warm brown eyes

chapter one

“Miss... miss... are you okay?”
A soft yet insistent male voice tried to claw through my foggy senses. Anne struggled to fight for consciousness as she felt a hand nudging her arm. The hand felt warm touching her skin. She shivered though she was sweating profusely.
Again, the male voice shook her and she slowly opened her eyes. Anne’s sight focused on a pair of concerned yet curious brown eyes.
“Miss... are you okay? What happened? Do you need me to take you to the hospital?”
“uh...” Anne tried to say something but couldn’t. Her mouth was so dry and she felt so weak.
He held her arms and slowly helped her up on a sitting position. Her senses gradually came back as she scanned the surroundings.
“Where... where am I?” She finally spoke, her eyes focusing on warm brown eyes.
“We’re here outside a coffee shop. I was walking by when I saw you faint. I quickly grabbed you before you fall to the ground. Are you alright?”
“Yes. I, I think so. Thanks for catching me.” Anne smiled weakly.
“No problem.” He smiled back. This time she was able to see his face clearly. He had small brown eyes with a charming single eyelid; a wide smile and a dimple on his left cheek. His face was long and his head was shaved.
He looked sweet and crushable. She smiled at him again.
“Hey, why don’t we go inside the coffee shop and have something to drink? It will make you feel better.”
“Okay.” she replied, and he slowly pulled her up from the floor. He held her hand and led her inside the small coffee shop called Flavors Café. Instantly, the aroma of rich coffee beans filled her senses. She breathed in the rich smell and smiled.
We went to the farthest table and sat down. A young waitress went over and took our orders.

“Hm.. one cappuc... I mean, one warm milk for me.” Anne told the waitress.
He looked at me inquisitively but didn’t say a word. He turned to the waitress and said, “I’ll have a cappuccino and 2 slices of cake please.”
The waitress thanked them and went back to the kitchen.
“So,” he started. “What happened back there?”
Smiling sheepishly, Anne answered, “I, I don’t really remember. I was just walking, I think, I had a lot of things on my mind, and I felt dizzy, then the next thing I know, you were waking me up.”
“Are you sick? Coz you don’t look that well to me.” He looked at her and added, “You’re so thin and pale, have you been eating well?”
“I, I’m busy and tired, I haven’t been eating much lately.” she admitted.
“Well, I hope that you’ll be okay and that whatever problems you’re having right now, you’ll be able to fix it.”
Anne was touched by his words. We don’t even know each other yet here I am with him, drinking coffee like we know each other. I really needed this assurance, even coming from a complete stranger.
The waitress came to the table with our orders and they silently sipped their own drinks. He pushed one slice of cake in front of her and said, “Eat this. You’ll feel better after having eaten something.”
Normally, she was not too fond of sweets, but right now, the cake looked so inviting. Anne picked up the fork and took a small bite.
The cake was moist and sweet and her hungry stomach took in whatever nourishment it needed.

We continued chatting about shallow things like the weather, music, movies, and all those not too personal details and Anne found herself laughing at his jokes and his easygoing manner. She took a good look at him and there was something about it that she found quite familiar.
“By the way, what’s your name?” He asked me. “We’ve been talking here for some time and I don’t even know your name.”
Oh right. “It’s Anne. What’s yours?”
“Stan.”
“Stan... fits you.” she said.
He smiled. “Really? Why’s that?”
“I don’t know. Just that Stan sounds... simple and regular.”
He laughed. “I’ll take that as a compliment, I guess.”
“It was meant to be one.” He has such a sweet smile, Anne couldn’t help but smile back.
“So, what do you do when you’re not fainting in front of coffee shops?”
“Oh, I’m an personal manager.”
“A what? What does a personal manager do?”
“I manage people, kind of like a personal secretary, except that I do more than take notes. How about you? What do you do when you’re not catching fainting girls in front of coffee shops?” she joked back.
“Ahh. Well, I’m a musician.”
“Really? What? Do you play in a band or a group or something?”
“Or something” He replied.
“How mysterious.” Anne smiled wryly.
Stan laughed. “You’re funny, you know that?”
“Yeah, I’m a stand up comedian at Metro Bar during weekends.” she grinned.
“No, really. You are. Your boyfriend must be really lucky.”
Her grin faded when she heard him mention ‘boyfriend’. “Funny you should say that.”
Noticing her sad face, he asked, “Why? Did I say something wrong?”
“The boyfriend part. I just got dumped. Big time.” Anne didn’t know why she was telling this fact to a stranger. But somehow, she just felt safe and comfortable talking with him.
Stan mouthed a big “Oh”
“Sorry. Bad memories? How long has it been?”
“Seven weeks, three days, not that I’m counting, but I’m still having nightmares.” Anne planted a bright smile on her face as she said this.
“That bad huh? What happened? He found someone else and cheated on you then when you found out he dumped you?”
Her eyes widened. “How did you know? I swear, you are clairvoyant, it’s creepy.” she told him.
Surprised, he laughed. “I was just kidding.” Then he took in Anne’s serious face and stopped laughing, “You’re serious? That’s what actually happened?”
She threw her hands up in the air. “Yup. Story of my life. Dumped twice for another girl for the past 3 years. I must really be pathetic.” Anne sighed as she drank the last few contents of her cup.
“Not pathetic.” Stan assured me. “Just not lucky.”
“Ah! And that just made me feel better.” Anne placed her hands on her heart, as if he struck her.
“What? Seriously, Anne, you just haven’t found the right person. Wait, that’s not the reason you’re not eating well and fainting, is it? You’re still mooning over your ex? Is that it?”
“No. I’m pathetic, but not that pathetic.” She lied. “I mean, yeah, I still think about him, but I’ve moved on.” Anne stood up straight and repeated, this time I was more confident, “I’ve moved on.” Saying this, she felt as if a big chip was lifted from her shoulders.
Stan sat back from the chair and looked at me. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. I think I am. I mean, okay, maybe not a while ago, but starting today, this afternoon, while drinking,” She looked at her empty cup, “milk with you, I have decided to let go and move on.”
Stan smiled. “Good for you. Don’t waste your time on thinking about things that has happened or linger on things that will never happen. You’ll only be disappointed.”
Somehow, she detected a sad note in his voice. Could it be that he was heartbroken too? “Bad relationship too?” she asked.
Stan nodded. “A long time ago, I don’t think about it anymore. I’m happy with my life right now.”
“Lucky you. I’m just getting over that jerk. So, I’ll be spending my time alone for a while.”
“That’s not so bad.”
“Yeah, I guess.”

Just then, Stan’s cell phone rang. He picked it up and answered the phone.
“Yeah, what up?”
“No, just hanging out here.”
“Yeah. What time do you need me there? 5?” Anne glanced at her watch and saw that it was 4.30 pm.
“Okay. I’ll be there soon. Bye!” He ended the call and looked at me.
“Anne, sorry, but they’re calling me back to the studio. Will you be okay?” Stan asked.
“Yeah. I’ll have to get back to work too. Thanks a lot for today.”
Stan called the waitress and asked for the check. When she arrived, they both reached for their wallets.
“No problem, it’s on me.” Stan said, brushing her hand away.
“No, let me thank you by paying for this.” Anne replied.
“No need. I had fun chatting with you anyway. You pay next time” He said, as he gave the money to the waitress.
Next time? The thought that Anne would see him again made her smile.

We finally stood up from our table and headed towards the door.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay? Shall I hail a taxi for you?” Stan asked, concerned.
“Yes. I feel a whole lot better now. And no need for a taxi. My office is just around the corner.”
“Really? Me too. C’mon, we can walk together.”
“Okay.”
They crossed the street and kept on walking to the right. Finally, they reached the entrance of a towering building near 32nd Street.
“Stan, thanks again for today. Hope that next time we see each other, I’m not fainting on you again.”
Stan laughed, his brown eyes twinkling mischievously. “That’s okay. I don’t mind catching fainting girls again. "See you around!”

As they shook hands, my phone suddenly rang. I waved at Stan before turning back and answering the call. I didn’t see Stan taking a looking back at me before he finally turned and entered the building.
“Hello?”
“Anne! Where are you? You should have been here an hour ago!” An impatient female voice scolded me.
Uh-oh. “Hi, Cindy. I’m sorry, I got holed up in traffic. I’m outside the building now.” I replied apologetically as I turned back and headed towards the entrance.
“Well, get here as quickly as you can coz Malinda is here and she’ll have a fit if we’re not ready to leave in 10 minutes. You know how impatient that starlet is.” Cindy reminded.
“No problem. I’ll take care of Malinda.” I replied. I ended the call and ran up the elevator.
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cappuccino.one