My Dream
1170 Words
Melvin tapped the table. She continuously evaded his gaze yet she called for a date in such a small cafe? He couldn’t tell what she was thinking.
“W-What would you like to drink?”
Despite finding himself in an unremarkable situation, he decided to humor her. He leaned forward till their fingertips touched.
“Surprise me.”
Melvin swore he could see the gears in her head grind to a halt. It was amusing seeing her act all robot-like when she went to order. She came back with a black mug with steaming hot chocolate and a few mini marshmallows floating on top. He raised his brows as she set it down.
“Hot chocolate?”
“I thought it would be generic if I brought Coffee.”
‘So she has bright ideas like these, huh?’ he thought, picking up the mug. She hurriedly reached for his hand, setting the mug down. His brow traveled higher. She immediately turned red when she realized what she did.
“Sorry, it was an old habit. Let it cool first.”
“Huh” was all he said, listening to her. They sat together in awkward silence.
Melvin was surprised when he received a text Friday evening, asking him if he wanted to go out to a cafe. He initially ignored the text but on Saturday morning, he found himself kitting up to go to the cafe. He even took a cab for the first time in years!
“Um…..I’m sorry for ignoring your texts and not responding quickly. I was really busy with a deadline and I had to take care of it before the week ran out.”
It was such a simple matter yet she looked so guilty, that she wouldn’t meet his eyes. However, he wouldn’t say it didn’t give him some sort of relief. It was confounding. He wondered when he started caring if he was ignored or not.
“It’s not a big deal. I’ve had to deal with deadlines too. It would be helpful if you stated that out.”
“I’ll do that next time,” she said immediately, sounding relieved. Melvin chuckled, picking up the black mug. He blew on it and took a sip. It was at the right temperature to drink already, the sweetness exploding in his mouth. It was too sweet for his liking and he did prefer coffee but he drank it nonetheless. It was the first time in years a woman that was not his sister was getting him something on a date.
“You called me out just for that?”
“I thought we could chat, get to know each other……if you’d like” she quickly added the last part, fiddling with her drink.
“Of course. What do you want to know about me?”
“Umm……”
Details of Melvin’s life were public knowledge. It took her a good five minutes to ask her first question.
“Do you prefer take-out or a home-cooked meal?”
“Hmm, good question. The type of take-out I get is healthy so I don’t have to worry too much. There’s really no difference between the meals I get at home and the ones I eat outside. I think I’d like to taste someone’s cooking once though. I’ve heard many of my friends say it's nice.”
“Is my cooking good enough? I don’t know. s**t!” she mumbled.
“What about you, Bella? Do you prefer take-out or a home-cooked meal?”
“I don’t often get the opportunity to cook but I prefer cooking at home. They don’t always come out well but I eat it anyway.”
“I think you’re being modest.”
“I’m serious! I definitely cannot be compared to my Mom. she cooked the best meals. I can still taste them many years later. It’s either that or my tastebuds have been destroyed so much by take-out that I don’t know what is what”
They chuckled, taking a sip from their drinks.
“I know you’ve traveled to most countries so let’s hear the ones you haven’t been to” she smiled. He could feel her loosening up, making him smile too.
“I haven’t been to a lot of Asian countries or South American countries. I’ve toured Europe, North America, Oceania, and Africa several times. I think the country I would like to go to next is Mexico.”
“Why Mexico?”
“I’m just curious. I have mixed reviews on it so I want to see for myself.”
“.....Is it because of Mexican food?”
“I refrain from commenting. Where do you want to travel to?”
“I think I want to go to…..Paris.”
“Are you sure? It’s not as dreamy as they make it out to be.”
“I want to see the Monalisa once in my life. The Eiffel tower too. I think it would be nice, I mean it’s the city of love……..”
Melvin grimaced while she smiled dreamily. The two clearly had different ideas on what Paris was actually like but Melvin refrained from commenting.
“Okay, apart from heading your current company, is there a dream you’ve always had?” she asked.
“Hmm, if I had to say, I think it would be swimming in the Olympics. I was a pretty good swimmer in high school but I didn’t make the cut because I didn’t have time for practice anymore since I started training to be CEO when I was in high school. Now, my parents definitely wouldn’t agree.”
“You seem more like the defiant type. Why didn’t you just chase your dreams?”
“I did, for a while. However, reality hit, and I realized comfort might not be a bad thing. I think I like life how it is right now” his tone turned somber as he traced his finger around the rim of the mug. Bella was unable to think of a retort for that, all her words hanging at the back of her throat.
“So, Miss Editor, was that always your dream? To be an editor?”
“Actually, I wanted to be a translator, traveling around the world for work and relaxation. Reality hit me too but my current Boss helped me out. I couldn’t be more grateful for his help.”
“My dream isn’t achievable anymore but I think if you worked harder, you could achieve yours. Don’t give up.”
“I don’t think I can achieve mine as well. My siblings still have to go through school and they depend on me so my dream would rest on the back burner for now. Thanks to my job, I’ve traveled to some places I never thought I’d go.”
“Being an older sibling sounds tough.”
“It’s my responsibility to protect and provide for my siblings so I don’t consider it tough, just part of life.”
- Writer
