Tapping Coffee

What am I doing here?

Her demeanour, her expression and her thoughts were all in tandem as she regretted her decision to go out tonight. Her pals just asked her, as they do every single time they decide to live their thriving lives. But this time to a sheer lapse of judgement and a weird out of body experience, she found herself saying yes. This affirmative answer did not just shock her but also shocked all her pals. They confirmed and re-confirmed a couple of times, horrifyingly she did not even retract her statement!

She could bet this was on the grieving pep talk she gave herself the week before she put herself through this ordeal. She remembered it was one of those tumultuous PMS nights where she was midnight snacking (okay, 4am snacking). She said to herself, this is not right Kimberly. Look at you! Look at your pals, look at them living their lives with aplomb and look at you eating bread crisps with mayonnaise at 4am. You must experience things and live life and do stuff. You can’t be here forever. You should get out there.

There was where she was right now and she would have given anything to be reunited with her bread crisps. SO MANY PEOPLE. As she was about to lose her resolve, one of her pals sneaked up behind her as if on que by that inner voice.

“Hope you are not running out on us?”

“Not at all! I am enjoying myself.”

“Then enjoy yourself with us. You owe us a dance!”

There it was, the dreaded let’s push her to the middle of the dance floor. Her insides grimaced as she tried to groove and move to the music. Understanding the issue that was on hand, she was looking for an out. Just as she was about to excuse herself for a bathroom break, she spotted him, the server, but he wasn’t serving something simple. This was a mug of something and that something she was hoping was coffee. Like jerry with the invisible cheese aroma finger, leading him on, she followed the invisible mug finger and was wondering if she could get her hands on some. This mug reached its benefactor so to speak, a man in a crisp jacket sitting right at the end of the bar near the exit.

Before she knew it, “where did you get that from,” she screamed out loud over the music which had now suddenly changed while moderately trying to hide the fact that she was already coming across as a weird person.

“Get what?”

 “The mug? The thing you are having in the mug. Are you having coffee?”

“Yes ma’am, I could order some for you as well, they usually don’t serve it here, but I am a regular.”

“Perfect. Thanks! And my name is Kimberly.”

“I’m Luke,” he said while ushering her over to the bar and gesturing the server to get her that coffee.

Conversations were made, it was almost as though they were old batch-mates catching up over a cuppa. If sparks were a real thing, you could have seen those flying too.The night at the club had come to a halt, much to her chagrin. But the scintillating conversations were burning up and suddenly, they were out at a local food truck grabbing a bite and exchanging thoughts.

“You know you are the first person to be that excited about coffee at a bar,” he said to her suddenly out of the blue.

“I am not averse to a glass of wine occasionally but coffee is just a necessity after a long day. I always thought someone should open a club that was solely for dancing but also served coffee and other caffeine choices...” she rambled on.

This was one of those nights that she would never forget. But it wasn’t because of what you would think. It was 6 months since that night, Kimberly’s inner reprimanding voice had been silent and had not put her through any such ordeals again. She would sometimes have fleeting thoughts about the man at the bar but never more than a couple of seconds. Until, she received a basket full of coffee with a note that warmed the cockles of her heart.

Dear Kimberly,

You are invited to the launch of Tapping Coffee, a one of its kind coffee bar with a dance floor and some music to make you groove.

Love,

Luke.

PS. Thank you for the idea. Any royalties that you would like to claim? We could discuss it over a cuppa at my new bar. Fancy a dance?