“So tell me again, why are we out this early in the morning?” Celine rubbed her eyes, still shaking a bit of anger after being blasted awake by her phone. She regretted not turning off her phone before she went to bed.

“Because,” Joseph pulled out his smartphone from the pocket of his jacket and made Celine remember why they had to go out. A text message from Miguel told them to come to his cafe. Celine squinted, trying to iron out the details on why they had to go out on such a calm, rainy Saturday morning; the perfect setting for pancakes and hot chocolate.

“Oh, free food?” Celine said, highlighting only the words ‘test’, ‘food’, and ‘taste test’.

“I mean, yeah I guess you can put it that way.” Joseph stuffed his phone back into his pocket.

“That still doesn’t explain why we had to go this early though.”

“Not like you had anything better to do.”

“I do, it’s called sleeping before working out the kinks in my thesis,” Celine pointed at Joseph, “Something YOU don’t have to worry about anymore.”

“Can’t help that you chose a difficult topic.”

“True, but I love it. Our adviser just returned our third draft.”

“How’d it go?”

“Bleeding red.”

“Stay strong, Celine.”

The banter between the two friends continued, complimented by the gentle patter of the raindrops hitting their plastic umbrellas, creating an inconsistent, yet soothing rhythm. The bridge was tread on with vehicles going at different speeds, from the purr of the engines going on a smooth cruise, to the revving of machines trying to beat a time limit. Moments later, their banter has trailed off from the academic into something more mundane, like why Celine hasn’t accepted her aunt’s friend request.

Joseph looked into the dry windows, with a small canopy overhead protecting the ground and the window from getting wet. The inside is darker than what they’re use to; granted that the owner wasn’t here to turn on the ambient yellow lights, and the lack of sunlight is not doing the atmosphere any favors. Joseph could make out the usual tables and chairs neatly pressed together, with some plastic bags on top.

“You think those bags might be his?” Joseph tapped the window.

“Who knows? Could also be someone left them there.” Celine joined Joseph as they stared at the inside. “Where is he?”

“I don’t know.”

“Text him.”

Joseph followed Celine’s suggestions and whipped out his phone and began to write a simple ‘where are you?’.

“You think I should put in emoticons?” Joseph said.

“Up to you.” Celine shrugged.

Joseph pressed send and let the radiowaves do the rest of the work. Shortly after, the café was lit up by a tiny LED screen accompanied by vibrations muffled by the walls of the building. The two looked at the phone, and turned to each other, dumbfounded.

“I guess those bags are Miguel’s.” Celine stared at the window, letting the realization that she’s gonna have to starve a bit more wash over her.

“Yep.” Joseph followed, catching a bit of the waves from Celine’s thoughts.

“What do we do now?”

“Wait, of course.”

Celine shrugged and pulled out her phone, making use of its 5.5 inch to bring her the entertainment she needs while they wait for Miguel. Joseph followed suit and began to browse the internet. The two were silent for several moments, only breaking it to show an occasional funny or cryptic picture, which acted as a signal for them to hit each other out of laughter or disgust. Joseph’s shoulder and Celine’s arm were not left unharmed.

“So,” Celine said, scrolling through her phone, “Miguel huh?”

“What?” Joseph said, pocketing his phone before he uses up too much battery.

“How’s it going between you two?”

“How else?” Joseph said, a bit perplexed at the question, “I’m just a customer drinking coffee at his place.”

“I mean,” Celine waved her arms around, as if she was trying to catch the words she wanted to say, “Do you want to be more than just that?”

“Friends? I think we’re on that way already, with all the business I was giving him. Not to mention the sponsorship.”

“True, but do you want that?”

“Yeah! Having more friends is great isn’t it?”

“How about more than that?”

“Explain.”

“What? What about all the-“

Before their friendly talk turned into a full-blown interrogation, Joseph spotted Miguel turning from the corner, interrupting Celine’s line of questioning. Joseph raised his hand in greeting for the large man to see.

“There you are!” Joseph yelled.

Miguel squinted for a bit, and busted into an awkward jog, the sound of his rain boots hitting the wet pavement, accompanied by the unmistakable crinkling of plastic bags. Each stride was enhanced with the sound of cloth rubbing against the vinyl material of his raincoat.

“Sorry! Have you been here long?” Miguel set down the bags he was holding and put on a more relaxed stance to catch his breath.

“It’s been 7 years.” Celine said.

“We’ve been here awhile.” Joseph explained.

“Sorry. Yoou could’ve sent me a message, you know.” Miguel said.

“I did.” Joseph pointed at the window of the café.

Miguel followed the direction of Joseph’s finger, and was only greeted by the darkness. He turned back to Joseph and smiled, nodding, trying to seem like he knew what was going on.

“You left your phone,” Celine chimed in, peeking out of Joseph’s back.

As if on cue, Miguel patted down his body, and was surprised to see that indeed, his pockets were flat. Before Miguel could apologize again, Joseph insisted that he open the door instead; he was getting cold from all the droplets that seeped through his jacket that were not deflected by his umbrella.

“Sorry,” Miguel said, and Joseph failed.

The large man took out his keyring and cycled through it before he got to the right one. Miguel unlocked the door and let the two cold college students in. The man went straight to the kitchen and prepared tea for the both of them. Before long, their drinks were served to their table.

“Here,” Miguel laid down the ornate tea cups and saucer set, “It’s on me.”

“You’re great, you know that?” Joseph smiled.

Celine looked at the exchange between them. It’s always like this: Miguel did something nice, Joseph reciprocates by saying something nice, which prompts Miguel to either laugh awkwardly, blush, or a combination of the two. Adorable, the number, and now this. Celine pictured Joseph jogging to meet Miguel so he could hold his hand sooner rather than later. The two kiss for a quick second and went on their way on their romantic dinner. Although, she could also see Joseph donning an apron and impressing Miguel to give him a raise. Better yet, Joseph walked in and asks Miguel for free coffee, to which the latter happily gives out, a bit poorer, but the former savoring the flavour, no-less richer than he was when he went in.

“What does Joseph want?”

Celine could not stop coming up with theories and explanations of the nature of his friends’ relationships. Granted, she only has one story to work with and two first-hand experiences on how these two interact. Maybe she had jumped the gun on the status of their relationship, of which she doesn’t even know what its’ status is, let alone what Joseph wants, and, more importantly, what Miguel thinks of her friend. She considered that maybe, she does not know her friend as she would like to think. Celine picked up her cooled cup and took a few sips, letting the soothing taste of apple tea and honey work their magic on her taste buds.

“Oh well,” Celine thought, placing her drink on the saucer, “I’ll see where this goes.”