Prologue

Malang, East Java.

On the beginning of July 2017.

"Dear God, did I just get the wrong address?"

A messy black haired man checked up again the address detail on a piece of paper; looked at the old building in front of him. The building was located at the crossroad. The color was dark brown, with golden gray accents on the building. Somehow, it looked like a classic shop in 1900s; during the Dutch colonial era.

"Mom, tell me that you actually pranked me... what the hell is that building?" he muttered.

He didn't expect it would be his new place. It was a bit far from his previous house. But, it was for the sake of his late mother's wishes. He sighed; picked up his calico bobtail cat and unlocked the entrance door.

Lucky Satria Anjasmara, almost 23 years old; with his calico bobtail cat named Kelana. They started living in this building.

***

He opened the entrance door and came into the main room with a deliveryman. Picking up his belongings, tidying up the place, then cleaning up the room.

"Excuse me, Mr. Anjasmara," a deliveryman called him. "Where should I put down this one?"

He looked at the big box that was written as 'postal archives'. He thought a little.

"Just put down here, it's okay. I'll arrange that later. Anyway, thanks for helping me well."

"Don't worry, Mr. Anjasmara."

At that moment he tidied up the main room, a light brown haired with short ponytail man came into the building and walked over him.

"Lucky, you finally moved here?"

The messy black haired man, Lucky; looked at the ponytail man. It seemed they knew each other.

"Oh, Patra. Thanks God, you're still alive," Lucky smirked. "You dyed your hair again?"

"You noticed that!" Patra said excitedly. "I'm so cool, right?"

Lucky smiled. "Alright, alright. Oh, nice timing you're here. Would you like to help me tidying up these all?"

"Eh— Leave it to me! I'm free anyway," Patra said. "Hey, is that Kelana you had ever post the picture on Instagram? He's so fluffy!" Patra asked; stroked Kelana's fur gently. It seemed Kelana felt happy until he bit Patra's hand.

"Ouch! That hurts!" Patra felt in pain. He looked at his hand; got a bite mark from Kelana.

Lucky chuckled, he started scaring Patra. "Patra, do you know... Kelana's teeth are poisonous, so—"

"—NO WAY!!!"

Patra went scared. It made Lucky want to laugh out loud.

***

They tidied up the entire room step by step; cleaned up the furniture. At that time, Lucky put down the coffee machines and brewer to the counter. Patra was curious.

"Hey, I just realized there are many tables here... and coffee machines?" Patra asked.

"Oh, right. I have a plan to open the coffee shop here."

Patra was surprised after hearing that. "Eh? You didn't tell me about that!"

"Heh, I just want to make a little surprise," Lucky smiled. "Anyway, Patra. I heard from Martin, do you have any experiences being a barista—" he suddenly stopped talking. He remembered that Patra would take the college this year. "Eh, sorry. I forget you're going to start the university this year..."

"No, no. I entered the Open University, so I'm underemployed. I can match the schedule for this, so I can help you. Do you need a barista, right?" Patra said. It seemed Lucky felt happy.

"Really? You can be my barista this period?" Lucky asked excitedly. Patra nodded and gave him a thumbs up.

"Finally! Man, you help me well..." Lucky felt relieved. "Ah, I almost forget. Let me think about the name for this coffee shop."

Lucky tried looking for a suitable name for this coffee shop.

"Jumat Kliwon... Horoscope... MoonDay... Kala Senja... No," He scrolled his phone screen slowly, but he didn't get one. "Happy-Go-Lucky... No, that's too weird having my own name for the brand!"

Lucky put his phone on the table. He sighed. "Man, I give up."

"Just chill out and take your time, Lucky," Patra said. "Anyway, may I smoke here?"

"Sure. Please feel free like yourself at home."

Suddenly, Kelana ran and stroked something. Lucky looked at him.

"What's wrong, Kelana?"

He saw Kelana stroked a postal archives in the big box that belonged to Lucky's late mother. Lucky opened the box and looked for the stamp albums there.

"Oh? I found something interesting here. Thanks, Kelana," Lucky said and patted his beloved cat.

He found a dark red book which looked so old. He opened the book carefully; on the first page, he found his late mother's writing.

"De Poststukken,

van 1989 tot 2007.

Dit boek is van Tengku Nike Katarina."

He knew what should be the suitable name for his new coffee shop.

"Poststukken..." Lucky muttered. "I want to take that name."

"With 'Poststukken'?" Patra asked. "It sounds like a Dutch word."

"I guess Kelana would like that name," Lucky said.

Patra sighed. "You still believe in a cat?"

"I believe in the power of male calico cat," Lucky closed the book gently and put back into the box. "Since I also sell the philatelic items here, I guess 'Poststukken' sounds easier to spell."

"Ah. Sounds interesting," Patra said.

"Okay, it's decided! Let's do our best in this coffee shop, Patra."

***

Started from this afternoon, they created the new story in this old building. Looking for the employees, setting up the menu, and making the signboard.

The next day, their journey started from here.

They got another employees. A short dark brown haired woman named Endah that would be a cashier; and a wavy dark brown haired man named Virza as a pastry chef. Then, the struggle came to four of them. Meeting some types of customers, and also getting involved in any unexpected problems.

But, at the same time; Lucky didn't expect, he still met the people who were still interested in philately. In this era. In this coffee shop. He almost thought the existence of philately would disappeared.

The tales of Poststukken Coffee Shop were about to start.

[]

avataravatar
Next chapter