Turn off the espresso machine

The surface of the coffee ripples as the waiter put it on the table. He glanced once at the retreating waiter before focusing back on his portable computer in front of him. With his cheek resting on his left palm, posed in a statutory position, his right hand scrolls down the page as he perused the football ‘news’. After a while he stopped and looked at his left wrist out of habit, forgetting that he didn’t wear any watch that day. He looked at the lower right side of the monitor. It showed 1435.

“Alamak, dah lambat,” he said to himself. He quickly closed his computer and the books around it, piling them on each other and was about to stack the lose papers when a draft blew across the room. Someone stepped into the shop just as he was picking them up. The person was standing over him as he finished. He looked up and smiled at her and she smiled back.

“Sorry lambat, jam tadi,” she said, her smile slowly vanished.
“Takpe, aku pon ralit tadi,” he said. He pulled her a chair, before sitting himself in front of her. “Pergi mana tadi?”

“Tadi pergi cuba baju. Lama jugak. Dekat pukul dua belas baru habis. Penat lah. Lepas tu pi lunch tadi sekali dengan kawan firm.”
“Oo, yeke. Baju warna ape?”
“Warna purple. Yang belah sana warna kuning.”
“Oo, sapa yang pilih. Hang ka dia.”
“Dua-dua aku pilih,” she said. They both laughed.

“Susah la kawin dengan hang, semua nak atur. Nanti rumah pon, hang buat sendiri, tak bagi orang lain buat,” he said.
“Manaa ada, tak susah pon lah. Aku pilih baju ja. Yang lain mak aku semua buat. Aku tak gaduh pikiaq apa pon,” she replied.
“Habis tu belah sana tak buat apa pon ka? Hang tak tinggai apa ka kat mak dia?”
“Mak dia dah takdak,” she answered. There was a brief silence. He apologized.
“Takpa, aku pon taktau. Baru ni ja aku tau,”
“Dia tak pernah bagitau ka?” he asked. She shook her head. He nodded his head and reached for his cup, before he stopped. “Eh, lupa pulak. Nak minum apa? Kopi ke teh?”
“Kopi lah.”
“Cappuccino is it?” he said, smiling.
“Hang ingat lagi,” she smiled back. “Tapi tak mau la, rasanya ambik espresso la kot. Mengantuk ni, sat lagi ada lagi nak kena pi cari kasut pulak.”
“Tak cukup tido ke. Nanti jadi panda lak, mata penuh eyebag. Habis gambar kahwin tak elok,” he teased, pulling his lower eyelids.
“Hish, buruknya! Tapi aku tak pa, orang lawa pakai apa pon lawa. Eyebag tu pon nampak lawa,” she replied.
“Sama la macam aku.”
“Apa yang sama macam hang?” she asked, her face puzzled.
“Pakai apa pon lawa,” he said. They both laughed at that, he openly while she covered her mouth. When the laughter recedes, they both looked at each other and smiled. The waiter then came with her drink and left. They both drank their cups and in between the sips they talked about old friends, forgotten memories and future plans. Time walked by as they talked. Suddenly her phone rang. She picked and talked for a while before letting out a sigh.

“Kenape? Sapa call?”
“Kak aku call. Dia dah marah-marah aku.”
“Yang mana? Sebab apa marah hang?”
“Yang doctor. Hang pernah jumpak rasanya. Dia marah sebab kena tunggu lama. Aku janji dengan dia nak pi beli kasut.”
“Hang tak payah beli kasut la, pakai yang aku ja,” he said.
“Hish, hang mengarut apa? Ni kasut bersanding nanti ni.”
“Ala, dulu hang pakai kasut aku, hang lupa ka?”
“Bila masa? Kasut  hang pon aku tak muat.”
“Hang lupa dah la tu. Ada selipar dulu, waktu raya. Hang pakai sebijik macam aku punya. Tiru aku pulak tu,” he said. She seems lost for a second before exclaiming loudly, “Oooo, yang tu ka. Yang tu, hang yang tiru aku. Ada ka pakai kasut selipar perempuan. Mengarut la hang wei. Ada ka kata adik hang pi beli pon, awat dia pi beli yang perempuan kat hang.”
He laughed embarrassedly. “Tak kira, hang tiru aku. Ni nak aku hantaq ka?”

She shook her head. “Tak payah, tak payah. Satgi dia nak mai ambik aku.”
“Dia tu kak hang ka, dia,” he said, making a quotation mark in the air.
“Dia tu dia la,” she said sheepishly. 
“Aha, okaaay. Bila nak mai ambik ni? Tadi kata lambat dah.”
“Hm, tak tau la. Sepatutnya dah sampai tadi lagi. Dia memang selalu lambat sikit. Dah cakap banyak kali pon sama jugak, jadi tunggu ja la. Cuba kalau aku lambat, siap la kena berlet..” she stopped when she noticed him looking at him closely.
“Ada apa ke?”
He didn’t answered directly, instead leaned back into the chair, his eyes still on her. He then spoke, “Boleh dak aku tanya satu soalan?”
“Tak boleh. Soalan apa? Tanyalah.”
“Why did you choose him?” he asked her. She was silent for a while before she replied that she didn’t know.

“There’s lots of things about him. Hang nak aku sebut satu-satu ka?”
“Okay okay, aku ubah soalan. Why did u not turned off by him? Why didn’t he turned you off?”
Her eyebrows knitted in a furrow when she heard the question. “Why should I turned off by him?” she asked back. “Why should I?”
“Because he’s late.”
“He’s late? Takkan sebab tu pon nak sampai macam tu.”
“Well, yes. Dulu hang cakap sapa yang selalu lambat ni major turn off.”
Her eyebrows relaxed as she laughed. “Come on Asrul, that was years ago. Aku sekarang dah tak kisah sangat benda tu, plus dia bukannya lambat sepanjang masa.”
“Tadi cara cakap, macam selalu ja.”
“Okay lah, dia kadang-kadang lambat. Tapi bukannya sebab tu pon nak jadi masalah. Aku tak kisah pon benda tu.”
“Dulu hang cakap hang kisah.”
“Tu dulu,” her voice rose slightly. “Come on Asrul, why are you bringing this up?”
“Okay, kalau baru, sebab apa dia merokok tu bukan turn off? Dulu, silap. Tahun lepas ja baru kata, tak suka mamat ofis tu, sebab dia merokok. Major turn off you said.”

“He is quiting now,” she said curtly. He laughed quietly instead. “Why are you laughing?”
“You said once, yang smokers always be smokers. You don’t believe they can quit. Tak ingat?”
“Now I believe they can. Why you suddenly ungkit this all up anyway?”

“You said you didn’t like men with long hairs. Your daddy hates it. That guy rambut panjang, you ingat tak? You cakap sampai mati pon tak teringin orang serabut macam tu?  Tapi yang nak ambik ni, rambut kalah Akhill Hay kot,” he said, jutting his mouth disapprovingly. “Okay lah, maybe those characteristics are not that important, those major “turn off” are not that major, but can you tell me why you choose him? Sampai tak nampak dah benda yang kurang, turn off yang dulu hang tak suka sangat.”

The girl didn’t say anything and just sat there, flipping her phone in her palms. Without looking at him, she said, “Maybe because he loves me.” Her sentence was between an answer and a question,  as she looked at him. He smirked back in reply.

“He, loves you? Berapa puluh orang suka kat hang dari dulu. Berapa banyak orang. Aku po..” he suddenly faltered, though he quickly recovered, “Aku pon tau ramai yang suka.” He stole a glance at her. In the glimpse he saw that he had already said too much, so he stopped himself and looked away in pretense. They both sat in silence. After the waiter came for the bills, he finally spoke to her.

“Sorry.”
“Sebab apa?”
“Entah. Tak dak apa,” he mumbled. He then took the spoon next to the cup and swirled the drink, making the pale coffee murky again. He tapped the spoon on the edge of the cup before adding, “I guess your major turn off is not trying.”

She looked at him, puzzled and was about to ask when her phone rang. After the call she reluctantly excused herself. “Sorry, aku tak paham part last tu. Tapi ni dia dah tunggu kat luar, aku pi dulu na?” she asked. He nodded in understanding and watched as she left and walked out of the door. For a while his gaze was focused on nothing before he moved his books into his bags and opened his laptops. Slowly at first but faster as he continued, he began to type.

The surface of the coffee ripples as the waiter put it on the..

"Falling for someone is like an appetizer. If you missed the moment the first time around, better don't serve it at all."