"Damn it."
He cursed to relieve the frustration. But it made him more irate. He could only talk to himself to keep from losing his head.
"She'll be coming in a minute. Calm down."
He barely managed a smile as Sashi pushed the door open and walked in with two steaming mugs and a delightful smile. He groaned at the familiar scent. Nirigiri coffee. He never could understand why she loved it so much. He scowled, an exaggerated reaction to the coffee.
Sashi saw the scowl before it was gone. Noticed his mood.
"Scoot," she said, as she pushed him aside. "Such greed," she complained.
He threw a tongue at her, accepting the coffee. Bringing it close to his face, he scowled again.
"What's gotten into you?"
The question startled him. He struggled calming his face. Drank a mouthful to escape from answering, but the taste was worse. He swallowed the distasteful coffee, and swore.
"Nothing," he said, answering her.
"Nothing? Really?"
She wasn't convinced.
"Why are you in such a wonderful mood then? Nightmare?"
She amused herself with the teasing. She was certain she would rub off on him. And she did. A small smile crept onto his face, slowly.
"I got it right, didn't I? That's why the smile? So, what was the nightmare? A little puppy bit your backside? And then you had to get a shot on your tummy. But there was a parasite on the needle, that got in. Fed on your blood, slowly growing. In the end, all of your blood was turned into the gooey body of the parasite. Then, it grew onto your organs, slowly turning all of you into the parasite. Finally, you burst. Spitting out millions of spores that flew all over, falling onto other people and feeding on them."
"What's wrong with you? What kind of movies have you been watching?"
She burst out laughing. The question wasn't wrong. She loved those gross and scary animated series and movies. She loved even more watching them with him. He scared easy, was queasy easier. And he made for great comic relief.
"Why are you asking me," she asked. "You're the one who had the nightmare. You should ask yourself, what have you been watching to get such a nightmare."
Disbelief was bright on his face.
"I never said anything about a nightmare. You said it."
"You said nothing, which is as good as agreeing. So, no nightmare? What then?"
"I don't know," he answered truthfully, shaking his head. "I hate this coffee though. I think I've had enough of it. I'm throwing it away."
"No you're not," she said immediately. "I love it."
"You're insane."
"And you love me. So, no. The coffee stays. Actually, we're almost out of it. We should go shopping this Saturday. We need to stock up. Maybe there's new coffees too. It's so exciting just thinking about it."
"Oh. Okay."
"Grandpa Fain said that we could actually make our own blend. If interested, we could make an appointment. He said it would take a weekend. Maybe we should go over this weekend. I want a fruity blend, a spicy blend, and one with, I don't know, something like vanilla or something else like that."
"Are you serious?"
"Huh," she looked at him confused. "Of course I'm serious. Coffee is very serious."
"Of course. But it's even more an enjoyment."
"Which is why our own blend makes even more sense."
He knew what was coming, even as irate as he was.
"Sure."
"Yay," she screamed in delight. "A weekend with coffee. So yummy."
"You can have mine, since I love you so much."
She laughed, but let him exchange her mug with his. Hers was almost empty. His was still half full. He really disliked the Nirigiri coffee.
"Oh, I'm not sure I mentioned it. Raul invited me to his birthday party today evening. Think we should get him a present?"
"No," he answered sharply.
"No?" She asked.
"No," he repeated.
"Would that be okay," she asked hesitantly. "It's the first time we're going to his birthday party. Even though we're in the same class, we're not exactly friends. Would it be okay going empty handed?"
"I don't know," he answered, almost harshly. "Because we're not going."
"Huh?"
She was confused.
"Yeah," he said.
"Why?"
Her voice shrunk continuously.
"Because," he answered slowly, deliberating over each word carefully almost as if he was searching. "Because, we're going out. Shopping. We need coffee. You said that, just now. Let's go tonight."
"What are you talking about," she asked. "We just agreed to go over the weekend."
"Yeah," he agreed. "That was for making our own blend. Tonight, let's stock up on the prepared coffees. I have a feeling there's a new coffee on grandpa Fain's shelves. Let's just go."
"I'm not saying no. I just need you to explain a bit more. So I can understand. You're not saying we're going for the coffee. You're saying no to the party. That, I don't understand. Why?"
"Why you don't understand? I'm not sure I can answer that."
"Don't be smart," she spat. "You know exactly what I'm asking."
"Yeah, I do," he relented.
He was feeling increasingly restless. The irateness was acting up. He was fighting to keep from bursting.
"Then, explain," she pressed.
She wasn't sure herself, why she was being so dogged. But she couldn't spare it a thought. All of her attention was on him and what he was saying.
"Let's just get our coffee," he said, keeping his voice even with great difficulty. "Like you said, we're not exactly friends. So, we're not under a mandate to attend the party. Also, you were invited. I wasn't. I'm not going uninvited."
She sighed, as if struck with enlightenment.
"So, that's why," she said slowly.
"Yeah," he agreed immediately. "That's exactly why. I'll give grandpa Fain a call. Or maybe, let's just go unannounced. Give him a surprise."
She nodded, but she wasn't giving him all of her attention.
"Why would he invite me, and not invite you?" She wondered aloud. "An accident?"
"Why are we still talking about him?"
He didn't try the slightest to sound calm.
"We're not talking about him," she answered gruffly, hurt by his tone. "We're talking about the invitation to the party. They're different."
"They're not," he refuted. "Let's just leave him out. Him. His invitation. His party. All of it. Let's instead talk coffee."
"I'm not saying no to the coffee. I'm just trying to understand."
"Don't," he said, harsher than ever.
"Why," she shot back angrily.
"Because it's no accident," he answered, just as angrily. "Because it's deliberate."
"Deliberate?"
"Yes. Deliberate. You're blind, doesn't mean everyone else is too."
"Screw you."
She grabbed his mug, got off the bed, walked out, banging the door shut. That was evidence enough of her anger.
He felt apologetic. He knew she couldn't go to the party. He wouldn't give her the opportunity to be moved by Raul's affection. He wouldn't let her fall into despair. But he couldn't explain it to her. And she being the person she was, wouldn't just accept it without explanation. To top it off, his irateness wasn't helping. There was nothing he could do about it though.
It was the aftereffect of jumping. He was always changed when he went back. Very different from the usual him. The duration he was changed for, was different every time. He hoped the irateness was short.
"So, we're not going to the party," he said to himself. "That's one victory. Let's take what we get."