A Heart in the Coffee

The murmur in the streets came along with the light steps of the passers. I saw the ladies hurried down the cobblestoned streets almost flying on her feet to get home. The men, however, leisured by the bars along the boulevard.

The smell of coffee was gratifying after a long day of work and the idea of the weekend ahead seemed glorious to me. The waiter returned and brought me the steaming cup of dark brew. I laughed to myself, sounding more sardonic than happy, when I saw the foaming heart shaped on the surface of the coffee. At this moment, a heart was to me a meaningless form, an amorphous resemblance of nothing.

I sipped slowly the coffee enjoying, with every breath, the rich aroma. Grabbing my cellphone I began to play with it, touching every icon on the screen, trying to mimic the uninterested behavior in the rest of the persons around me. Maybe they had a person to chat with. I didn't. They smiled and reacted to some virtual conversation... I only sighed and thought about my virtual -and factual- loneliness.

"Excuse me, miss, can I have this seat?" A young -and handsome- man asked me, already grabbing the back of the stool in front of me.

I studied the man for a second and he seemed to me like a normal guy. I nodded, smiled and replied a plain "sure".

"Thank you ma'am. You've just saved my life."

"How can that be that I've saved your life, sir?" I asked him, intrigued.

"Well, the sole of my shoe broke, see?" The man played with the loosen piece of material and joked. "I couldn't continued walking another step like this. My foot hurt and I really needed to take a seat."

"Oh, now I see. I would die if that ever happened to my BCBG's!"

"Oh I understand perfectly. I know women are devoted to shoes." He smiled.

"And what are you going to do now? You will have eventually to go home."

"I just got here and you want me to leave already?" The man spoke in a humorous tone. "Ha, ha! No need to worry ma'am. My friend will bring me another pair of shoes in any moment... By the way, my name is Shawn."

"I'm Camilla."

"That's a beautiful name, Camilla."

"Thanks." I blushed.

In that precise moment a man arrived bringing with him a pair of running shoes. "This is the first pair I grabbed from your closet. Sorry they don't match your outfit." The man beamed a roguish look to us.

"Oh, she's my new friend, Camilla. She's been so kind to let me bother her for a while." Shawn introduced me to his friend. "Camilla, this is Michael." Michael and I greeted each other.

"Well, I must go Camilla. It's been a pleasure talking to you." Shawn said and both friends walked away.

The whole weekend I thought about Shawn. A fine and handsome young gentleman that happened to share a seat with me at a bistro in a romantic boulevard in Rome because destiny -and a broken shoe- brought him to me. A lovely chapter for an idyllic story, but a gambling of fate to me with no end. Well, at least Shawn and his friend looked like a happy couple. I thought they were so fortunate finding the right person to love, and I pitied myself.

And the week passed without major events. I went to work and then back home as everyday. It was Friday again and I returned to the bistro where I ordered coffee... The quick stirring of the straw erased the foaming heart in it.

Sipped... Sighed.

"Good afternoon Camilla. Can I have a seat?" There was Shawn, again. His hand on the back of the wooden stool, smiling genuinely to me.

I looked at his shoes... and this time they were not broken.

***598 words story created for the Wattpad's Romance 1-600 short story contest.