The Rain Isn't That So Bad After All

A Japanese 80's city pop playlist was playing in the background on a Friday night as another round of freshly brewed coffee and chocolate-chip cookies was served on the nearest table. Some have cleaned up their table and left, but there were still a few customers left with warm mugs in their hands.

Thunders suddenly rumbled as fat droplets of water quickly formed on the glass windows. The heavy rain collided on the roofs, blearing the yellow and violet hues of the city lights. The elevated noise vexed Haru. He turned up the volume of the music until the muffled sound of the rain was silenced.

Haru never liked the rain and the clammy feeling of wet shoes and clothes that come with it. He doesn't like bringing an umbrella because of the added weight to his bag. Waking up at 3 AM from a bad dream of his dark excruciating past, like what happened earlier, is the worst.

"Who would have thought it's going to rain tonight? The sun was even so bright this morning," Kiyoshi, a fellow barista, mentioned whilst cleaning the espresso machine.

"Don't remind me about it," Haru smirked.

"Yo Haru, speaking of women, look," the other barista's eyes were fixated on the woman who was standing outside the café, drenched in the rain. "Geez, it's already late at night, and it's raining so hard. What is she even doing there?"

Working together in Café Ai for almost three years now, Miura Kiyoshi specializes in the personalization of drinks, while Yagami Haru specializes in latte art. He's an inch shorter than Haru and has a sharp square-face shape with a pretty nose and unique pouty lips. He has short and messy ash-blond hair with a tiny bit of stubble on his face. Kiyoshi's only two years older than him, but Haru considers him like his older brother.

Haru caught sight of the woman and grabbed a brown umbrella from the stand placed at the end of the counter, "I hope you don't mind if I invite her in and offer a cup of coffee."

The other guy nodded, and Haru dashed to the front door, carefully opening it to not surprise the lady. She was wearing a white square-neck spaghetti top and blue linen pleated pants paired with a small nude clutch bag. Her hair was long and was dyed with a color he couldn't figure out yet.

The lady glanced at the umbrella above her, wiping her tears frantically, which weren't detectable at all because of the raindrops on her face. "Ugh…h—hi! Sorry, I'm just waiting for someone –

"Shouldn't you be waiting inside?" he noticed the eyeliner trailing on her cheekbones as if they were black tears. "Especially when it's raining hard."

"It's alright! He… she… SHE's already on her way!' she managed to give him a smile before wiping her face with the back of her hand, smudging her eyeliner more on her cheek.

He did not mind the smeared makeup at all and stared at her with the most pleading eyes, "Please, just wait inside and have a cup of coffee while waiting for your companion."

'What is this sorcery? Must be part of their strategy to have baristas so charming,' she thought. The lady just instantly fell for the barista's charm as if she was cast under a spell. The umbrella's blocking the light from the café, but she's certain that he's good-looking. He's even wearing a semi-formal outfit!

"Alright. Who wouldn't want to have a cup of coffee on a rainy night, right?" she laughed nervously to save herself from further embarrassment. "Please lead the way," she said, tucking her hair behind her ears and following the guy closely.

As soon as they stepped in, a faint smile formed on her face upon hearing Mariya Takeuchi's 'Plastic Love' playing in the background. The scent of the coffee beans and the lemon chiffon-painted walls, accented with brown tones, already comforted her heavy heart. She noticed another barista waiting by the door who quickly took the rain-soaked umbrella from his colleague and offered her a box of tissue paper afterward.

"Latte? Espresso? Macchiato? Milk? Anything you like?" Kiyoshi asked in a clear yet soft tone.

It took her a moment to answer. The lady scanned the place briefly, wiping her damp hair first then her face with the tissue. She did not want to feel more humiliated in front of many people. She heaved a deep sigh after spotting only four customers sitting at different tables before speaking, "Caramel hot chocolate without whipped cream please."

"Got it," Kiyoshi grinned and nudged Haru. "You know what to do," he said and dashed to the counters. Haru nodded and glanced over his shoulder before leading the way to the staff's room. The lady went after him, drying her arms this time.

"Hey," she bit her lower lip upon entering the room, "I— I would like to say sorry if I'm disturbing your work right now."

"Not a bother. It's almost our closing—"

"Closing time?" she gasped. "How late is it?"

"20 to 11," answering her while pulling a midback office chair. Seeing her under the well-lit room, he finally saw the color of her hair. It was cherry blossom pink, and it was as pink as the cherry blossom petals that started to fall early that afternoon. A small smile formed on his lips as he was reminded of an encounter. He then continued speaking, "Please take a seat here after changing your top. I hope you don't mind wearing a men's shirt too... and the comfort room's on that side," and pointed to the wooden door before going to his locker.

"Seriously, I'm fine. I'll be fine, but thank you. Really," she caught her reflection on the mirror on the wall. She shrieked so loudly that Haru bumped his head on the locker.

"What's wrong?" he asked her worriedly and approached her after taking a black oversized shirt from his bag.

"Why didn't you tell me my eyeliner's already smudged?!" she exclaimed.

"Is that more important than seeking shelter inside the café?" his jaw dropped; he could not believe what he was hearing.

The staff's room door banged open, "What the fuck happened?!" It was Kiyoshi, with a cup of caramel hot chocolate in his hand. He glared at Haru who was still looking so confused.

"No, he didn't do anything! It's about my eyeliner," she rolled her eyes. "Believe me, it's waterproof, but how come it's already smeared like this?" The lady walked towards the mirror to check her face out and whispered, "Did I cry too much…"

The baristas, on the other hand, chortled.

"What's funny?" she death stared at them.

"Your eyeliner prolly's not waterproof at all," Kiyoshi jested.

Haru nudged his colleague hard on the side and snatched the coffee from his hand, "Sorry, he's just trying to cheer you up. Here's your drink. I hope it'll help you warm yourself."

"Please... enjoy it while it's hot." Kiyoshi patted Haru's back, "I'll close the shop and clean stuff. I'll be right back," and finally left the room.

The lady took the cup from Haru and warmed her hands for a moment before bringing the cup close to her mouth. She whiffed the aroma of the cacao beans, licking her lips before supping up the drink. The warm sweet tastes of the caramel and chocolate were supposed to comfort her, but instead, she was reminded of what happened earlier that day. She sipped from the cup again and stared at the ceiling to prevent her tears from falling. "I should be getting drunk right now. I should be crying my eyes out while drinking beer, not this."

Haru lowered his head and ran a hand on his nape. It's obvious the woman in front of him was not okay, but he also wasn't sure how to cheer her up apart from offering her a cup of coffee.

She felt the sudden silence and upcoming awkwardness, "Can I ask you a favor?".

He looked back at her, placing the black shirt on the table.

"Could… you please take me home?" she looked down at the floor this time, rubbing her thumb against the cup. "I just moved here early this morning, and I have not yet familiarized myself with the directions. Would that be alright? It's okay if you say no—"

"Yes, I'll take you home."

The noise created by the downpour has turned to gentle pitter-patter as a smooth jazz song, 'Walk in the Night' by Kaori Kobayashi, overlayed in the background. Haru smiled at the woman in front of him, eyes glistening. 'The rain isn't that so bad after all,' he thought.