling.
The guy stands up to get a better signal.
He waves.
I recognize him.
Like a crush from long, long, long ago.
Now, is that the wife?
***
Jersey-and-shorts boy finished his coffee.
Looks at me.
Like, we caught each other staring three times already.
Shamelessly, I asked his age.
He’s 21.
He said it with a smile.
***
The three girls left.
They must have paid for their long finished coffee a long time ago.
They must have stayed just to kill time.
I’m so glad there is no free wifi in this shop.
***
Two more guys came in.
I know one as the son of a great visual artist, a painter really.
This son does photography.
He has taken a few nudes of mine.
In fact, his dad painted a giant nude of me.
Like, 10 ft tall, 12 ft wide.
Way back in 2006.
***
The dad used to paint movie billboards for cinemas in the city.
He transitioned beautifully to fine arts.
He painted all the mayor’s portraits in our town.
Well, I guess all mayors before he moved to another island.
***
The photography guy had rented a space at our building in the poblacion two years ago.
He was such a hit (still is!) with schools—IDs, graduation and yearbook photos, etc.
They do concept photography.
I need to do a nude photoshoot with him soon! Haha.
***
Flirting in a coffeeshop?
Catch Part 2. (To be continued/PN)
